The Art of Stuart, Florida
- Geoffrey C. Smith
- 1 hour ago
- 3 min read
Stuart has become its own kind of sculpture garden for me.
After all these years, I can drive through town and see pieces of my life standing in public places, watching over sidewalks, waterfronts, hospitals, parks, and gathering spaces. Some are large enough that nearly everyone knows them. Others are tucked into places people pass every day without always knowing the story behind them.
The Stuart Sailfish is the one most people recognize first. It has become part of the identity of this city, standing tall with the same energy and motion that has always tied Stuart to the water. It is not unusual for someone to walk into the gallery, look around, and ask, “Are you the one who made the sailfish downtown?”
I always love that question, because the Sailfish is only part of the story.
There are the Birds on Colorado Avenue, six different sculptures of common Stuart birds placed along the road. There are the Shell Boys and the Bottlenose Dolphin Trio, each created for Martin Memorial Health. There is the Sea Life Monument at the Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center, filled with the marine life that makes this area so special, most prominently manatees and sea turtles. And there are others around town, each connected in some way to the wildlife, water, and community that make Stuart feel like home.
Pictured: Sea Life Monument (left) and Three Heron Monument (right)
For me, creating public art in Stuart, Florida, has become a real passion. Stuart is my home, and it continues to inspire me. Every new sculpture is another chance to give people something they can live with, walk past, point out to their children, photograph, remember, and feel connected to over time.
That is what good public sculpture can do. It becomes part of a place. And Stuart has given me plenty to work from!
The river, the ocean, the birds moving through the mangroves, the sailfish offshore, the sea turtles, dolphins, manatees, spoonbills, herons, and all the small wild moments that happen here if you are willing to pay attention. So much of my work begins with that kind of observation. From years of watching how animals move, how water changes color, and how light falls across a wing or the surface of a fish.
My gallery in Port Salerno has always felt like an extension of that same idea. At Geoffrey C. Smith Galleries, we show bronze sculptures, original oil paintings, and commissioned works inspired by the natural world. Some pieces begin with the wildlife right outside our doors. Others come from travels farther away. But the foundation is the same: observation, craftsmanship, and a deep respect for the living world.
I have always liked having an open door. People can come in, see what's new, ask questions, look closely at the surface of a bronze, study the texture in a painting, or sometimes even watch me work. That connection matters to me. Art should not feel hidden away from the people who live around it, especially in a city like Stuart, where the landscape, the wildlife, and the community have given me so much.
There is something special about meeting people who have known the public sculptures for years. Some remember me from when the Stuart Sailfish first went up. Some have walked past a sculpture hundreds of times and are only just realizing there is a whole studio and gallery behind it. I'm always happy to introduce myself and show them around when I can.
Public art belongs to the city, but the gallery allows for a more personal connection. You can see the smaller works, the paintings, the studies, the new ideas, and the pieces still in progress. You can see where the public story continues in a more intimate way.
So if you have ever stood beneath the Stuart Sailfish, walked past the Birds on Colorado Avenue, visited the Sea Life Monument, or wondered about the sculptures you see around town, I hope you will stop by the gallery in Port Salerno.
The public pieces are part of the story. The studio is where that story continues.
– Geoffrey C. Smith
