Charles Simms was born in New Orleans and grew up in the Lafitte housing project in Tremé. His artistic talents showed early; he studied art and spent a year in Paris in the military. He returned home, completing his Fine Arts degree at Southern University in New Orleans.

Simms's art spans numerous themes to include young black girls in school uniforms playing Double Dutch or performing on stage at school shows; ordinary people going about their lives; abstractions with narrative elements; and images of New Orleans celebrations, traditions, and contradictions. He was an artist whose work celebrated daily life in the city that he loved.