Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 12, 2020 / 07:00 am
Tired and heartbroken at seeing statues get pulled down and vandalized, Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz wracked his brain to come up with a compromise that would both preserve the artwork, and acknowledge the flawed nature of many historical figures.
Schmalz has been a sculptor for 30 years and is perhaps best known for his "Homeless Jesus" sculpture and the "Angels Unaware" statue dedicated to migrants in St. Peter's square. He told CNA that he believes sculpture is a unique and powerful method of preaching.
He said it made him upset "beyond belief" watching the news and seeing statues of figures such as Christopher Columbus and St. Junipero Serra be torn down.
"I know the amount of time that is spent working on each sculpture and a lot of these sculptures were done a century ago and the skill level, the time that it's been put into that--just on a simple work ethic and good craftsmanship and time and love that is put into it," he said.