Stephen F. Smalley graduated from Massachusetts College of Art, State College at Boston and The Pennsylvania State University. Joining the art faculty at Bridgewater State University in 1972, he served as department chair 1972-1984 and retired from full-time teaching in 2005. As professor emeritus and part-time faculty, he continues to offer honors art history colloquia, which often focus on topics such as graffiti, art of the tattoo, Pop art, Andy Warhol & Jackson Pollock. Other teaching positions were with the Cambridge Public Schools, Pennsylvania State University, Tyler School of Art/Temple University, Massachusetts College of Art and the American College in Paris.
His ongoing Henry VIII series focuses on the legendary British monarch and attempts to playfully re-invent Hans Holbein's portrait of a pivotal figure in England's history. Smalley has visited London and the United Kingdom numerous times over the years, conducting art history study tours to London, and served as a faculty associate in the Bridgewater State University Program at Oxford.