In 1968-1969 she participated in the Art History/Museum Studies track of the Whitney Independent Study Program (ISP) where she met and developed an affinity for Donald Judd and became interested in minimal art.[7][8] After graduation, she returned to New York City in 1971 to take a secretarial job at the Museum of Modern Art, followed by part-time assistant jobs to Judd in the early 1970s, and Paula Cooper for the first three years that she had her Paula Cooper Gallery, beginning in 1972.
While at the Paula Cooper Gallery Smith wrote exhibition reviews for Artforum, and subsequently for Art in America, the Village Voice and other publications. She has written and spoken about Judd on many occasions throughout her career, and upon his death in 1995, penned his New York Times obituary.[9][10][11]
^ abcSandler, Irving (2009-04-06). "Roberta Smith with Irving Sandler". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 2019-09-11. I'm afraid this was especially true when I went to Grinnell [College in Grinnell, Iowa]. I wrote the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington to see about being in their summer intern program. They accepted me, although they were a bit startled to have someone come all the way from Kansas
^Art., Whitney Museum of American (2008). Independent study program : 40 years : Whitney Museum of American Art, 1968-2008 (1st ed.). New York: Whitney Museum of American Art. ISBN9780874271584. OCLC262737522.