R.I.P. Clare Smith
About
It is with great sadness that we announce that DAD Founder Director Clare Smith passed on the evening of Saturday December 10th 2022. Clare will be greatly missed, but will live on in the memories of the many people that she touched in her lifetime, her pioneering work with DAD and the cultural scene of Dover, as well as through her drawing club, studio collective and extensive artworks.
Clare Smith Obituary press release
Kent online January 11th 2023
Dover Mercury January11-17 2023 CS Obituary
Joanna Jones Co-Founder of Dover Arts Development spoke these words about Clare.
Now in retrospect I realise that I met Clare around the time she made the decision to establish herself as an artist, and it is about Clare, the artist that I have been asked to say a few words.
After meeting Clare in London at a London Biennale exhibition in 2004 and discovering we both lived in Dover, we met regularly. We began to discuss ideas to make something happen that would be specific to Dover and establish its position within the emerging Art landscape of the Southeast. We organised the first of several London Biennale pollinations in Dover, together with artist Alma Tischlerwood and together with artist/curator Christine Gist we formed the Dover Arts Development partnership in 2006. Then in 2008, when Christine moved to Hastings, Clare and I constituted DAD, as a not-for-profit Limited company, with ourselves as directors.
It had become clear that Clare had a sound strategic business sense, admin knowledge and an ease with money, including seeking funding, which for an artist is unusual. As artists we had skills that complemented each other – our DAD collaboration was dynamic, ambitious, very creative and a lot of fun. We imagined 46 multi-stranded projects where we were able to invite artists (nearly 200 in all) to bring different aspects of these projects to life. We partnered with major organisations in the Southeast and France as well as smaller businesses and organisations within Dover and Dover District. Within DAD Clare realised herself as an artist as well as her talent and passion for creating communities through drawing and sewing.
With Helen Lindon, the 3 of us, created a trilogy of films for 3 consecutive Folkestone SALT festivals. The films were rooted in elemental situations by the sea in Dover, Folkestone and at Samphire Hoe and anchored in drawing.
Drawing became more and more central to Clare’s individual practice realising itself in 2020 with her first series of Chemo drawings with which she went on to attain national recognition.
The restriction of physical movement, the anticipation of an allotted time and day, the feeling/knowledge of the chemo substance entering her body as she drew exploring primal marks that built through complex layering on the Chinese paper, rooted in her maternal heritage; all fed into these intense, beautiful and e-motional drawings that transcend the means of their making.
Clare made things happen – wonderfully pragmatic, with a huge resilient generous spirit and no hint of self pity is how I saw Clare draw her way – deeply inspirational to those of us who had the luck to know and love her.
The photo of Clare Smith is taken by Joanna in Clare’s beloved shared studio at Astley Avenue home of the Dover studio Collective.