Ada Smolen-Morton was born in Northampton, Massachusetts and grew up in Florence, S.C. She holds a BA in Fine Arts with a concentration in ceramics from Francis Marion University. Primarily a ceramicist, she produces predominantly sculptural work with a background in painting and drawing.

She has exhibited work in the PeeDee Regional Art Competition with the Florence County Museum, the FMU Juried Student Art Show with the Gately Gallery, and recently exhibited her solo show, Shaded Lament, in The Cube Galleries with Coastal Carolina University. She will display a sculptural piece in Artfields 2024, one of the largest visual art competitions in the Southeast. She exhibited her undergraduate senior show at Francis Marion University’s Kassab Art Gallery. Smolen-Morton received first place in the FMU Juried Student Art Show in both 2021 and 2022, and received third place in 2020. She was awarded an Individual Artist Mini Grant from the Florence Regional Arts Alliance in 2024.