A crusader for modern Chinese art

"When you went through the tiny alleyway, suddenly there was amazing art in a simple but beautiful house. It was so exciting," she recalls.

Smith also lives in a courtyard house now, and her home hidden in a hutong near Jingshan Park is like a miniature museum of Chinese contemporary art.

In her interactions with artists, she has made friends with them over discussions and dinners.

"People were not concerned with money. They were concerned with ideas and culture. Everybody felt they were making history. They were creating new work," she says.

Smith's early observations and research also became the basis for her influential book, Nine Lives: The Birth of Avant-Garde in New China, in which she examined the artistic journeys of nine artists, including Wang Guangyi, Fang Lijun and Zhang Xiaogang.

From being a writer and observer, Smith has evolved to being curator and mentor.

"She is a good listener," says Hu Xiaoyuan, a Beijing-based artist who has known Smith since 2003. In January 2013, Hu and another female artist, Duan Jianyu, jointly exhibited A Potent Force, which was curated by Smith.

"She has her own views but never forces an artist to follow. Her clear thoughts about art inspires me," Hu says.

Today, contemporary Chinese art is everywhere, and the young artists, especially, are receiving a lot of attention. Smith points out that it's important to learn how to take a step back.

"People always look for the next new thing. It's like in the fashion world, always looking forward to the next season. But with people, we can't do that. An artist is an artist for life, not just for one season," she says. "It's important to understand how an artist develops and allow them room to develop."

In 2005, she was appointed to the advisory board of OCT Contemporary Art Terminal in Shenzhen, and Smith is also busy with the Xi'an OCT Art Museum, where she serves as the managing director.

It is museums like OCT in Shenzhen and Today Art Museum in Beijing that are developing an important voice, Smith says, together with regional museums like those in Xi'an, Guangdong and Wuhan.

"Progress is slow but the mindset is changing," she says.