[1][2] In 1977 she visited the California Medical Facility to judge an art show of work by incarcerated artists there.
[3] She was so inspired by what she saw, that she established the California Arts in Corrections Program later that year along with her husband, historian Page Smith.
Initial funding for the project came from the William James Association, an organization founded by philosopher Paul Lee and Smith's husband Page, and she founded its Prison Arts Project which is also active as of 2022.
[6] On August 26, 1995, Eloise Pickard Smith died from kidney cancer in her Santa Cruz home.
Their story of love through death was featured in a 1998 interview with their daughter, Ann Easly, and friend, John Dizikes, on This American Life.