She is the author of numerous books on art and architecture,[2] including Blueprints for Modern Living: History and Legacy of the Case Study Houses[3][4]; Lee Bontecou: A Retrospective,[5] Helen Frankenthaler: Composing with Color, 1962–63,[6] and many others.

Smith's curatorial projects while at MOCA Los Angeles ranged from Blueprints for Modern Living: History and Legacy of the Case Study Houses,[27] The Architecture of R.M.

Schindler, named by the American section of the International Association of Art Critics as the "Best Architecture or Design Exhibition of the Year",[28][29][30][31] and At the End of the Century: 100 Years of Architecture to a survey of the Cindy Sherman's photographs[32][33] and the first museum presentations of then-emerging artists Uta Barth,[34] Toba Khedoori,[35] Catherine Opie,[36] and Margaret Honda[37] as well as a collaboration between artist Kiki Smith and architect Wolf Prix of Coop Himmelblau.

[38] Besides her exhibition catalogues, Smith's writings have appeared in such publications as Do-ho Suh: Drawings;[39] Chicago Makes Modern; Buckminster Fuller: Starting with the Universe;[40] Design Cities 1851–2008;[41] Birth of the Cool;[42] and the 54th Carnegie International.

Smith served a six-year term on the Board of Trustees of the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts in Chicago[52] and was a 2012 Fellow of the Center for Curatorial Leadership[53] in New York.