LocaL buzz // a day in the life
name: Pete & Becky Smith Age : Pete 71, Becky 74 Occupation: Retired Hometown: Los Angeles,
California
Rod Kagan totems
SVM: What do you like to do in Sun Valley now that you’re retired?
Pete: I’ve had the privilege to serve on a lot of boards: The Nature Conservancy, the Sun Valley Center for the Arts (SVCA), the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF) and most recently on the board at The Community School. Becky is on the board for the SVCA, The Community School and the Hospital Foundation. She’s also a St. Luke’s Pet Therapy volunteer. SVM: What are your winter activities? Becky: We are on the Warm Springs bridge
by 9am just about every day. Pete’s a snowboarder and I’m a skier. We like to go for a couple of hours at the most.
there’s a five-minute rule. On a powder day, there’s no waiting.
‘60s, and we continue to collect, primarily American contemporary art. Our favorite local galleries are Gilman Contemporary and the Gail Severn Gallery. John Broschofsky is also a friend, as is Denis Ochi.
SVM: What are your favorite eateries in the
Valley?
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at th e Ke tc h
Pet
Pete has a special pasta—they call it “Pete’s Pasta.” It’s not on the menu, but he orders it so often they have it in their computer.
SVM: What do you do on a weekend night? 48 sunvalleymag.com | 40th anniversary issue
Frank Stella, Sam Francis and Robert Graham.
ill
Becky: At the Ketchum Grill,
Pete: We have pieces by Ed Ruscha,
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as
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dinner, it’s the Ketchum Grill, CK’s (Real Food) or Enoteca. I’m a beer guy. At both the Powerhouse and Enoteca, they have a great variety of beers.
Pete: They bring in a lot of really great independent films, especially during the fall and spring Film Festivals. We live in quite a cosmopolitan place for such a small community. SVM: I hear you are art enthusiasts? Becky: We’ve been collecting art since the
Pete: Sometimes we wait for friends, but
Pete: We love Cristina’s for lunch. For
Becky: We love to go to the movies, to our little theater, the Magic Lantern. We also go to a lot of the SVCA musical performances and humanities lectures. And to the Liberty Theater for the Company of Fools’ plays.
Becky: Also, Larry Bell and Ells-
worth Kelly. Over all these years, we’ve known a lot of the artists personally, which was part of the attraction—getting to know the interesting people who were producing, like Rod Kagan, for example. We have some of his work and we donated one of his large sculptures to The Community School. Wonderful man.
smith photograph : travis bartlett
Pete and Becky Smith in front of a Frank Stella painting at their home in Ketchum.
/ kagan inset: courtesy gail severn gallery
Years in Sun Valley: 28