By Anthony Rifilato
Inside his art classroom at Shubert Elementary School, three-dimensional mobiles dangle from the ceiling. Though most wouldn't know it, some of his students' projects have subtle influences of Smith's own complex artwork, which helps him maintain a dual existence as teacher and artist. Smith has taught at both Shubert and Lenox Elementary Schools for 31 years.
"It's important for an art teacher to be a working artist," said Smith, 54. "But very few are because it's just too hard."
In June, Smith is retiring, and he plans to devote his life to his artwork full time. "It's time to do something else," said Smith, who explained that he can now afford to work solely on his art. He said that he is looking forward to what he calls a passage into a whole new life. Although he could stay another 10 years at Lenox and Shubert, he wants to spend the long hours creating new work.
Earlier this month, Smith had a gallery opening showcasing his eccentric photo art at Soho Photo in Tribeca, where he has been displaying his work for more than 10 years. Some of his works sell for more than $1,000.
Several former students and fellow teachers attended his crowded opening night on May 6. "I was the hit of the night, and they said a lot of nice things," he said.
Juggling life as an artist and teacher hasn't always been easy for Smith. In college at the University of Buffalo, he was a fine-arts major. But the insecurity of life as a struggling artist didn't appeal to him, so he became an education major at Buffalo State. After a stint in the Army in 1970, Smith moved back to Long Island, got married -- he's since divorced -- and eventually landed a job in Baldwin. Smith said that over the years, he has taught the children of former students, and has even seen some of his students become teachers in the district.
"We're all going to miss him," said Joe DeLeo, a music teacher at Shubert and a friend of Smith's. "He truly is a great teacher."
Smith has been active in school activities and was a producer and designer for the Shubert Shakespearean plays such as "The Tempest" and "McWest." He admits he's probably one of the cooler teachers in school, and said his art room can serve as a break from more rigorous classes.
"They need a space for relief," Smith said of his students. "I'm not teaching them to become artists, but [rather] a creative way to think."
Smith's early artistic work was done on cloth. But in 1984, he said, he lost inspiration and stopped, because he felt trapped by what he thought art should be. "There came a time when I stopped," he said. But by 1990, he put away the paint brush and let his creativity re-emerge. He became interested in photo art, taking pictures of old mausoleums, cemetery headstones and using old photographs to create bursting three-dimensional images. Much of his work is influenced by Gothic architecture and Renaissance pieces. His photos of graveyard angels are endlessly scanned and pieced together, and resemble people teeming within a city. Smith turns ordinary images, like one of his uncle on a motorcycle, into exciting kaleidoscopic visualizations by copying and pasting, what he calls "xerographics."
"I just found a new place to be," he said of his heightened creative powers, and said he will soon experiment with digital cameras and Photoshop.
Eventually, Smith said, he would like to settle down in Vermont. "But not right away," he said. "I have things I want to complete here."
