This is located in Millersburg, Dauphin County which is a short distance from Perry County and the history on this conversation facility is outstanding.
Rooted in scenic Susquehanna Valley of Central Pennsylvania and located at 176 Water Company Road in Millersburg, PA is the Ned Smith Center playing an active role in education about nature, art and conservation through a year-long series of workshops, guided walks, lectures, and other special events. Continuing to grow and enrich lives locally and throughout Dauphin County and the surround area.
Following is some history on The Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art and be sure and check out the website for special events throughout the year.
The repository for the art, writings and other work of the late Ned Smith, from whose life the center takes its original inspiration. The center seeks to appeal to all ages, races and genders across Pennsylvania and beyond.
Their goal is to be viewed as a vibrant cornerstone to the cultural, economic, social and environmental life of communities near and far.
- Stanley “Ned” Smith was born Oct. I, 1919 in Millersburg, PA, a small town on the Susquehanna River north of Harrisburg. A self-trained artist and naturalist, in his 46-year career he created thousands of astonishingly accurate drawings and paintings of wildlife for books, magazines and other publications, as well as dozens of limited-edition prints.
Ned was producing quality wildlife illustrations when he completed high school in the 1930’s, but after graduation he began working, not as an artist, but as a lathe operator in a machine shop – a steady income for him and his new wife, Marie Reynolds, his childhood sweetheart.
He continued to draw and paint, however, spending every spare moment in the field – a habit that continued throughout his life, and honed his abilities as both an observer of wildlife, and one of the best naturalists the region has ever produced. In 1939 he made his first commercial sale, a cover painting for Pennsylvania Angler Magazine, and a fulltime illustration job for Samworth Publishing soon followed; the Smith’s lived for a year on the Samworth estate in South Carolina as Ned illustrated the hunting and firearms books that Samworth produced.
After their return to Pennsylvania, Ned landed a job as the staff illustrator with the Pa. Game Commission, the beginning of a lifelong association with the state’s wildlife agency. Over the years, he created nearly 120 cover paintings for Pennsylvania Game News, the agency’s magazine, and in the 1960s he began a monthly column be dubbed “Gone for the Day” that proved to be enduringly popular.
With Marie functioning as his business partner as well as his birding, camping and fishing companion and with his Game Commission work as a platform, Ned’s reputation and reach as an artist quickly grew. In 1953 he left the Game Commission and started fulltime as a freelance artist. His freelance work included long-running columns, articles and illustrations in Sports Afield, National Wildlife, Pennsylvania Anger, South Carolina Wildlife, National Geographic and other magazines, and over the years he illustrated 14 books. In 1983 he was given the honor of creating Pennsylvania’s first-ever state duck stamp.
During the same period, he also created several of the Game Commission’s Working Together for Wildlife prints, including “Dutch Country Bluebirds,” one of his most popular pieces, as well as fundraising prints for the National Wild Turkey Federation, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, and other organizations.
For many years, Ned battled heart disease; in the spring of 1985, while working in the garden of their Millersburg home, he died of a heart attack at the age of 65. Since his death, the value of his work has continued to rise. From Marie’s initial desire to find an institution to house her extensive collection of Ned’s art eventually grew the idea for the Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art. Marie died unexpectedly in 2002, shortly after that a check for $2 million was given to the Ned Smith Center for construction of the facility that would fulfill Marie’s dream for Ned.
June 2011 was the opening of the permanent Ned Smith Gallery with the help of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. In 2014 the beautiful open-air amphitheater became a reality. You can now find regional and national acts performing here, under the stars, with the backdrop of the gorgeous woods and stream. In 2018 the Nature’s Discovery Play area opened. The nature-inspired play area is a “yes” space for children to explore the water feature, fort, sensory pathway, and much more.
