Randall Reid-Smith

Photo by Steve Brightwell.

By Arianna Whitehair

“It is important to give back because in my life, so much has been given to me. God has abundantly blessed me.”

This gratitude is what drives Randall Reid-Smith, who is currently serving his 17th year as commissioner and curator for the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History. Growing up in Barboursville, WV, Reid-Smith credits the local library’s summer book reading clubs and arts programs for fueling his lifelong passion for the arts; a passion that would take him all around the world, only to eventually call him back home.

As a professional singer, Reid-Smith apprenticed with the Santa Fe Opera before an international journey where he sang for 14 consecutive and successful seasons.

“The single most important lesson I learned through being a performing artist is simple: no matter what happens on stage, 10:30 p.m. comes every night. Once the show started, you had to finish regardless of what occurred on stage,” he says.

Reid-Smith credits his mother, Wilma Smith; his voice teacher at the Indiana University School of Music, Margaret Hanshaw; and his European agent, Ilse Zellermayer, for supporting him and providing him with the necessary skills and persevering attitude that allowed him to excel as both an artist and curator.

“Once Joe Manchin became governor, he brought me home to manage all the arts programs in West Virginia,” says Reid-Smith. “When Jim Justice became governor in 2017, he and the Legislature created the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History as a standalone agency, and he appointed me as curator, which is a cabinet-level position. We then embarked on a period of record growth for the arts in West Virginia, which complements the rocket ship ride of success that we are experiencing in our state.”

Preceding the creation of this department and Reid-Smith’s appointment as curator, West Virginia saw record growth for the arts. Reid-Smith is always in search of an opportunity to support and give back to his beloved community.

“My interest in building a stronger future for the arts in West Virginia is based upon supporting and creating arts education programs,” he says.

In 2009, he began a collaboration with VH1 Save The Music Foundation to award grants of $40,000 for musical instruments across 121 different schools throughout the state. In 2010, as a way to celebrate the reopening of the West Virginia State Museum—a project that Reid-Smith was able to bring to completion after it had been stalled for eight years—he started the West Virginia State History Bowl.

“We award $10,000 annually to eighth graders who compete on teams in a quiz bowl format demonstrating the knowledge of West Virginia history,” he says.

Reid-Smith serves as an adjunct professor for West Virginia State University, sits on the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra board and frequently works with his local high school, Cabell Midland.

“I look for organizations that have a strong educational outreach program. If it deals with kids, I am in to help,” he says.

Reid-Smith oversees and provides administrative support to the West Virginia Educational Broadcasting Authority, National Coal Heritage Area Authority, West Virginia Early Childhood Advisory Council, West Virginia State Archives and History and West Virginia Library Commission, and he serves as chairman of the West Virginia Records Management and Preservation Board and the West Virginia Semiquincentennial Commission.

A perfect example of the saying, “you’ll always find your way back home,” Reid-Smith—his roots firmly planted in Appalachian soil—went from using his love of the arts to entertain international audiences to returning home to sow seeds of inspiration in the young minds of budding artists, musicians and students in West Virginia.

“I have lived and worked all over the world. However, West Virginia is my home. My family and my friends are here. I want to give them my very best,” he says. “There is no other place on earth that I love more than West Virginia. There is no one I love more than West Virginians.”