SHREVEPORT, La. - Long before his paintings hung inside Shreveport Regional Airport or earned him an invitation to one of the world's most prestigious artist fellowships in France, Ron Smith was just a little boy in Belcher drawing cotton pickers, tractors and crop dusters from his classroom desk.
His second-grade teacher noticed his gift and let him draw after he finished his schoolwork. Three years later, another mentor, Tilmer Keels, nurtured a different talent by teaching Smith to play the drums.
Those early acts of encouragement helped shape the man Smith would become.
"I started drawing in pencil in the second grade because I finished my work," Smith recalled. "My teacher would just let me draw."
Growing up in the small Caddo Parish community of Belcher as one of eight children, Smith developed a love for both art and music. He attended Mississippi Valley State University on a music scholarship but earned a degree in commercial art, launching a career as a graphic designer in Shreveport.
Then, in 1995, his life changed in an instant.
A motorcycle crash crushed both of his wrists.
"I had no idea if I would live or die," Smith said. "I broke both wrists. That broke me. But it also made me."
Although he eventually returned to playing the drums at church, painting would come later.
That changed in 2015.
His youngest son, Austin, was studying digital media and creating art every day. Watching him reignited something Smith thought he had lost.
"One day I said, 'Austin, I think I want to paint,'" Smith said. "He said, 'Daddy, I thought you'd never ask.'"
Soon afterward, longtime friend and fellow artist Henry Price handed Smith paintbrushes, canvases and everything he needed to begin again.
"I had no excuse," Smith said with a smile.
Since then, Smith's work has become a familiar sight throughout Shreveport. His paintings can be found in public spaces, including Shreveport Regional Airport, The Strand, and Live! Casino & Hotel to name a few. He has become an active member of the city's arts community while continuing to serve as a graphic designer and church drummer.
This fall, Smith will take another unexpected step in his artistic journey after being selected for an internationally acclaimed artist residency in France, where he will join just 28 creatives from around the world.
At first, he thought the acceptance email was a scam.
"I Googled it," he laughed. "It said if not the most sought-after, it's the second most sought-after residency in the world. I was like, 'Whoa.'"
Even after learning the invitation was real, Smith said he struggled to believe he belonged.
"I struggled believing it. I struggled feeling worthy," he said.
It was his sons, and later, the Shreveport community, that convinced him to go. Friends, fellow artists and supporters donated money to help make the trip possible.
"I was trying to sell art," Smith said. "They said, 'No, we just want to bless you.'"
Smith plans to return from France not only with new ideas but with a renewed commitment to the community that shaped him. Three months after his residency, he will debut an exhibition inspired by the experience and share what he learned with fellow artists.
"I can't survive without community," he said. "I'm just trying to be the catalyst."
That philosophy can be traced back to a simple phrase featured on a flyer from one of Smith's earliest art shows alongside a photograph of him and his son: **Remember. Dream. Inspire.**
Those words have become more than the title of an exhibition. They tell the story of Smith's life.
He remembers the small house in Belcher where his journey began, a home he later immortalized in one of his paintings. He dared to dream again after believing his artistic chapter had ended. And today, he hopes his story will inspire others to discover that setbacks don't have to define the rest of their lives.
"I can't imagine being anywhere else," Smith said. "I'm sent to serve ... to come back with knowledge."
For Smith, success has never been about leaving home.
It's about bringing something back.