Gilman debuted the Francis “Boo” Smith ’70 Lecture for the Arts on April 2, 2025, with heartfelt and inspiring remarks from the Head of School, a classmate who hatched the idea, and the inaugural speaker, Gary Vikan.

Head of School Henry Smyth offered opening remarks about the beloved dean of students and art history teacher who passed away in October 2023. “One of the things we loved about Mr. Smith is that he embodied such a neat array of interests and talents, exactly the kind of way we hope you grow up,” said Smyth to the audience of Upper School students. “He was a tremendous athlete, a firm disciplinarian — and fair — and a lover of the arts.”

The named endowed fund that created the annual lecture was launched by Smith’s classmates, friends, and family members who wished to honor his memory by bringing prominent practitioners of the arts to share their experiences with students at Gilman.

One of those classmates, Dr. Thayer Simmons ’70, spoke on behalf of those who supported the fund. “Francis Whitaker Smith, better known as Boo, is one of [the class of 1970 classmates] we’ve lost. … He left a lasting impact at John Carroll and at Gilman. He positioned himself to be present during those tumultuous years when boys become men,” he said.

He went on to talk about Smith’s qualities as a classmate, coach, teacher, and dean, saying he could be gruff and stern, that he administered tough love, and that he was notorious for his bone-crushing handshakes. He highlighted how Smith saw beauty in things like a “well-executed takedown on the wrestling mat” or a “clean check on the lacrosse field.” Smith also appreciated “the perfect pitch of the Traveling Men, a dynamic performance on the stage, or simply the kindness of one student towards another,” Simmons said. He found beauty in the outdoors, like in the home garden he tended, where he knew the names of all the trees and shrubs, as well as in extraordinary pieces of masterful art.

“We hope this annual lecture might inspire one or several of the students here today to pursue a career in the arts,” said Simmons to a packed auditorium that included Smith’s wife, Susan Smith, his daughter, Maggie, and son-in-law Joseph Brazauskas, Jr. “If not, look around and appreciate the beauty of the Baltimore spring. … Appreciate a perfect wave as it crashes on the shore. Visit a museum or attend a concert.”

Smyth introduced the esteemed guest speaker, former Director of Walters Art Museum Gary Vikan, who spoke about his journey from a small town in Northern Minnesota — where the closest art museum was hundreds of miles away — to his role at The Walters. He said he got “a fever for art” growing up when he read his parents’ monthly subscription of National Geographic. He went on to get his Ph.D. in art history at Princeton. Art history “became my life,” he said. “It made me feel good to look at great art.”

After presenting a bit of history about the museum — which he said has one of the finest collections of medieval art in the world —he focused his talk on mistakes that have been made in the domain of art collection, including at The Walters, where he said that 13 of the 15 paintings that hang in a space on the second floor are fake. “Everybody makes mistakes. … Everybody loses sometimes.”

He told a story of an art buyer who thought he was acquiring an authentic 17th-century Johannes Vermeer painting but was really getting a forged piece — one that had been deliberately created for the purpose of being falsely attributed to a famous artist and sold at a high price.

He shared a photo of what appears to be “The Mona Lisa” that hangs at The Walters, followed by an explanation of how to tell that it’s a fake (it’s painted on canvas instead of a wooden panel, for example). To end the assembly, Vikan presented a quiz to the audience to test their ability to spot fake art. When half the audience got it wrong, he gave them one more question so they could try again. “Hard lessons, second chances,” he said. “That’s Boo.”

We thank the generous donors of the Francis “Boo” Smith ’70 Memorial Lecture for the Arts.

View more photos from this event

Watch the assembly