A Month of Cemetery Artwork

Just over two weeks ago we had the great opportunity once again to attend the annual Catholic Cemetery Conference.  This year the convention was held in Washington, D.C., so with our beautiful capital city as a backdrop, we spent the week with our cemetarian friends old and new – and learned about a few new creative opportunities as well.  Now that we’re back at home in the studio, it continues to be another busy month and we’ve got so many exciting cemetery projects in the works that we couldn’t help but dedicate this post to them. 

To start things off, two of our larger cemetery projects – sculptures and fitments for Resurrection Cemetery in Staten Island, NY and new fiberglass recreations of damaged ceramic murals for St. Lawrence Cemetery in West Haven, CT – are nearing completion.  In the next month or so finishing touches will be completed, before everything is loaded into rental truck to be hand-delivered the cemeteries by our owners.  Fitting everything into the truck will be an accomplishment in itself!  Here are some progress photos from each project:

Relief sculptures near completion for 

Resurrection Cemetery in Staten Island, NY

 

Freshly cast fiberglass of one relief and a ready mold of 

another relief for St. Lawrence Cemetery in West Haven, CT

In addition, we are also in the process of completing a number of restoration projects for Catholic Cemeteries of Chicago at the main mausoleum of Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside, IL.  Some of the projects include replacing damaged stained glass, repairing and refinishing woodwork reliefs over the crypt entrances and refinishing both ceramic and wood sculptures.  It’s a lot of work, but we’re happy to be able to help breath new life into the existing artwork so it can continue to be enjoyed for years to come.  Here are some before and after shots of one of the recently restored reliefs:

Finally, we are working with the Poor Clares of the Monastery of the Immaculate Conception in Palos Park, IL to develop the feature stained class windows for a new chapel mausoleum to be constructed on the monastery grounds.  While still in design development, the windows will focus on the theme of ‘Resurrection’ by utilizing the symbolism of Christ as the Lamb of God and the rising sun’s triumph of day over night.  Here is the current design rendering, with final colors still be chosen and approved by the congregation:

If you have questions about this projects or your faith community has its own need liturgical artwork, feel free to contact us at any time.  Or please visit our website at www.inspiredart.com.