Detroit — A Toronto-based artist’s sculpture of “Jesus the Homeless” could be coming to Detroit, thanks to an anonymous donor.
Timothy Schmalz’s piece, which depicts Christ as a homeless man sleeping on a park bench — an all-too-familiar sight in the economically depressed Motor City — could find a local home as early as this summer.
Schmalz, 45, told The Michigan Catholic the donor — a Michigan native who lives in the Rocky Mountain West — had volunteered to fund placement of the 7-foot, 1,000-pound bronze cast piece to show solidarity with Detroit’s homeless. The sculpture, which could cost about $32,000, depicts Jesus’ face and hands covered by a blanket, but the crucifixion wounds on his bare feet are visible.
The donor, a University of Detroit Law School graduate who spoke with The Michigan Catholic by phone April 3 and wishes to remain unnamed for the time being, said Detroit’s homelessness epidemic “has tugged at me for a long time.”
While the sculpture gained international notoriety when Pope Francis blessed a miniature version in Rome in 2013, the donor said he first became aware of Schmalz’s piece through colleagues in his current city who are active in a homeless shelter and had planned to install one there.
“When I saw it, it took about 30 seconds to say, ‘Wait a minute, this has to go to Detroit,’” the donor said. “It was that compelling to me. It speaks to me and I think speaks to what the pope is speaking to us about — ministry, service and being what Christ was all about. These are the marginalized in our society.”
The donor said he then called Schmalz, who “about jumped through the phone” out of excitement for the idea. “He said of all the places it’s going and he sees it going, he’s most excited about Detroit.”
The ideal location for the sculpture, he said, would be in front of SS. Peter and Paul (Jesuit) Church near the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit. Besides its central location and proximity to the University of Detroit Mercy Law School — the donor’s alma matar — the parish also runs a warming center for the homeless that’s open seven days a week.
“When you Google the church, there’s a picture of two guys sitting on the steps,” the donor said. When he mentioned the photo to Fr. Gary Wright, SJ, pastor of SS. Peter and Paul, the priest told him the men were homeless. “That’s where they sit while they wait for the warming center to open,” the donor said. It just seemed to me like it all fit.”
Because the sculpture — which includes a life-sized park bench with enough room to sit beside Jesus — would likely be installed on the public sidewalk in front of the church, approval from city officials could be needed. However, the city is aware of the project, he said, and has been supportive so far.
The donor said he hopes the sculpture could be installed before the June 29 feast of SS. Peter and Paul, and dedicated the day before the feast.
If that location doesn’t work out, Schmalz and the donor said other area locations are also being discussed.
The donor said his father had been involved in helping the Capuchin Soup Kitchen during the Great Depression and his mother was an accomplished artist herself in the Detroit area, so he’d like to dedicate the sculpture in his parents’ honor. If that’s the case, he said, he could reveal his identity at that point.
But most of all, he said, he wants to help bring the plight of Detroit’s nearly 20,000 homeless people further forward in the public’s consciousness.
“I’m hopeful this sculpture will give the homeless some inspiration and hope, and that people going to and from businesses every day, those who are in the position to do something, would be inspired to do more for the homeless,” he said. “It captures exactly what Christ preached and what the Gospel is all about, that we’re here not for ourselves, but to help others and be of service.”
Other local sculptures
Timothy Schmalz’s other pieces locally include “The Last Supper” in the courtyard of the National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak and sculptures at Detroit Catholic Central High School and SS. Peter and Paul (Jesuit) Church in Detroit. Visit his website at www.sculpturebytps.com.
