Dolph Smith

(b. 1934) lives in Ripley in Lauderdale County
Tennarkippi Tales: Journey to Canterbury
wood, graphite, copper, paint, 17 ¾ x 20 ½  x 10 inches 2005.61.2

My first class was with Burton Callicott, and he became a teacher then a mentor, and we taught together at the college and became really good friends. – Smith

Longtime educator, painter, and bookmaker from Memphis, Smith taught for many years at Memphis College of Art and retired in 1995. In 2004, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts at the Memphis College of Art. In 2011 Smith received Tennessee’s highest honor in the arts, the Governor’s Arts Award in the Distinguished Artist Award category. He now lives in Ripley where he calls his home Tennarkippi.

Since I haven’t come very far, I began years ago to create a mythological region I call Tennarkippi (so-called for Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi, the tri-states where Smith has spent his life). It is an apolitical partisan community, upbeat and a bit loony. It is my version of the Mid-South. …and I can go as far as my imagination can take me. – Smith