SHERMAN T. COLEMAN EXHIBIT
Sculpture by Dr. Sherman T. Coleman
Celebrated Corpus Christi Doctor and Public Sculptor Exhibit
ON DISPLAY: March 3 – April 1 in our Meadows Gallery
OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, March 3, 5:00 - 7:00pm
A retrospective to the gentleman, healer, artist and horseman, Dr. Sherman T. Coleman (1920 - 2005). Dr. Coleman completed public commissions for monumental sculpture primarily in Corpus Christi, Texas. This exhibit will include miniature maquettes of his public sculptures, as well as limited edition bronzes with subject matter ranging from wildlife, racehorses, historical and religious. There will be thirty-three bronze and one silver sculpture available for purchase.
Each sculpture on display has been uniquely crafted with precise attention to detail by the doctor turned artist. The sculptures within the exhibit come from all-throughout Dr. Coleman’s thirty year artistic career. Many of Dr. Coleman’s inspirations for the works are from life as a Texan and a horse breeder, Dr. Coleman’s mares made wonderful models. The sculptures express deep familial bonds highlighting the importance of parenthood through wildlife. There are many sculpted religious icons as well, depictions of Jesus Christ as a healer, provider, and leader.
This exhibit may be the last show in honor of the artist Sherman Coleman and the only chance to display such a large collection of his sculptures.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Dr. Sherman T. Coleman Dr. Coleman was a WWII veteran and returned from the war and graduated from The Southwestern Medical School of the University of Texas, the highly successful general and vascular surgeon began practicing in Corpus Christi 1956. There he became a viable part of many hospitals, his positions included Chief of Surgery and Chief of Staff of Doctors Hospital and the Driscoll Foundation Children's Hospital; Director of the Tumor Clinic, Memorial Medical Center; and Chief of Staff of Spohn Hospital in Corpus Christi.
At age 54, Coleman began his sculpting career and spent the next thirty years completing public commissions for monumental sculpture. Coleman credited his wife Jacqueline with encouraging him to begin sculpting and inspiring him to create “Rejoice with Me”. The 8’ bronze sculpture was commissioned in 1976 for The Church of the Good Shepherd. Dr. Coleman sculpted “The Legend of the Sand Dollar” back in 1977, and it resided in the front entrance fountain of the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History until 1988. The sculpture was also featured on a coin to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Museum’s opening.
Assisted by his daughter, Kathleen Coleman Edwards, Coleman sculpted the founder of Corpus Christi Bay in 1519, “Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda”. The 8’ sculpture was dedicated in 1984. In 1992, Dr. Sherman Coleman sculpted Captain Blas Maria De La Garcia Falcon riding his horse. The 13’ tall figure sits on a granite slab weighing more than two-thousand pounds. Known as “The Friendship Monument”, made to honor the first colonist that connected Spain, Mexico and the United States. Also, collaboratively with his daughter Kathleen Coleman Edwards, they created "Christ the Healer," for the entrance of Christus Spohn Hospital.
Dr. Sherman Coleman died in 2005.
Sculpture by Dr. Sherman T. Coleman is funded by Hotel Occupancy Tax fund by the City of Corpus Christi through the Arts & Cultural Commission.