Timothy Schmalz (born in 1969) is a Canadian

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

based out of St. Jacobs, Ontario, Canada. He focuses on religious figures and also has many public pieces. Schmalz is best known for his '' Homeless Jesus'' that he created in reaction to the many homeless living on the streets. Schmalz conceives his sculptures with keen devotion to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and gives his time to each piece, sometimes taking as much as 10 years forming the idea and sculpting it. Some of his works are created in series and others are single pieces. Schmalz has said, "If my sculptures are used by people as a tool to think, then I’m very happy." Installments of his work have brought his visual message across the globe with ''Homeless Jesus'' having been displayed in many places including

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...

Statue of Christ the Homeless, Regis College, Toronto

Work

Although best known for his ''Homeless Jesus'', Schmalz has also created many other pieces. On October 23, 2015, a tall statue commemorating

Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960 ...

was unveiled in

Orillia Orillia is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is in Simcoe County between Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a single-tier municipality. It is part of the Huronia region of ...

. The statue, ''Golden Leaves'', features young Lightfoot playing guitar surrounded by a ring of maple leaves. The leaves each contain an image inspired by one song. Schmalz plans to sculpt each leaf and place them along the Lightfoot Trail in Orillia and make duplicates that will be placed at locations fitting for each song. A leaf inspired by the song ''Black Day in July'' was revealed in Tudhope Park on July 10, 2016, as the second installment in the Gordon Lightfoot Sculpture Park. Schmalz also created the ''Canadian Veterans Memorial''. Schmalz worked every Canadian Armed Forces uniform into this piece that stretches towards the sky using perspective. He also networked through the local paper asking for families to send in images of family or friends who had served in the war. Schmalz recently completed sculpting 100 cantos of Dante's Divine Comedy to celebrate Dante's 700 anniversary.

References

Canadian male sculptors Artists from Ontario Living people 1969 births People from the Regional Municipality of Waterloo {{Canada-sculptor-stub

Work

See also

References