Arthur Cooke Smith III

At the age of 71, after living "ten lifetimes," Arthur C. Smith III, of Kaktovik, Alaska, passed away on April 20, 2025. It was a beautiful Easter day.

Born in Elmira, NY on July 19, 1953, Arthur was predeceased by his parents, Arthur C. Jr. and Louise Smith.

Art is survived by his wife and Sweetie of 17 years, Jennifer Ann Smith; his children Arthur C. (Heather) Smith IV, of Seattle, WA; Nicole (Jason) Newsted, of Jupiter Island, FL; Jennifer Naused of Canandaigua; Jesse Smith (Kalika), of Elmira; siblings Tyler Smith, Matthew (Kelly) Smith and Polly (DeLos) Blackwell of Elmira; grandchildren Evan, Ian, Owen, Aaron, Emerson, Izabella and Raelynn; and many nieces and nephews.

Art (a.k.a."Swifty") graduated from Thomas Edison High School in Elmira, NY in 1971. He then attended the University of Rochester, where he majored in Photography. He later attended Cornell University's School of Agriculture. After graduating from Cornell, Art went on to manage the family beef farm for 10 years. Stanford Seed Company employed him as research director, developing hybrid seed corn and testing plots throughout the Northeast.

He had many passions, pursued them without restraint, and excelled in them all.

His motto was, "Make every day count."

As a young musician, he became an accomplished bass guitar player for the progressive metal band, Kronos.

He once shot through the middle of a quarter at a distance of 100 yards with a 40x Remington 6mm. He showed it to anyone who would listen, especially fellow shooters.

As a woodworker, he built the family home from the "sidewalk" up, adjacent to his father's legacy, the Tanglewood Nature Center in upstate New York.

Inspired by the time he and his father, "Doc," spent in the outdoors, Art's passion was to experience and share his love of nature through photography and cinematography.

He shot for Grant Heilman Photography, an agency that sent him from the swamps of South Florida to Alaska. There, in Hyder, having just turned 40, a close encounter with a grizzly bear taught him to follow his heart.

"I realized that the worst thing I could do is die with regret," he recalled, "At that moment, I committed to Alaska. Since then, I've been going full tilt."

Art photographed across the state before settling on Barter Island, off the north coast, where he and Jennifer met and were married on the beach in 2008 by Reverend Maryann Warden. The ceremony was witnessed by Inupiat elders Daniel and Lillian Akootchook.

There, in the village of Kaktovik, Art discovered the inspiration that motivated the last decades of his work and life: the polar bears.

While working various jobs to support his passion (Waldo Arms Hotel, Frontier Flying Service, USGS, City of Kaktovik), Art devoted nearly two decades to photographing and filming the natural history of the Alaskan arctic.

In a time of melting sea ice, he was gravely concerned about polar bears' need for coastal land habitat for survival.

Bearing witness to this is his non-narrated independent documentary, Ice Bears of the Beaufort, scored by Patrick O'Hearn.

Recognized for its contemplative cinematography, "Ice Bears" received many festival awards and was screened nationwide and overseas.

Art and Jennifer worked as a team to build a one-of-a-kind library of arctic footage, which reached audiences worldwide on networks such as Nat Geo, BBC, and PBS.

During the winter months, he "denned up," writing a movie screenplay that he described as "a Book of Revelations fairy tale with polar bears."

He loved living in the far north and felt honored to be part of the Kaktovik community for 19 years. "He was a jolly, happy soul..."

Toward the end of his life, he rediscovered his interest in multichannel audio recording. When not shooting, summer found him capturing the arctic symphony of bird sounds, or basking with his "Sweetie" in blessed silence under the midnight sun.

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His brother, Matt, recalls...
Who was Swifty? (to me)
He was a photographer
He was a musician and bandmate
He was a herdsman
He was a grower
He was a builder
He was a cinematographer
He was an explorer
He was an inspiration
He was a teacher
He was a supporter
He was a confidant
He was a protector
He was a friend
He was my brother

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His sister, Polly, recalls...

I always looked up to Swifty, as my oldest brother, as someone who could do anything. He never let anything hold him back from doing what he felt driven to do. He inspired me to take chances in doing things with my life that I may not have done otherwise.

His mantra was "What are you waiting for? Just do it."

I sometimes now ask myself, "What would Swifty do?" So his inspiration will always live on.

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