“I would be allowed to do things to decorate the bulletin boards in the third and fourth grades,” said Smith who mentioned his elementary and high school art teachers Mr. Cook and Mr. Walter Peabody Guy, respectively as he spoke. “Mr. Cook would try to cultivate my talent and critique my work when I would be allowed to draw things for the bulletin boards. I was happy when they sent me to Manassas because that really carved my future for me. I had teachers throughout my school years, like my sculpting professor at the Memphis Academy of Arts Mr. John Shaffer, who really promoted my talents and propelled me to use them to my advantage.” Smith attended the Memphis Academy of Arts (MAA) on a part time basis majoring in sculpture after graduating high Ford Nelson school and before being drafted into the Vietnam War for a short period of time. He wasn’t able to secure a scholarship to study full time at MAA, but his work was so good, he was selected to be and served as an assistant to his sculpting professor helping him to sculpt parts for the Chevrolet Corvair using clay. His MAA painting teachers were amazed at his untrained abilities to paint a still life and make it look so realistic. Smith also frequently assisted the famed civil rights photojournalist, Dr. Ernest C. Withers (1922 – 2007) in his Beale Street studio. He had many opportunities growing up. There were many paths he knew he could have taken and excelled at in life. “There were many people around me at Manassas and in the neighborhood who were successfully embarking upon careers as musicians, football, and basketball players,” said Smith who has more than 50 years of experience in the art industry, “but I told myself that I was going to be an artist.” Smith’s works have been featured locally, throughout the mid-south, and all over the world. He creates his crafts with silicone, injection molds, elastomers, and hand-laid fiberglass among other materials. His finishes include all the standard colors of the rainbow plus the fancier bronze, silver, gold, and aluminum finishes. His work can be found in companies of all sizes and locations including the former Libertyland, the Holiday Inn hotel chain, Captain D’s and Big Boy Restaurants, and he has created custom-designed jewelry for Cunningham’s Watch & Jewelry Repair, a local jeweler here in Memphis, Tennessee. He’s created everything from rings and necklaces, to cars and boats, to statutes and bridges, to waterfalls and landscaping, to parts for government missiles and more. He’s completely designed the interiors of daycares and grocery stores and has had to travel great lengths on occasion to assemble his masterpieces once delivered. “It’s like putting a puzzle together,” said Smith, a teacher of arts who creatively calls himself an ArtEngineer. “You name it. When it comes to art, I can do it and I can teach others to do it too. I design it, sculpt it, cut it out, and assemble it. My name is Nelson Smith the Third and I am a General Practitioner of Art.” 2
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