Remembering Dwight with an art scholarship

When Dwight Trujillo, 83, owner and artisan of The Village Silversmith, died on Aug. 25 at his home in East Moriches, it was as if a light among the Bellport Main Street businesses went out.

Known for his original metalwork and jewelry graced with gold, silver, and gemstones as, well as a gracious kindness to artists and others since first opening in 1970, a community memorial legacy will be celebrated next fall.

But those who want to express gratitude in his name can do so in the meantime. A donation to the South Bay Art Association for a student scholarship can be made at Bellport Arts & Framing, said owner and Bellport Chamber co-president, LuAnn Thompson. “The chamber would like to honor Dwight as he supported the arts, and we’ll be presenting the scholarship check at the annual student art exhibition hosted next May.” Thompson had already tapped the SBAA, which sponsors the student exhibit that takes over the Bellport Community Center annually.

As Sept. 20 was his birthday, and the 9/11 Memorial he sought to establish at the Bellport Marina with Jim Thompson was announced by Frank Trotta at this year’s remembrance service, several of his friends and colleagues gathered to speak recently to the Advance.

To get a piece of steel from the 9/11 wreckage wasn’t easy. “Dwight saw something in the paper about applying,” said Jim. “He had to fill out paperwork and wasn’t giving up until he got a piece of that steel.”

That was in May 2011. The steel came from Hanger 11, stored at JFK Airport.

The men had a month to get it together. They got permission from then-Bellport mayor David Pate, and it had to be placed facing sunrise. The fire department made a template and installed the bolts, Jim said.

“Gale, Dwight’s wife, did the planting,” LuAnn said.

Dwight’s customer loyalty was legendary. Some cried in appreciation when seeing an artisan piece he made.

“He even lent money to people,” Jim recalled.

“Dwight made a lot of friends,” commented furniture icon David Ebner. Ebner was one of them, and created the large hanging Village Silversmith sign detailed in silver and goldleaf; it was taken down in the winter to preserve it from the elements.

“I put the floor in the shop and made display cases for him,” Ebner said. “He had a contact for Native American jewelry from when he lived in Taos.”

Pamela Lerner, of Pamela Lerner Home & Design, whose storefront is next to Trujillo’s, commented that a lot of her customers had come in asking about Dwight after he died.

“We were friends,” said Pamela Lerner. “If I needed advice about silver or jewelry, I always sensed an honesty in his pricing and knowledge of his work. I bought glass and pottery from him just before he passed from Rosetree Blown Glass Studio; they are beautiful. He also had a big basement studio in his home for his large sculptures.”

Tom Lerner would drop in to discuss life with Trujillo.  “Philosophically, we were on the same page,” he said. “He was a gentleman, quite intellectual, a fair man and had real good, honest decency. I call him a virtuous person.”

Artist John DiNaro, owner of Horse and Eagle Gallery, said Trujillo allowed many local artists to display their work in his store.  “I’d have five or six pieces there, especially around Christmastime,” he said.

Both men caught up weekly; DiNaro’s gallery is around the corner. “We talked a lot about art itself, but also music, drama, performance arts.”

DiNaro said he was willing to create a sculpture, hopefully to be placed in village hall.

Bellport mayor Maureen Veitch commented in an email that he helped her. “I don’t think there’s anyone who doesn’t have a piece of jewelry that he created over the last 50 years. When I had my eight-year stint as a silver and goldsmith, it was Dwight who helped me find the studio that I ended up working in, in Manhattan. He introduced me to one of the major suppliers that he worked with. I really appreciated his help and support.”

Trujillo loved to dance. No matter that he was terrible at it; that didn’t stop him. He was just into having fun, said longtime friend Dominick Bonanno of Bellport, adding that at the same time, he was a very private person and didn’t want a service after he died. “He was just kind of the sweetest, most loyal friend I can ever imagine to have,” Bonanno noted on a post.

Lynn Rhodes, who worked with Trujillo for 12 years, said he would definitely appreciate the art scholarship to a young person. “He was very encouraging to young people who came into the store and was always interested in where they were going to college, if they were becoming a silversmith, and where to get the tools,” she said. “He took a lot of time with them and was a good listener.”

According to his memorial website, he studied silversmithing and studio arts at Museum of Fine Arts, Tufts University, earning his BFA. After graduation, he worked a short stint in the Brookhaven school system teaching art. He and wife Gale, skied, rode horseback, and sought adventures that brought him to the wilder places of the American Southwest. From 1997 to 2001, Dwight and his family resided in Taos, N.M., a time of prolific artistic output as he expanded his repertoire to large sculpture work before coming to Bellport.