Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art

The Divine Image:
Concrete Sculptures by Dr. Charles Smith
Exhibition Ongoing from the museum’s permanent collection

Imagine a residential area that is teeming full of positive energy in the form of ¼ to full life-size sculptures that symbolize all that is good about our species and convey a sense of hope about our ability to commune and peacefully coexist with one another—a place that replaces anger with acceptance, ignorance with understanding, and loss with remembrance. It is in just such a place that these Dr. Smith’s sculptures were originally conceived, created and displayed. That place existed in Aurora, Illinois in Smith’s home and yard—a place known as the African/American Heritage Museum and Black Veterans Archive.

Like many self-taught artists, Dr. Smith found his “voice” through a “divinely inspired” epiphany. This awakening gave him the strength and motivation to turn the anger that he had felt, since returning from Vietnam, into a more positive and healing activity. In 1986, he began sculpting portraits of the African/American experience, which he integrated into the environs of his Illinois home where he originally established the African/American Heritage Museum and Black Veterans Archive, now located in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Constructed from found objects, concrete and paint, Dr. Smith’s work is not informed by academia, formal art instruction or any preconceived notion about art-making. His work shares a commonality with all persons who are inspired to express themselves visually, without a conscious regard for the limitations of materials or expertise. It is through this creative act that one explores the wonder and awe of one’s place in the world.

Lee Steen: A Montana Original
Outsider Gallery
Permanent Display

View the permanent installation of art from the museum collection by Montana artist Lee Steen. Whether or not one accepts Lee Steen's categorization as an Outsider Artist, it is undeniable that his sculptures possess a magical quality that defies precise definition. Removed from their natural habitat and placed in a gallery, the stick figures that once graced Montana roadsides still vividly evoke the magic of their creator's world.

Jean Price: Three Thousand and Counting

To commemorate the sacrifices made by U.S. troops in Iraq, Great Falls artist Jean L. Price has created an ongoing memorial installation at Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art. Each American soldier who has lost his or her life in the war is represented by a dog tag created out of aluminum tooling foil that includes name, rank and age. Montana soldiers who have fallen are represented with copper and brass. As more casualties occur, the sculpture grows. In this heartbreakingly beautiful tribute, Price provides the viewer with a visual display of the human cost of war.

The Square re-dedicated the installation (originally entitled Two Thousand and Counting) on Memorial Day, May 28, 2007; at which time, Jean expanded and enlarged the installation to reflect the growing toll of war on our nation's servicemen and women.

To download an on-line brochure for this exhibition please click here.

This programming is made possible by the generous support of our members and supporters, with ongoing support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Montana Arts Council and Cascade County.