SANDPOINT — On his 79th birthday, Stephen Schultz walked down the empty halls of Sandpoint High School on his way to a monument of his own creation.

He took a left, then a right; finally, another left before arriving at room W15. The door slowly opened, and, for the first time, Schultz entered the high school’s new art studio. He scanned the room as the new bright lights shone down on him like angels, until he saw it. 

On the right wall, in large blue letters read "Romey & Stephen Visual Arts Studio." Schultz covered his mouth with his hand, staring at the realization of a dream he and his late wife, Romey Stuckart, had committed themselves to over 40 years ago. 

“That’s bigger than I thought it would be,” Schultz said of the plaque, breaking the silence and earning a few laughs. “Wow, it's amazing." 

Thanks to a donation from the Romey and Stephen Fund for the Visual Arts, the district was able to transform an old home economics classroom into a modern art room in just over three months. With new lighting, unique desks, the multiple areas, the only limit of creativity will be the students’ imagination. 

Sandpoint High School principal Jacki Crossingham said renovations will allow the size of art classes to expand from 24 to 32 students. Plenty of space on the walls allows art teacher Ezra Stafford to showcase students’ work throughout the space, creating an ongoing exhibit of their work. 

"We like to develop programs and interests that meet their interests,” Crossingham said. “Especially when we have kids who want to take the class and can’t get in because of space, if we can provide that for them it’s a tremendous opportunity.”  

In addition to the donation that allowed Sandpoint High to renovate the room, Schultz also donated money, making it possible for students at Lake Pend Oreille High School to use the space as well.  

"Both of us were products of high school art classes,” Schultz said of himself and Stuckart. “[Art] can really reach people who are really at a loss to understand. Myself, I was dyslexic as a child, and I did horribly in school ... so the art kind of made sense of understanding and interpreting the world.” 

Schultz has been an artist since he was a 19-year-old exploring the world while attending Rhode Island School of Design. He said that art, expressing oneself and storytelling changed the way he viewed the world and he hopes that students who use the space can have a similar experience. 

"Toward the end of the first year, I was walking down Benefits Street in Providence and all of the sudden realized, ‘I’m seeing the world completely differently,’” Schultz said. “It made me think ‘Oh the world has changed.’ No, the world hasn’t changed, your perception of it has changed.”  

Schultz married Stuckart, a fellow artist, in 1984 and the two had globetrotting adventures across Europe, where Schultz’s art was often on display. So how do two world renowned artists end up in Sandpoint? The same way, so many before them fell in love with the community. 

Just three years after their marriage, Schultz was a professor at the University of Iowa, and the couple was looking to escape Iowa City’s summer heat. The two found themselves in North Idaho, when Stuckart suggested the two grab lunch at The Garden in Sandpoint. 

"You drive up, you come across the Long Bridge and you go, ‘Oh my God, this is beautiful,’” Schultz said smiling. “I would never move from here ... It’s the perfect town 

Schultz said that the art room at SHS is just the first stage of donations that the Lake Pend Oreille District will receive from the Romey and Stephen Fund for the Visual Arts. 

"It’s a chunk of change, but we figured we could do better, if we concentrate on this area with what we have,” Schultz said. “It just feels so good because I know what it’s going to mean for [students].” 

    A view inside the new Romey and Stephen Visual Art Studio inside Sandpoint High School.