Ralph Smith might owe his career to a stop that the Minneapolis Orchestra made in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania in the 1940's. The professor emeritus of Educational Policy Studies has a very clear recollection of standing backstage at his high school, watching Sr. Thomas Beechum conduct the orchestra and what an extraordinary experience it was. An appropriate start for a career that would lead him to the University of Illinois and to found, and for 34 years, edit, one of the top academic journals devoted to aesthetic theory and practice.

Aesthetics? That's just art, right? Well, no, actually. As Smith defines it in a sort of quick remedial lecture, it's how we think about art - about what it is, why we value it and how we study it. It's a branch of philosophy. However, Smith's work travels the line between the esoteric study of aesthetic theory and the applied world of art education. It's one he walked for nearly 40 years on the College of Education faculty, and one he continues to travel even in his retirement as a contributing editor to a Washington policy magazine on arts education.

In a conversation with Smith, it would be easy to get a little lost. The concepts are complex but he's so at ease with the conversation the ideas just flow constantly. However, it's worth paying attention. His discussions wander across disciplines without any break. One minute he's explaining aesthetic theory as it might relate to Renaissance painting and the next he's crossed into its place in environmental studies. And the thing is, it all makes sense. And it's out of this easy crossing of traditional lines that Smith's legacy, the Journal of Aesthetic Education (JAE) emerged.

Smith came to Illinois in 1964 from the State University of New York, by way of state universities in Ohio, Wisconsin and New York. Because he was disappointed in the quality of the scholarly publications dealing with arts education, he started his own in 1966, the JAE. Thirty-four years, and an astounding 136 issues and 1000 articles later, he finally took a break.

"My wife, Christiana, told me 'we've read enough proof,'" says Smith of the decision in 2000 to step down as editor. Reading proof was one of the constants for both of the Smiths, with Christiana serving as the Assistant Editor of the JAE for many years. Smith says they spent countless hours, mostly at their own kitchen table, reading every line of every galley proof from the printers.

"You learn a lot reading all that stuff over the years," Smith says of the experience of putting out a journal every three months. There's no dwelling on the amount of sheer work that must have been involved, or on the criticism that must have come up during his leadership. When Smith talks about the Journal, it is with great enthusiasm for the scholars involved, the "unflagging support" from the University of Illinois Press and from his own department chairs over the years.

He describes himself as a "sort of walking bibliography of the Journal." As the conversation continues, he periodically reaches across the desk, saying, "Actually, we did an issue of the Journal on that topic." And he pulls the one in question out in a few seconds.

There seems to be an issue, or at least an article, devoted to every topic under the sun. From the archaeology of Pasteum in Southern Italy to a discussion of the semiotics of a Bob Dylan song, everything is fair game for aesthetic consideration. Smith says the point of the JAE was to provide writers, scholars in the disciplines and educators another respected forum for publication. And, he says he urged and prodded his authors to relate the subjects to education. "And, if they didn't," he says with a shrug, "I'd do it in my introductions." 

Over the years, the JAE editorship has given Smith the venue to address trends, policies and events in several fields -- not just art and aesthetics. The benefit of being editor is the power to decide what to publish. Room for abuse of power? Sure. But, again, spend a few minutes with Smith and you dismiss that particular concern. He certainly has views and opinions, and when he believes he's right, he'll make it clear. But, at the same time, he openly recognizes there are other views and that students and peers have the right to hear about them.

Smith says that there is debate in the field over even the existence of an aesthetic response in art. It was a debate he always made sure his students understood, allowing them to make their own decisions on the matter. And that, is where Smith steps out of philosophy and into education, really.

"Philosophers tend to find 'against' things, to find counterexamples," Smith says, while "educators tend to find for things, to find things that are useful."

Smith retired from the College of Education in 1997 and stepped down as the JAE editor in 2000. His career ranged well beyond the JAE, with a long list of articles and several influential books.

The summer 2002, edition of the JAE was a special issue with a series of essays honoring Smith. Reading through them it's obvious the impact he's had. Not everyone might agree with him, but they all talk about him. And, getting people in the field to talk intelligently about the ideas of aesthetics and art and education was the mission of Smith and the Journal of Aesthetic Education since 1966.

In Smith's home of Beaver Falls, where the Minneapolis Symphony started his long trip, there used to be a banner proclaiming it as the home of Joe Namath. Smith joked that there isn't a similar banner adding that it's also his home. Namath played football for 13 years. Smith put the world of art, philosophy and education into students' hands and minds for almost 40 years. Maybe it's time to put up another banner in Beaver Falls.