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Artist's Snowy Sculpture Frames Historic Symbol Of Bridgeport's Past

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- The never-ending winter storms have left much of Bridgeport’s landscape buried under inches of snow and ice. And while the wintry weather has put a damper on day-to-day life here, for one local artist, it has presented an opportunity to create in a new medium.

Recent snow fall followed by mostly sunny days hasn't done much to change the to-scale sculpture of Gustave Whitehead's first-in-flight airplane made by local artist Craig Smith.

Recent snow fall followed by mostly sunny days hasn't done much to change the to-scale sculpture of Gustave Whitehead's first-in-flight airplane made by local artist Craig Smith.

Photo Credit: Salvatore Trifilio
An aerial view of Craig Smith, Randy Kopcik and company completing the full scale model of the airplane on Feb. 19.

An aerial view of Craig Smith, Randy Kopcik and company completing the full scale model of the airplane on Feb. 19.

Photo Credit: Salvatore Trifilio

Craig Smith, 64, is known as the Captain Kid for his studio at Captain's Cove in the Black Rock community. Since retiring as a union carpenter, Smith now spends his time creating art and is recognized for his work on a 2014 Sochi Olympics sculpture.

But this February, Smith took time out of his busy schedule, where he is “either preparing for an [art] show or in” one, to honor one Bridgeport’s greatest historical figures.

On Feb. 10, Smith remembers, he had an “interesting” conversation with his good friend, Randy Kopcik, whom he grew up with in Fairfield.

They threw around an idea of creating a full-scale model of the airplane flown by Gustave Whitehead -- recognized by Connecticut as being "first in flight" with a powered machine, flying in Fairfield two years before the Wright Brothers. 

“I thought, ‘Man, that’s a pretty cool idea,’” Smith said with a smile. “I didn’t know where or what or how or what size.”

The next day, quicker than he had expected, the two friends were put in touch with the Discovery Museum on Park Avenue, where they began a weeklong excavation of a snowy patch of land to the south of the museum.

“On the first day, we laid it out and started humping snow,” Smith said. “All along I’m going, ‘We don’t have enough snow.’”

With the use of some PVC piping, plywood and a couple of shovels, the body of the famous “bird” began to take shape. By Feb. 19, it was completed.

Smith remembers that on the Thursday afternoon when they finished, a little girl and her mother who saw the project from a window in the Discovery Museum made their way down to the icy enclave to ask what it was.

“Man, that was cool,” he said, remembering his joy at explaining the history behind his re-creation. “That’s my payment right there.”

And while Smith doesn’t work on commission, nor has he sold a single piece of his collection, he isn’t in the art game for fame, either. Always modest in conversation, he said he owes a great deal to Kopcik for his help.

“It’s to full scale. You can actually climb up into it and see how ridiculously big it is,” Smith said of the model. “It’s a big bird. It’s not a 747, but it's big.

"By myself, I could have never made a bird this big.”

As a “professional pumpkin carver,” Smith said the fun now is to watch what happens as the snow begins to melt, but he wants the message from his sculpture to be an inspiration.

“No matter where I go in this country, we have artists,” Smith said. “We got a lot of snow, everyone should be making snowmen. But, go beyond the snowman.

"The snow is here, sculpt it while you can.”

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