Richard Don Latham, for whom Smithville’s Cultural District is named, died Feb. 6 at 82.
Latham was born on July 29, 1938, in Eastland County, Texas, and moved to the Smithville area in the mid-1990s and worked diligently to bring about and develop public art projects in this area, according to a statement from his family.
“Richard lived his life in service of the community and in pursuit of a higher connection between people,” his family said. Latham championed art projects as a way to bridge communities and provide art experiences and opportunities for expression to everybody.
In 2013, when the Texas Commission on the Arts designated Smithville as a Cultural District, the city demarcated a sector to celebrate the arts and named it the Richard D. Latham Cultural District.