Curated by Jessica Reichman, the exhibition, “Dick Smith and His Back Country Wilderness,” told the story of an extraordinary man who opened many eyes to the unique beauty and critical historical and ecological value of the San Rafael Range of the Los Padres National Forest. Through his reporting for the Santa Barbara News-Press and the photographs he took of the Santa Barbara back country, he helped to convince many to support the passage of the Wilderness Act in 1964 and the inclusion of the San Rafael Wilderness as the first area preserved under the legislation. So revered was he, that when he died in 1977, his friends lobbied successfully for the adjoining area of the Los Padres National Forest to be designated a wilderness area in his memory. The Dick Smith Wilderness is one of only three wilderness areas named after a Californian, the other two being the John Muir Wilderness and the Ansel Adams Wilderness.

Smith was especially interested in the California condor, and his determination to study the bird’s behavior and habitat, and champion its protection, led to the publication of two of his most popular books, “California’s Back Country” and “California Condor: Vanishing American.”

In many ways Smith was a renaissance man. Not only was he a journalist, self-taught naturalist, and conservationist, but an accomplished photographer and artisan. The exhibition included his outstanding photographs of soaring condors and other wildlife (including the iconic photograph of the oil-soaked bird that was distributed nationally, after the fateful oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara in 1969, that sparked the environmental movement). It also included hand-drawn maps, annotated and illustrated photo albums that he often made and gave to friends as momentos of their wilderness journeys, and all kinds of hand-made items including carved chests, duck decoys and shorebirds, and a saddle which he made from scratch. The photographs, artifacts, and memorabilia in the exhibition were borrowed from his family and friends and from the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History where Smith was a Board member for some years.

The exhibition was accompanied by an illustrated 16-page monograph about Dick Smith, with essays by the curator, Barney Brantingham, Bob Sollen, and Bud Bottoms, which was underwritten by the law firm of Allen & Kimbell.

Ancillary programming during the run of the exhibition included day-long classes on October 10 and November 14, under the auspices of Santa Barbara City College Continuing Education program, a pack-trip into the San Rafael Wilderness, “In the footsteps of Dick Smith,” October 18-20, for both hikers and horse-back riders, and a panel discussion about Smith and his legacy at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, October 22

In conjunction with the exhibit opening, The Wildling Art Museum honored the memory of Dick Smith with its annual Wilderness Spirit Award on September 16, 2006.