Alexis Smith and Amy Gerstler: The Sorcerer's Apprentice is a collaborative installation by artist Alexis Smith and writer Amy Gerstler, which includes sculptures, collages, wall texts, and dozens of brooms. The installation addresses a number of themes, including fairy tales and their archetypal characters; witchcraft and folk beliefs and their relationships to sexuality, domestic life and drudgery; how women and girls have been cast as the custodians of everyday existence; and the many varied meanings of the word "sweep" and related metaphors.

The installation was inspired by - and has as its centerpiece - Alexis Smith's collection of over 60 brooms in various states of dilapidation, which, in the words of Amy Gerstler, "become a chorus of Cinderella-like presences, whose splayed, split bristles resemble disheveled hair. These seemingly homely props of housekeeping may lead a secret, perhaps magical life."

Alexis Smith and Amy Gerstler: The Sorcerer's Apprentice is organized by the Miami Art Museum. The expanded San Diego presentation is made possible, in part, by The James Irvine Foundation, the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, and the California Arts Council.