Tony Smith

Architect, painter, and sculptor Tony Smith (1912 – 80) worked under Frank Lloyd Wright, designed a church with his friend Jackson Pollock, and created monumental abstract sculptures that revolutionized public art as we know it.  Smith was born, and lived and worked most of his life, in South Orange, New Jersey.  Several years ago, the Tony Smith Sculpture Project organized to raise money to fabricate and install “South Orange Tau” – a geometric, steel sculpture by a native son whose backyard had been a neighborhood curiosity full of plywood mock-ups.  State of the Arts producer Christopher Benincasa follows the process of bringing “Tau” home, and interviews Smith’s two daughters Kiki and Seton, both distinguished artists, as well as others who have helped bring this iconic sculpture to New Jersey.