MATERIAL
WEIGHT
DIMENSION
LOCATION
At a glance, it’s a familiar city scene: a hooded figure huddled on the sidewalk, a torn bag of belongings on his back, shoes worn through. People walk past figures like this every day without looking twice.
Look closer, though, and the hands change everything. Outstretched as if begging, they carry the marks of the crucifixion. The stranger on the sidewalk is Christ.
“I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”
Matthew 25:35
ORIGIN & INSPIRATION
The piece is a direct visual translation of Matthew 25:35 — “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Schmalz has said that when he first sat with this line, his idea of hospitality was small: cracking a door open to let someone in for dinner. Sitting with the text longer changed that. Welcoming the stranger, he came to feel, means letting someone into your world — your community, your heart.
He’s described the piece as a kind of spiritual medicine: a direct answer to how disconnected and self-enclosed modern life can be, and a challenge to get past the instinctive wariness we feel toward people we don’t know.
Schmalz has called the piece a quiet kind of preaching — a reminder that salvation, in this telling, comes from letting people in.
The Cleveland installation was brought to the city by the Community West Foundation, as part of their effort to bring the complete Matthew 25 Collection to Cleveland’s near west side.
“I want my sculptures to speak the language of compassion and invite everyone to reflect on the dignity of each human being.”
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