Canning Liturgical Arts is based out of Cheshire, Connecticut and is a branch of John Canning & Co. that is focused specifically in the domain of church restorations and beautifications. Many of their projects -- whether you know it or not -- will likely already be familiar to many of our readers and recently they brought another "before and after" project to our attention, this time situated at the Padre Pio Eucharistic Adoration Chapel in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Knowing our readership's great love of this particular series, we couldn't resist bringing yet another addition to it, for while the chapel itself may be "small" the project itself was lofty and impactful.
As always, we will first turn to the firm itself to set the context, goals and objectives of the project:
This began when the church called and asked if we could look at their small adoration chapel and imagine how it could be decorated in time for Christmas. We had several meetings with them on site and learned about all they intended to do: new floors, new pews, move the doors to the back of the room, a small devotional area for a statue of Padre Pio, and enclose a section of the back for a small entryway. They hoped to make the adoration chapel into a place of quiet devotion as an antidote to the neglected city outside. Our task was to design and decorate the entire space in only about two months. So, we immediately began with a pencil and watercolor rendering then set to work upon their approval of the design. The room was all white but had very dark windows and woodwork so we needed to warm it up to make it inviting and a place of peace apart from the city outside. The desire was for this chapel to be dedicated to Padre Pio while paying homage to the original Gothic windows and design of the main church. Moving from the entrance to the altar, the walls are a warm ochre that become progressively finer the closer to the sanctuary we go. The “narthex” is plain, save for a devotional shrine to Padre Pio and a banner with lilies around the entrance with the beginning of the Hail Mary, inviting us to pray the minute we step inside. The ceiling is dotted with simple stars that become more numerous the second you cross the threshold into the chapel proper. The “nave” has the same color of wall but with white decoration across it and a large frieze spanning the room. The beams across the ceiling terminate in original, restored corbels decorated with angels that serve as anchors for vertical patterns that give the room a sense of structure. The windows are now framed with warm and dark colors on the tracing that allow them to look far more vibrant than against the previous plain white walls. Finally in the sanctuary, the blue from the ceiling envelopes the space and is punctuated with silver leaf. The pattern is original and presents three intersecting nails, symbolizing both the Crucifixion and Padre Pio’s famous stigmata. A subtle border of red around each beam in the corner makes their presence stronger and breaks up the envelope of blue. Panels of artwork below the windows support their presence and prevent them from seeming to float on the wall and introduce more color and symbolism to the space. The stars are even more numerous but not overwhelming and frame a sunburst and statue of the Holy Spirit directly above the altar. The altar is plaster but marbleized to simulate Carrera. All in all, the space has been transformed and immediately guides your eye and prayer to the altar.
With such a detailed description there is little more we need to add other than to comment that, as we often like to point out, smaller, more architecturally limited spaces such as these can often be profoundly impacted, just as larger churches can, by the use of colour, design and stencilling. In this particular instance, it took a rather simple space and transformed it into something far more impactful. It is a good reminder that often spaces like these are primarily limited by only one, key thing: our imagination for their potential of what they might become.
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