In September 1987, he assumed the title of director emeritus and continued to work as an independent curator and consultant for museums, arts organizations, and collectors.
[3] Raised in Bennington, New York, Smith graduated from Attica High School in 1948 and attended the Art Institute of Buffalo, where he received a scholarship and studied with local artists who served as faculty members, including Charles Burchfield and James Vullo.
His photo collection also included images of more than 300 artists, collectors, and other individuals involved with the American studio craft movement from 1985 into the first decades of the twenty-first century.
[7] Upon joining the staff of the American Craftsmen's Council in 1957, Smith established a new ACC program for traveling educational exhibitions.
A revised version, Craft Today USA, toured to fifteen European cities under the auspices of the United States Information Agency's (USIA) Arts America Program from 1989 to 1993.
In 2001, as project director and guest curator for the American Craft Museum, he organized the major exhibition Objects for Use: Handmade by Design.
Smith traveled to 46 countries to lecture, serve on competition juries, participate in conferences, consult with arts organizations, and conduct research for exhibitions.
[28] Smith also advised The Center for U.S-China Arts Exchange at Columbia University from 1995 on their project dealing with ethnic culture in the Yunnan Province, and made three trips to China in 1995, 1997, and 2000.