By Susan Ciancio
A vision inspired by God and by faith and then lovingly fashioned into reality by the hands of man. That is the gift that Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz gives to the world. His bronze religious sculptures have found homes in thousands of locations around the globe, even in St. Peter’s Square, and are meant to both inspire and bring the observer closer to God. As Schmalz explained to Celebrate Life Magazine, “I have faith that [artwork] can change culture.”
And through images so lovingly and expertly crafted, Timothy Schmalz is changing the culture, one sculpture and one person at a time.
Finding his calling
Timothy Schmalz fell in love with sculpting when he was 16 and even won a national competition during high school. That paved the way for his acceptance at a world-class university for the arts.
But once enrolled, Schmalz found almost immediately that he didn’t agree with the beliefs that the school espoused. He explained to Celebrate Life Magazine that the classes and methods left him uninspired and even disappointed, as the curricula included mostly abstract, conceptual artwork that he saw little point in creating. He said the mindset at the university was that if it’s not shocking, it’s not artwork.
This broke his heart, as he shared that “people are forfeiting beauty and meaning to do things that are just innovation.” More so, he felt that these creations signified “nothing” and were “anti-moral, anti-Christian, and anti-hope.”
So at 19, Schmalz had what he called an “artistic conversion” and dropped out of that university, refusing to create mainstream artwork and choosing instead to focus on what truly mattered—Christian artwork. He explained, “The perfect sculptures are in this heavenly plane, and it’s my responsibility to bring them down to earth through my hard work and discipline so they can make a change within the world.”
Today, this cradle Catholic, whose faith has grown exponentially over the years, said that his goal is “to present the eternal truths found in scripture and in the saints and bring them forth as authentically as possible.” He shared, “When I see today that our Christian culture, our Catholic culture, is oftentimes not getting that visual voice, I feel it’s my responsibility to put forth these visual ambassadors of the good, of the positive, of the messages that need to be seen today because messages do impact people.”
Now, almost 30 years later, these are the beliefs that serve as the impetus for his breathtaking sculptures.
To read the remainder of this article, visit the Celebrate Life Magazine site at clmagazine.org/topic/pro-life-champions/casting-faith-the-sculptor-bringing-sacred-stories-to-life.
To read additional stories that celebrate the beauty of life, visit clmagazine.org.