
Judging from Ed Dwight’s smashing success as a sculptor, you’d never guess that art wasn’t his first profession. With 129 monuments and 18,000 gallery pieces under his belt, Ed Dwight has become the definitive sculptor of our age for representing the Black experience in America.
His path to monument artist was anything but conventional. The twists and turns of his career reveal a range of talents as numerous as they are astonishing – from flying airplanes to running his own businesses. But throughout his life, one thing was always clear: whatever Dwight pursued, he was destined to stand out from the crowd.
In today’s Artist Spotlight post, learn about the life of Ed Dwight, sculptor of the Our Mother of Africa statue, and where you can find his work in the Basilica.
Early Life

Edward Dwight was born in Kansas on September 9, 1933. Though his career in art wouldn’t start until the latter half of his life, his artistic proclivities surfaced at an early age. At two years old, the Kansas City native was already drawing, and by the time he was eight, he had completed his first oil painting. But Ed never let his talents be confined to one métier. As a child, he’d offer to clean out the airplanes at the local hangar so he could see inside the aircraft, and by the time he was 10, he knew he wanted to fly.
Discrimination, Family Challenges, and Early Career
With Ed’s talent, charisma, and determination, it seemed he could accomplish anything he set his mind to; but the America he grew up in was still wrestling against the prejudices of segregationists. When a local Catholic high school, Bishop Ward, refused to admit the Dwight children, their mother contacted the Vatican to intervene. At the Vatican’s behest, the school finally integrated and admitted them. Ed became the first African American male to graduate from Bishop Ward.
As Ed grew older, he also grappled with the challenges of family expectations. Although the Kansas City Art Institute offered him a scholarship, Ed faced family pressure to pursue a more lucrative profession. Ed says, “[My father] sat me down and said you’re going to be an engineer, because they make more money.” He ended up earning his associate’s degree in engineering from Kansas City Junior College, and in 1953, he joined the Air Force. During his time with the Air Force, he completed an aeronautical engineering degree at Arizona State University, logged over 9,000 flight hours, and flew some of the most advanced aircraft of the time.
In recognition of his exceptional talents, Ed was invited to attend the Aerospace Research Pilot School, where he underwent elite training to become a candidate for NASA. There, he faced hostility as the only African American in the program. He was later one of 26 potential astronauts recommended to NASA, but in a move that remains embroiled in controversy to this day, he ultimately wasn’t selected to join the space program. Though he’d missed the chance to become the first Black man to go into space, he still had made a groundbreaking achievement by becoming the first Black astronaut candidate.

Ed Returns to Art
After Ed retired from the Air Force in 1966, an encounter with the lieutenant governor of Colorado and former Tuskegee Airman, George Brown, motivated him to rekindle his love of art. At the time, Ed was running a real estate and construction business. As a hobby, he would collect discarded metal from his construction sites and weld them into sculptures. When George Brown visited his house and saw his sculptures, he asked if Ed would sculpt a bust of him to be displayed at the Colorado Capitol. Initially, Ed was hesitant, having never created a human figure, but he ultimately took up the challenge with only the help of a library book to guide him!
Inspired after creating the sculpture of Brown, Ed realized the value of art in telling the story of the African American experience. In 1977, he obtained his Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture from the University of Denver, and in the years that followed, his art career flourished. Over the course of his lifetime, he has created over 18,000 gallery pieces and 129 famous monuments. His sculptures sell to private buyers for as much as $100,000, while his monuments can cost millions.
Most recently, several of his sculptures have been flown into space, and NASA named an asteroid after him. Ed’s dream of space travel also has become reality; this spring, at the age of 90, he became the oldest person to fly in space, traveling on a 10-minute flight with space tourism company Blue Origin.
Today, he lives in Denver, where he runs an art studio from a converted 30,000 square ft. aircraft carrier.
Ed Dwight’s Art at the Basilica

Here at the Basilica, Ed Dwight’s bronze sculpture “Our Mother of Africa and Her Divine Son” is the focal point of the Our Mother of Africa Chapel. The Blessed Mother holds the Christ Child, who reaches toward Dwight’s other sculpture in the chapel, a bas relief narrating the African American experience from slavery to emancipation. At the edge of the relief, a mother and father, freed from the bronze of the relief, step into the nave and lift their gaze to Christ on the cross. The chapel was dedicated in 1997 and is a gift of the National Black Catholic Congress. It stands as a reminder of the history of slavery in the United States and a tribute to the hope of the Christian faith to enslaved peoples.
In 2022, Ed spoke at the Basilica for the 25th anniversary of the dedication of the Our Mother of Africa Chapel. His art continues to inspire pilgrims from around the world who come to visit America’s Catholic Church.
This post is the second installment in “Artists of America’s Catholic Church,” a new series highlighting the lives and work of the talented men and women who have contributed to the sacred art of the Basilica. Read the first installment about Bancel LaFarge here.
Sources:
“Ed Dwight was to be the first Black astronaut. At 90, he’s finally getting his due,” Associated Press.
“How the first Black astronaut candidate became a prolific Denver sculptor,” Denver 7.
“From Almost-Astronaut to Businessman to Sculptor: Ed Dwight’s Incredible Journey Runs Through DU,” Denver University.
“Ed Dwight, America’s first Black astronaut candidate, becomes oldest person to reach space,” NBC News.
“Ed Dwight Was Going to Be the First African American in Space. Until He Wasn’t,” Smithsonian Magazine.
“Ed Dwight Was Set to Be the First Black Astronaut. Here’s Why That Never Happened,” The New York Times.