Today we are going to look at a project which happened a few years back, but which is particularly striking. The project planning actually began back in 2005 and came in relation to the church's one hundredth anniversary preparations.
This particular project involved the engagement of Murals by Jericho, who executed the murals which include a total of thirty-six paintings, seven of which depict the life of Christ (found in the sanctuary), twenty along the nave depicting various saints of the Americas, and nine showing the life of St. Francis of Assisi. In addition, Murals by Jericho are also responsible for the decorative painting and stencil work of the striking red ceiling.
In addition to their work, new altars and altarpieces were also installed by Mazzolini Artcraft.
But let us look at where things began.
BEFORE
As you can see, the 'before' is the result of a post-conciliar era renovation, but overall, it still had a reasonable sense of order and proportion going for it. This can actually make things something more of a challenge as it can be difficult to re-imagine new possibilities. Do you keep the original side altars and simply work around them? What about the canopy that would have been above the historic altar or the image of the Sacred Heart?
As you will see, however, a quite ambitions enterprise was undertaken and all of these elements were swept away. While that might at first inspire some understandable concern, I think you'll agree that what came next was a substantial beautification.
AFTER
At this point, one can be forgiven if you hardly recognize it as being one and the same church, and yet it is. It has, however, been radically re-imagined by the use of decorative and figurative painting, as well as bu the installation of new flooring (which includes beautiful symbolic imagery) and last, but certainly not least, the new Romanesque altars and altarpieces that have taken the place of the previous one's -- which are a far better fit for this church'a prevailing architectural style. A bold, but -- in my estimation -- correct design decision.
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| A general look at the new altarpieces in their new setting |
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| The freestanding altar that sits before the high altar (which today serves as an altar of reservation). |
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| The side altar of St. Joseph |
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| The side altar of the Blessed Virgin |
As was also noted though, the carpeting was removed (always a good acoustic choice) and the church now also features beautiful new decorative flooring, including crosses and this beautiful depiction of the Sacred Heart.
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| A look down the aisle back toward the narthex and baptismal font. |
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