Maria (pronounced, "Mariah") J. Kirby-Smith made a vocational change after a year in her master’s program for Chinese Art History when she visited a cousin’s sculpture collection. Her studies refocused to include hands on art at that point. Her first public commission to sculpt Senator Strom Thurmond for Edgefield, SC, brought her back to the south. She was then commissioned in Camden, SC to sculpt three generations of Jack Russell’s. Her roots in the south were cemented when a home and studio were built and dedicated to creating sculptures for the public and private sector. Other works by Maria include O’Henry, Federal Judge Matthew J. Perry Jr., Reverend Richard Furman, Larry Doby, Clayton “Peg Leg” Bates, Catawba Chief-King Hagler, Dr. George C. Simkins Jr., WWII Memorial Bristol, VA, Police Memorial Richmond, VA, American Revolution General Thomas Sumter, WWII Sailor, and WWI Corporal Freddie Stowers Medal of Honor.