By Claudia Loucks
Correspondent

David and Dale Smith didn’t move to Geneseo just to open their business, Smith Studio and Gallery in downtown Geneseo. They have been instrumental in the growth of the business community and have spearheaded efforts in the addition of several community events.

David Smith recently was honored as the recipient of the Lloyd Schoeneman Community Award from the Quad City Arts. Three honorees are recognized each year for their work as an artist, or for their work as an educator, or for their work in supporting the arts in their community.

“I was honored and was recognized for my efforts as an ‘Art Support’ in the community,” Smith explained.

He and his wife visited Geneseo for the first time 14 years ago, “on Father’s Day,” he recalled. “After teaching in several educational settings, kindergarten through college, and upon nearing the age of retirement, my wife and I started looking at what might be ‘next’ on our life’s journey.”

That “looking” took several forms over the next few years, he said, and added, “but ended up to be opening an art gallery and studio; and contributing to the community. For several years we looked for the right community to which we might move. We wanted to be outside of the Chicago area, and though we looked into Wisconsin and Iowa as places to move, we established that Illinois was the place to be.”

“Several offers to purchase buildings in several towns all fell through,” Smith explained. “So, we spent an additional year in which we traveled to over 100 communities. On Father’s Day, 14 years ago, we came to Geneseo for the first time…Father’s Day in Geneseo is very special.”

On future visits, the couple met with the Mayor and with officials from the Geneseo Chamber of Commerce and Smith said, “They were all very supportive and encouraging.”

The building at 124 South State Street, where Smith Studio and Gallery is located in downtown Geneseo, was at that time in foreclosure and was available…”It needed a lot of work,” Smith said. “There was mold and mildew in the building. The roof had failed on multiple occasions. The second floor was full of discarded refuse, and several dead animals. But the building had good ‘bones,’ and we saw the possibility of a future business and home.”

At a time when properties were not selling rapidly, the couple made an offer to the bank and obtained what they call the “fixer-upper” in downtown Geneseo.

Work began on the building while Smith continued to teach in the West Chicago area for two additional years.

His first two years of retirement were filled with working full time on building repairs and remodeling. Even though building repairs were not entirely complete, the Smith Studio and Gallery opened for business on Saturday, May 11, 2013…”Our first artwork sold the next day,” he said.

Six months after opening the business, the Geneseo Park District approached the Smith couple and asked if they could partner in offering art classes to children in the community…”This eight-year partnership continues to this day with the children’s art classes now being on Saturdays,” Smith said.

And that was just the beginning of the many community activities offered at Smith Studio…“Every Thursday night we have an adult art activity,” Smith added. “On the first and third Thursdays of the month we have an ‘adult only’ activity that is often a step-by-step evening of art. On the second and fourth Thursday we have an Open Studio night that is open to adults and middle to high school-age students. On Open Studio nights we help whoever comes through the door with whatever art media they wish to explore. With every art event we offer, we include all art materials. No one has to buy an expensive art material simply to see if they like using it. They can try it at the Studio and we will help them to become comfortable with the art media they are exploring.”

It isn’t just at Smith Studio that David and Dale Smith share their love of art.

In addition to activities at Smith Studio, David Smith has been involved in numerous downtown events including the annual “ArtWalk.”

He said the concept of an “ArtWalk” had been shared at Chamber of Commerce meetings…”In 2016, the Chamber was looking for more of an ‘anchor’ event for the open house weekend they sponsored. An 'ArtWalk' was posted on the Chamber’s calendar, but two weeks before the event there was little that was planned. Dale and I stepped forward and took the initiative. We contacted the art and music teachers at the high school, and some of our artist friends, and we started to place artists and musicians inside different businesses on State Street. Thus, the ‘ArtWalk’ was born.”

By 2018, the third year of the event, Smith realized that if he chaired the “ArtWalk,” he could not be in the event as a contributing artist…”So other people stepped forward to chair the event, Bethany Winkleman and Mariah Hutchinson,” he said. “Organizing the ‘ArtWalk’ eventually landed on the lap of the Chamber of Commerce and they established a committee that works together to organize this special Geneseo day of art.”

“The Geneseo community is a unique and wonderful business environment in which to work,” David Smith said. ‘Though there are different ideas and opinions on where growth should take place, and what that growth should be like. With time, consensus always seems to be reached. What must be realized is the strong downtown-small town, business community that has been built by community members over many years. We saw this strong sense of community support upon our first visit to Geneseo. Historically, business people like George Kutsunis and the late Don Klavohn and many others have established a strong sense of businesses working together in Geneseo.”

Working together continues today.

“Covid hits the community and long loved practices and traditions fail us,” Smith shared. ‘We have to think outside the box.”

That is just what Smith did…”Halloween of 2020 may never have happened. But with some ‘outside of the box’ thinking, it was realized that instead of a crowded downtown ‘Bootiful Saturday’ event, we could move it to the open air of the City Park. Combining this with a love of sculptured art, we created “’Scarecrow Row’. This continued as a wonderful event in 2021, and now in 2022, with another planned ‘Scarecrow Row,’ we have a new annual event. We now have thousands of spectators coming to the City Park to see the generous Halloween creations made by contributors from all over the Geneseo area.”

In addition to downtown efforts, David Smith has led free Halloween Jack-O-Lantern carving workshops to all the Geneseo schools and in many schools in the surrounding areas….”I have offered workshops to adults and children at the Geneseo Library and in any surrounding community libraries. But the pandemic offered unique challenges. I realized that while in Geneseo we have excellent art educators, in many surrounding communities there was no art educator to support creative ideas during at-home learning.”

Smith created online art activities that would be accessible to all children wherever they might be….”There were ideas a child might take as an art activity, with items they probably already had at home,” he said. “These short lessons were to be 3-5 minutes in length. Then I had to figure out to create them with equipment I had and download them to our Face book page without the advantage of fiber optics. It was quite a challenge. Once I had about 18 videos downloaded my support services failed me and downloading became impossible. But the Geneseo Library stepped forward. They had a need for digital lessons and I had lessons ready to support their need. To this day you can find five virtual art lessons on the Geneseo Library’s webpage and there are also some of the original art lessons on the Face book page from the Smith Studio and Gallery.”

He said many children in Geneseo and surrounding areas have followed the “Kid’s Korner” art activities…”I have also heard from children who loved the activities from as far away as Australia,” he said.

Smith Studio and Gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and closed on Sunday and Monday.