Mr. David L. Smith

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SCHOLARLY INFORMATION

David Smith was born in 1921, the son of Jack and Bessie Smith. He graduated from Oakwood High School in 1939 and went on to study at Miami University. He left Miami to serve three years in the U.S Army during WW II. Stationed in the Pacific, he never stopped making art. “When I was in the military during the Second World War, I always carried a pencil in my pocket and a sketchbook in my barracks bag,” said Smith. During this time, he drew a series of 29 pencil drawings that reflected the daily life of a soldier. This series was published shortly before his death in the book Sgt. Smith’s Sketchbook: 1943–1945 a World Away. After the war, he finished his studies at Miami University and then received his MFA from the University of Iowa in 1950.

Smith taught art at Fairmont West High School for 18 years and then 10 years part-time at the Dayton Art Institute and the University of Dayton. He was very active in the local art community throughout his life. He was the past president of the Western Ohio Watercolor Society and Dayton Society of Painters and Sculptors (now Dayton Society of Artists), and a member of the Miami Valley Arts Council. He exhibited his work both locally and nationally.