The city of Aurora’s Public Art Division is set to unveil a new exhibit on Friday that will mark the homecoming of a renowned sculptor and historian.
Charles Smith’s “A Truth in Stone and Spirit” will feature a blend of personal memory, news stories and national narratives, according to a city news release.
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Using a technique he calls “weatherization,” Smith builds life-sized figures from found materials and cement mixtures, allowing the outdoor elements to create a natural patina that symbolizes the resilience and endurance of the African American spirit, the news release said.
“Everything moves along extemporaneously as God moves me,” Smith said in the city’s news release. “He shows me how to do it, where to put it, and how to construct it.”
Smith is a Marine Corps Purple Heart veteran and an ordained minister whose work challenges traditional monuments by elevating the stories of everyday heroes and historical figures, city officials said in the news release. He also founded the African American Heritage Museum and the Black Veterans Archive.
“We invite the community to engage with a visionary who turned a private struggle into a public sanctuary,” Curator Sangeeta Pande said in the city news release. “We celebrate not only the artist and the Marine Corps veteran, but the historian who continues to teach us that through stone, spirit and memory, we can find the path to a collective homecoming.”
According to Aurora officials, this exhibition will offer the community an opportunity to engage with an artist whose work is preserved by major institutions, including the Smithsonian and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center.
A free opening reception, which will be open to the public, is set to take place from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, April 3, at the gallery, located at 20 E. Downer Place in downtown Aurora. Smith will also be hosting a public meet and greet from 2 to 4 p.m. on April 17 at the gallery.
The exhibit is set to run from April 3 through April 24. Gallery hours are from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.