Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Passion for arts yields honor

Judy Smooke is chamber pick for Arts Advocate of the Year


By SABINA DANA PLASSE
Express Staff Writer

Judy Smooke is the 2010 Wood River Valley Community Awards Arts Advocate of the Year. Photo by

"Arts are food for the soul," said Judy Smooke, who has been selected as this year's Arts Advocate of the Year by the Sun Valley-Ketchum Chamber & Visitors Bureau and the Hailey Chamber of Commerce.

"I think the arts are more important than ever," Smooke said. "We need the arts especially in hard economic times."

Smooke's list of the boards, councils and committees she has served on and continues to serve on in the valley is impressive and quite extensive. She has watched the Wood River Valley arts community grow and has supported it since she arrived with her family in the 1970s.

She has served on the advisory board of the Elkhorn Music Festival, as president of the Sun Valley Center for the Arts and Humanities, on the vestry of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, on the Sun Valley Center for the Arts advisory council, as chair and founder of St. Thomas Episcopal Church art committee, as a member of the board of directors for the Sun Valley Summer Symphony as well as vice president of education for the Sun Valley Summer Symphony and on the Wood River Arts Alliance board.

Beyond supporting the arts community on boards and committees, Smooke has volunteered for the St. Luke's Wood River Medical Center and has been a member of the grants committee for the Wood River Women's Charitable Foundation.

"I am very passionate about the arts," she said. "When The Center started to bring music, lectures and all sorts of things to the valley we just loved it."

Smooke has always been involved in the arts, having grown up in Los Angeles with parents who exposed her to all facets of the arts, including exhibitions, symphony concerts, dance and other art disciplines. In addition, Smooke and her husband, Richard, continue to take classes, travel, collect art and subscribe to several publications about all facets of the arts.

Smooke started the docent program at The Center and loves to study art, including the exhibitions at The Center.

"I love the outreach at St. Thomas Playhouse for the kids, the Company of Fools' classes in the summer and the symphony's education program, which has its 10th anniversary this summer," she said.

Smooke said everyone can be an arts advocate through donations, volunteering and writing letters to legislators. In addition, she said people need to show up at events and activities.

"Everyone can support the arts by attending," she said. "Read the arts section of the Idaho Mountain Express. Where in the world can you here Joshua Bell for free? But the bills have to be paid and a little bit of money goes a long way, so if people can donate, they should."

Smooke said everyone should go to Gallery Walks even if it's something that's not appealing because it broadens one's horizons and challenges the brain.

"It's the only way to learn," she said. "We need to realize that not every child is a hockey player or skier. This is why the symphony's school of music is so important and why the public needs to support the arts."

Smooke wants to see the valley become more aware of what is going on in the arts by participating.

"This community is amazing," she said. "It's important for parents to take kids out and to exhibitions, plays, music and family days. It's especially important for people who can't leave the valley to sign kids up for classes and get kids involved."

Smooke and six other winners will be honored at The Valley Club, north of Hailey, at a reception on Friday, April 30, at 6:30 p.m.

Sabina Dana Plasse: splasse@mtexpress.com




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