By ELIZABETH VALK LONG President

Out of the brainstorming sessions that last year culminated in the creation of the front-of-the-magazine Chronicles section came another decision: to open with an original painting depicting someone in the week's news. In the Spotlight has since become a hallmark feature, thanks in large part to the creativity of assistant art director Ken Smith, who assigns and directs the artists.

While the Spotlight paintings are fully executed portraits, they are usually commissioned on a crash basis. The process begins Wednesday morning, when Smith meets with editors to choose the week's subject, then turns to his Rolodex of 160 artists. He and the selected artist exchange sketches and notes via fax, and by 5 o'clock Friday afternoon a finished work of art has arrived in his office, usually by messenger or express delivery.

Sometimes Smith has to improvise. When a Canadian artist's work was impounded by customs, he had to negotiate its release with frantic phone calls. "Every week I feel I've dodged a bullet," he says. Last month he had to dodge a blizzard. A picture arriving late from Los Angeles was grounded by snow in Chicago. It made it into the building at 7 p.m. Saturday, barely beating our final deadline. To do this week's painting of the O.J. Simpson trial, Smith chose Jon Ellis, whose vivid style lends itself to the circus motif-and who delivered on schedule.

Smith's artistic talents were evident when he was a youngster in Aberdeen, South Dakota, where he liked to draw when he wasn't playing basketball. After graduating from the University of Minnesota, he set out for New York City. Studies with graphic-art doyen Milton Glaser at the School of Visual Arts culminated in a "dream job" in TIME's art department. His four-day work schedule gives him time for his own painting-mixed media on panels-which has resulted in several one-man shows.

He still finds time for basketball, as well as volunteer work. A few years ago, he co-founded a program called Poetry in Motion, in which youths completed writing assignments in exchange for the chance to play night basketball. For that effort, Ken won his own spotlight: in 1989 he received a Heiskell Award, an honor sponsored by former Time Inc. chairman Andrew Heiskell for employees who perform outstanding volunteer work.