Grounds For Sculpture Taps Home-Grown Artist for Afrofuturist Exhibition

May 21 was the birthday of artist Clifford Ward’s late mother – she would have been 108. In his major exhibition at Grounds For Sculpture — Clifford Ward: I’ll Make Me a World, on view through January 11, 2026, he pays tribute to the woman he considers his biggest supporter.

“Miracle of the Smiling Mom 98” is a mural made up of 98 hand-painted canvases, each representing a year of her life. She had always wanted him to write a book with that title, but he fulfilled her wish in the form of expression he does best. And, with its 98 panels, it is, in its own way, a book.

Clifford Ward, Miracle of the Smiling Mom 98.

In another work nearby, Ward’s mother’s name is scrambled into the text – he invites…