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homeless jesus finds a home ….

ana_lee_smith has added a photo to the pool:

A new bronze life-size sculpture by Toronto artist Timothy Schmalz depicts Jesus, barefoot & huddled against the cold, sleeping on a long slatted bench .... a sight all too familiar in a city that counts its homeless citizens at over 5000 in the most recent street survey. Indeed, if one were to pass by with barely a glance, as we are wont to do as we go about our daily lives, & without knowledge of the controversial sculpture, is that what we would see, just one more homeless soul sleeping on a public bench? It is the stigmata wounds on the feet that identify the subject as Jesus. Initially, Schmalz offered his work to both St Michael's Catholic Cathedral in Toronto & St Patrick's in New York City. The administration of both cathedrals turned it down, deeming it too controversial and/or 'an inappropriate image'. Schmalz' response to their decision, "how ironic". Regis Theology College, a division of the University of Toronto, has however recently embraced the sculpture & it can now be found in front of the college on Wellesley St West. Schmalz, who says the work was inspired by a homeless man he saw lying on the sidewalk just before Christmas two years ago, aspires to place copies of the sculpture in locations around the world.

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youtube video from Timothy Schmalz, as he works on the original clay sculpture
www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2rAys...