Smith discusses his lifelong connection to wildlife art and what it means to bring this piece to life.
From Wood Carving to Bronze Casting: How Geoffrey Smith Found His Medium
Walk into Geoffrey Smith’s studio on Dixie Highway in Stuart and you understand why he never left. Bronze creatures fill every surface — sailfish, sea turtles, kingfishers, an octopus mid-reach. Outside, a rewilded preserve hums with egrets and spoonbills. In fact, manatees have been known to wander in at high tide.
Smith is one of America’s most celebrated wildlife sculptors. His 18-foot bronze sailfish is the iconic symbol of downtown Stuart. In 2017, his lotus sculpture Rising Above was presented by President Trump to Pope Francis as an official diplomatic gift. It now lives permanently in the Vatican. And he’s currently at work on a new bronze peregrine falcon for Indian River State College (The River). This bird is the College’s mascot.
It started with a grandfather — a retired orthopedic surgeon who carved wood and passed the skill to his grandson. Smith grew up hunting and fishing on the northern California coast. He made duck decoys through high school and college before relocating to Montana, where he discovered bronze casting. The difference from woodcarving struck him immediately.
“I’m going from working with wood, where you’re taking away the whole time,” said Smith. “With the sculpting, you would add wax and then take it away, add, take away. So you couldn’t mess it up, you just keep working it.”
He cast his first piece, sold it, and never looked back. “I thought, holy smokes — I could make this work.”
A Studio Rooted in Florida Wildlife: Manatees, Kingfishers, and a Rewilded Preserve
He arrived in Stuart in 1997 and stumbled into a downtown gallery space when the previous tenant was moving out. “They had the perfect pigeon,” he laughs. He ran it for nearly 30 years.
The drive behind his art, Smith says, comes from “someplace deep and dark.” He describes himself as compelled to tell the story of the wild. He is frustrated that so many people miss the nature right in front of them.
“So many people don’t see the nature around them,” said Smith. “You can’t get to my gallery without passing a kingfisher — they are everywhere. And I know it drives my wife crazy when we’re driving because she doesn’t think I pay attention to the road.”
His studio property reflects that obsession: he’s rewilded the preserve behind it. During Florida’s manatee crisis, the animals found their way in to graze on cordgrass he planted. “We even had the manatees coming up and eating the salt marsh cordgrass when all the manatees were starving. I love it.”
The Stuart Bronze Sailfish: A Treasure Coast Landmark With Global Reach
The Stuart sailfish commission began with a T-shirt fundraiser that wasn’t going to get the job done. Smith worked his connections — hauling sculptures to fishing tournaments, asking for donations — until one patron, Ed Selian, waved him off. “He said, ‘I’ll pay for the whole thing.’”
The piece took a year and a half. It became something nobody predicted.
“That fish is known in the sport fishing world around the world. You can go to Costa Rica, into the marina — I say the Sailfish and they go, Oh, that Geoffrey Smith.”
“I could never have dreamt of the impact that one sculpture would have. I think that speaks to the power of art.”
“Rising Above”: The Florida Lotus Sculpture That Became a Vatican Diplomatic Gift
The lotus piece for the Vatican had similarly humble origins — a family airboat trip on Lake Okeechobee, where Smith first encountered the flower. He eventually made a version for a hospital entrance. When the State Department called, he knew exactly which piece to offer. “I said, that piece — I think what could be more fitting?”
He wasn’t allowed to say anything in advance. The morning the news broke, his phone rang before six. “It was my wife’s ex-husband. He’s like, ‘Geoffrey, turn on the news. You won’t believe it.’”
The River’s Peregrine Falcon Bronze: A Symbol of Student Commitment
The Indian River State College falcon commission is personal. His daughter Carolyn earned her AA through the Clark Advanced Learning Center via the College’s Dual Enrollment program. Her college diploma arrived roughly one week after her high school graduation. Smith attended the graduation ceremony and came away moved.
“I’ve been to lots of graduations — MBAs, college. And I said that graduation was the best. President Moore included everybody. What a great place Indian River State College is.”
The sculpture captures the instant a peregrine falcon commits to its dive — 160 miles an hour, nothing stopping it.
“It’s captured the moment of decision — when that bird has gone from just flying around to seeing its prey, and now it’s committed. For the student, the symbolism: they see their future, they know they’re going to graduate and move forward. Hopefully the students will resonate with that.”
Asked what keeps him rooted here when the world has clearly noticed him, Smith doesn’t hesitate.
“Martin County is like a living sculpture garden for me. Community, friends, family — I built my life here. This is my happy place.”
Most mornings, he is paddleboarding to Jupiter Island before the sun gets too high, watching whatever wildlife is nearby. Then a 10-minute drive to the studio, where the bronze work awaits.
“If I’m not out doing an adventure in the wild, I like to be making something.”
Click here for the RiverTalk interview with wildlife bronze sculptor Geoffrey Smith on IRSC Public Media. Smith discusses his career, his Treasure Coast studio, and what drives him to capture Florida’s wildlife in bronze.
To follow the development of Smith’s falcon statue for Indian River State College, visit the College’s website at irsc.edu.
