Dr. Charles Smith served as a U.S. Marine in Vietnam, an experience that left lasting wounds and shaped his artistic vision. In the 1980s, he began transforming his Aurora, Ill., home into the African-American Heritage Museum and Black Veterans Archive—a monumental environment of nearly 600 sculptures and 150 monuments honoring African-American history and civil rights. Using found materials, Smith created life-sized figures and symbolic structures referencing slavery, the Middle Passage, the Underground Railroad, African American cultural and political figures, and everyday life. Through the concept of anti-monumentalism, Smith critiques traditional monuments and holds space for histories often excluded from civic memory.

Curated by IAM Assistant Curator Christina Stavros, Monumental: The Work of Dr. Charles Smith features pieces from the Museum’s collection alongside select loans, including several recently conserved works now on view for the first time in years.