User:Ava11350/sandbox

Ava Valarie Smith, known professionally as AVA, is a Chicagoan rapper, photographer, record producer, and artist. Flying under the radar for many years, much of her portfolio remained unpublished until late 2023.

Early life and education
AVA was born as J* M* Smith (deadname redacted) in LaGrange, IL. Although born a male, she exhibited early signs of gender discongruity that foreshadowed her transition. Raised by successful musicians, she was regularly exposed to a wide variety of genres. Her infancy was spent stage diving performances of Waterhouse Reggae Band, Steel Express Band, and more.

Growing up in Chicago suburbs, AVA attended Lyons Township Highschool (LTHS) graduating in 2015. She would start playing Cello in the 3rd grade, carrying through her primary education for ~10 years. Notably, she would tour in Italy with LTHS's orchestra performing in Pauda, Lucca, and Florence. Additionally, she regularly spent her primary education studying fine arts of painting, jewelry smithing, 3d modeling, and photography. It is currently unknown if many of her early works have survived.

Following high school, AVA would take a hiatus to focus on a secondary education in Computer Science. She would attend Northern Illinois University from 2015 to 2017 before transferring to University of Illinois at Chicago in 2018. Following a non-traditional path, she would take a brief detour in UIC's Arts program. Notable works, sculpture Social Chameleon and photography book Death In Retrograde, were created during this period. She would ultimately return to Computer Science and finish her degree in the Spring of 2021.

2023: SAVANT
Development of SAVANT started in mid 2023 at Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago's Union Park. Although early concepts would be mulled over for years, it wouldn't be until the inspiring words of Leikeli47 that the concept for the album would take shape. Drafts for the album structure and early instrumentals would follow shortly after. However, the majority of SAVANT 's development would take place following AVA 's gender affirmation surgery in August, 2023. Her prolific talent is succinctly captured by the album's short development time. The majority of instrumentals and lyrics were written and recorded in two short months following her major surgery.

2024: AVARICIOUS
Currently unreleased, AVA teases her second studio album with the release of single Voice On Demand. The diss track targets Ye and is stylized as a phone directory for AVA's Ass Whoopin' Service. Kept tightly under wraps, project development has been shrouded in secrecy.

Transition
AVA is a notable champion of the transgender community. Though her transition formally started in the late summer of 2017, early signs were present in much of her childhood. In roughly 2014 she would fail to successfully come out of the closet, repressing the desire for a few more years. Her medical transition would start in 2017 thanks to the informed consent model at Howard Brown Health in Chicago. One year later she would successfully petition for a legal name change to Ava Valarie Smith, marking the death of her past identity. It wouldn't be until late 2023 that she would "finalize" her medical transition with gender affirmation surgery at RUSH.

AVA was regularly a vocal proponent of trans rights in her local communities. However, she would later turn her attention to publicly advocating through her platform as an artist and musician. Many of her works capture and represent the transgender and LGBTQ+ communities.