Charles Dickson (born 1947) is an American artist and sculptor. He lives and works in Los Angeles, where he has created small to large-scale sculptures honoring Black culture for decades.KCET Artbound. "Charles Dickson's 'Car Culture' Pays Tribute to Crenshaw." The Los Angeles Times named Dickson’s public sculpture Wishing on a Star one of sixteen must-see artworks in Los Angeles County.Christopher Knight. “The 16 works of art you need to see in L.A. County.” Los Angeles Times. July 22, 2022. A key figure in the Black Arts Movement in Los Angeles in the 1960s and 1970s, he is groundskeeper for the historic Watts Towers and a veteran artist-in-residence at the Watts Towers Arts Center.Melissa Smith. “In Compton, a School That Paved the Way for Generations of Black Artists.” The New York Times: T Magazine. June 1, 2021.Watts Towers Arts Center Campus. "Charles Dickson."

Early life Charles Edward Dickson was born in September 1947 in Los Angeles, California, and raised in South Los Angeles.Hector Tobar. “Like King, Sculptor Had a Dream : Monument: Artist Charles Dickson will see tribute to slain civil rights leader unveiled today.” Los Angeles Times. January 20, 1992.parrasch heijnen. "Charles Dickson's L.A." He attended and graduated from John C. Fremont High School, where he was later inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame.The Dickson Studio. Dickson began whittling wood at the age of five and sold his first artwork at the age of twelve.Los Angeles Times. “Meet Charles Dickson, a 66-year-old woodcarver from Compton.” December 11, 2013.Connie Aitcheson. “Inside the Construction of South L.A.’s Expansive Public Arts Corridor.” Next City. May 3, 2022. He attributes his early artistic interest and pursuit to his father, a master baker and cake designer, and his mother, an interior design enthusiast.Michele Fuetsch. “An Artist Emerges: Compton Man’s Sculpture Featured at Afro Museum.” Los Angeles Times. September 15, 1988. Dickson suffered from asthma from six months old, which would later lead to his exploration of using materials and inventing techniques less threatening to his health, such as HISPUF (high-impact styrene urethane foam core).Michele Fuetsch. “An Artist Emerges: Compton Man’s Sculpture Featured at Afro Museum.” Los Angeles Times. September 15, 1988.

Career Dickson has been active as a self-taught artist, sculptor, and maker in the Los Angeles arts community since the 1960s.Zocalo Public Square. "Sculptor Charles Dickson." June 7, 2024. He was a part of the Studio Watts Workshop, where he met artists John Outterbridge and Noah Purifoy and worked with found objects.parrasch heijnen. "Charles Dickson's L.A." He later worked at the Compton Communicative Arts Academy, a non-profit, school, and artist collective, founded by artist Judson Powell, directed by Outterbridge, and part of the Black Arts Movement in California.Melissa Smith. “In Compton, a School That Paved the Way for Generations of Black Artists.” The New York Times: T Magazine. June 1, 2021.Colony Little. "Building Faith in the Future Part I: The Rise of the Black Arts Movement in California." ARTnews. July 4, 2023. From 1971 to 1975, he led and taught the Academy’s sculptural workshop.Melissa Smith. “In Compton, a School That Paved the Way for Generations of Black Artists.” The New York Times: T Magazine. June 1, 2021. Through his connection with curator Cecil Fergerson, he was amongst the first African-American artists to exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).AJ Girard. “Inside Meow Wolf LA: Charles Dickson on water toy collecting & the joy of color.” Meow Wolf. April 30, 2026.

Dickson crafts detailed sculptures in wood, bronze, acrylic, concrete, metal, acrylic, and other materials.Greg Angaza Pitts. "Charles Dickson." Artillery Magazine, January 7, 2014. He developed a material and technique called HISPUF (high-impact styrene plastic urethane foam core), which involves heating high-impact plastic with a heat gun of his own making and molding it into lightweight sculptures.Michele Fuetsch. "Sculptor Develops New Techniques, Materials : High-Tech Artist Is a Master of Invention." Los Angeles Times. September 15, 1988.Zocalo Public Square. "Sculptor Charles Dickson." June 7, 2024. Dickson has created large-scale, public sculptures across Los Angeles, often inspired by themes related to the works’ specific site. His public art highlights themes of African American history and historical figures, such as the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Civil Rights Movement-inspired Symbols of Unity - The Idea of Freedom (1992) in the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, and Afrofuturism, such as Wishing on a Star (2010) in Exposition Park at the entrance of the California African American Museum and the forthcoming Car Culture at Destination Crenshaw.Jori Finkel. "Destination Crenshaw Moves Ahead With a First Round of Public Sculptures." The New York Times. October 13, 2021.KCET Artbound. "Charles Dickson's 'Car Culture' Pays Tribute to Crenshaw."

Public Art

Symbols of Unity - The Idea of Freedom (1992), Watts, Los Angeles, CA Symbols of Unity - The Idea of Freedom was commissioned by the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles as one of the first monuments in the city of Los Angeles in honor of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.Hector Tobar. “Like King, Sculptor Had a Dream : Monument: Artist Charles Dickson will see tribute to slain civil rights leader unveiled today.” Los Angeles Times. January 20, 1992. It is a 1,200 pound bronze hand with a hummingbird at its fingertip. The sculpture sits on a triangular, black granite platform shaped like a pulpit.Hector Tobar. “Like King, Sculptor Had a Dream : Monument: Artist Charles Dickson will see tribute to slain civil rights leader unveiled today.” Los Angeles Times. January 20, 1992. White porcelain concrete relief sculptures of civil rights marchers are etched into two sides of the platform facing the parking lot. On the side of the platform that faces a pedestrian walkway, King’s I Have a Dream speech is engraved. Below the engraving are gold shoeprints. The sculpture is installed at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Shopping Plaza in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Divine Order: Manifestation of the Soaring Spirit (1995), Metro K Line Mariposa Station, Los Angeles, CA Dickson was one of fourteen artists commissioned by Los Angeles Metro to design one of its elevated light rail stations on the K Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system.Robert Reinhold. “Los Angeles Plans Art to Soothe Rail Riders.” The New York Times. March 19, 1990. Entitling his work Divine Order: Manifestation of the Soaring Spirit, he added artistic design elements to each aspect of the station, Mariposa station, including its elevator, stairs, walls, and pavement, as well as specifically designing shade canopies in the shape of pyramids and station benches in the shape of butterfly clusters. Materials used throughout the station include concrete, glass, steel, and ceramic. Dickson etched “Terrazzo sunburst patterns” and space and aeronautical imagery into the elevator and glass. Granite pavers and painted columns include scientific drawings and imagery such as computer chips embedded with human figures.Metro Art. "Artworks: Divine Order: the Manifestation of the Soaring Spirit.”Robert Reinhold. “Los Angeles Plans Art to Soothe Rail Riders.” The New York Times. March 19, 1990. Dickson combined representations of the station’s name and location into the design: “Mariposa” means butterfly in Spanish, a reference to the local preservation of the endangered El Segundo blue butterfly; the aerospace industry of the city of El Segundo, where the station is located, inspires the symbols of flight etched throughout the station.

Wishing On A Star (2009), Exposition Park, Los Angeles, CA Wishing on a Star is an eco-kinetic solar astronaut figure made of rebar, circuit boards, and other materials.Christopher Knight. “The 16 works of art you need to see in L.A. County.” Los Angeles Times. July 22, 2022.Adam Margolis. "Wishing on a Star, 2009." The Historical Marker Database. February 10, 2023. At the end of the figure’s extended right arm is a fixture of aluminum and crystals that rotates with wind energy.Adam Margolis. "Wishing on a Star, 2009." The Historical Marker Database. February 10, 2023. Dickson created the statue for the California African-American Museum, where it stands at almost 15 feet tall in front of the museum in Exposition Park. Los Angeles Times art critic Christopher Knight named Wishing on a Star one of sixteen must-see works of art in Los Angeles County.Christopher Knight. “The 16 works of art you need to see in L.A. County.” Los Angeles Times. July 22, 2022.

Car Culture (forthcoming), Crenshaw District, Los Angeles, CA Car Culture is a forthcoming public art work designed for Destination Crenshaw, the future largest outdoor space for Black art in the United States. The 20-foot high sculpture is made up of three stainless steel Senufo goddess figures mounted with five classic cars and lowriders made of perforated steel and painted in various colors and patterns.Jori Finkel. "Destination Crenshaw Moves Ahead With a First Round of Public Sculptures." The New York Times. October 13, 2021.Deborah Vankin. "Destination Crenshaw projects get city approval. What big names in Black art are making for L.A." Los Angeles Times. October 13, 2021. Fiberoptic cables will run through the top of the sculpture and emanate light from the cars’ headlights. The sculpture represents a connection between the Black community of Los Angeles and African ancestral culture and honors the car cruising scene once active on Crenshaw Boulevard, where the sculpture will be located.KCET Artbound. “Charles Dickson’s ‘Car Culture’ Pays Tribute to Crenshaw.”

Exhibitions In 1972, Dickson was one of fifty-one Black artists included in LACMA’s second exhibition of Black artists, “A Panorama of Black Artists,” alongside John Outterbridge, Betye Saar, Elliott Pinkney, Noah Purifoy, and Richard Wyatt Jr.Melissa Smith. “In Compton, a School That Paved the Way for Generations of Black Artists.” The New York Times: T Magazine. June 1, 2021. In 2014, over seventy of Dickson’s works were featured in a retrospective in the Noah Purifoy Gallery and Charles Mingus Gallery at the Watts Towers Arts Center.Greg Angaza Pitts. "Charles Dickson." Artillery Magazine. January 7, 2014. In addition to LACMA and the Watts Towers Arts Center, his work has been exhibited at the California African American Museum, Craft Contemporary (formerly The Craft and Folk Art Museum), the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, Roberts & Tilton Gallery, and the William Grant Still Arts Center, among others. Dickson has been featured in over 150 professional exhibitions, art magazines, newspapers, and public television, including the KCET Artbound documentaries, "The Watts Towers Arts Center" and "Black Art: A Brockman Gallery Legacy."Greg Angaza Pitts. "Charles Dickson." Artillery Magazine. January 7, 2014.KCET Artbound. “The Watts Towers Arts Center.” Season 11, Episode 4. 2020. KCET Artbound. “Black Art: A Brockman Gallery Legacy.” Season 15, Episode 4. 2024.

References

External links The Dickson Studio website