St. Mark's Episcopal Church with restored art and fresh lighting
Symbolic works of art are powerful to behold. Yet, like our sacred spaces, they age and deteriorate. Parishioners are quickly learning how to become stewards, preserving and protecting architecture and its enlightened contents. About to celebrate 150 years of their founding, the St. Mark's Episcopal Church congregation reached out to art conservators to clean, restore, re-install, and light their famed arched mural. Preserving The Coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost painted by Louis Grell doesn’t stop now that the conserved 1919 mural is back in place. In fact, lighting this glorious work can become a protective agent.
Preserving The Coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost painted by Louis Grell doesn’t stop now that the conserved 1919 mural is back in place. In fact, lighting this glorious work can become a protective agent....
On the St. Mark's team with Kuniej Berry Associates was my long-time colleague, lighting designer Kerri Callahan of Polymath Design. I spoke to Kerri about how she sourced and located LEDs that made the Grell mural so visible, yet keep its delicate nature safe.
An altar curtain hiding the removal of some stained glass originally created unnatural and unflattering lighting on the altar and mural. In fact, the drape caused an odd sidelight circumstance, casting too much light on the apostles and absolutely none on the dove that embodies the Holy Spirit, which is in fact the precise subject matter of Grell’s mural.
Here Kerri shares her sustainable solution with us:
LED’s are viable solutions on the lighting side and benefit the conservation side. We widened the span of track, from 8 feet to the entire chapel width. The most difficult part to direct light into was the spring point of the arch. Expanding the light, widening it, permitted that. We weren’t sure whether 2800 or 3000 Kelvin was the right color temperature for the cleaned and restored artwork, and speculated in advance if the Holy Spirit might be better illuminated with a different color.
Because the safest and most flattering lighting option was not going to be apparent until the installation was nearly complete, I specified color tunable LED’s. We could stand anywhere in the chapel and tune the light accordingly. By using accessible software on my laptop, the lighting could efficiently and effectively be dimmed and color modified. This system and methodology was cost effective and no expensive individual fixtures were purchased.
In my research and work with the Art Institute of Chicago, we demonstrated that LED’s used sporadically do not harm artwork. Damage to natural fibers and pigments similar to those Grell employed is typically caused by excessive ultraviolet and light exposure, sunlight or constant illumination over 20-25 foot candles. For churches and museums, specifying traditional lighting control systems can be expensive and time consuming. This specifically-tailored altar installation demonstrates that low cost LED’s, all the same, can be installed in track and individually tuned. This process negates the need of an electrician and lift equipment to move or add filters to individual fixtures.
We asked Kerri what the benefits of the LED tunable system are and to share how the fascinating Grell details are now visible from all parts of the chapel.
Previously, the Holy Spirit appeared washed out, dull and drained of color. Now churchgoers can see and appreciate the majestically colored robes, the distinct leaf patterns in the foreground landscape foliage located at the feet of the apostles, the beautiful angels donning golden crowns, and the trumpet and lyre carried. One can catch the glitter and sparkle of the mural – the glory of the Holy Spirit – as the artist intended.
Lastly, Kerri shared general tips for chapel artwork lighting.
First, always have two sources of illumination. Never illuminate artworks with multiple singular fixtures, unless they are very small. You would always need more fixtures. Balance is needed, spot lights are not. This allows you to avoid darks, lows, highlights or hot spots – the more visible the space being illuminated, the more glare can be reduced. For the clergy and alter guild, this means bright light is not aimed in their faces. Light is spread out more evenly, resulting in a more balanced effect that is more emotive, too, of a peaceful and spiritual ambience.
For the clergy and alter guild, this means they do not have to endure bright light aimed in their faces. Light is spread out evenly in a soft wash resulting in a more balanced effect that is more emotive, too, of a holy, peaceful and spiritual ambiance.
Secondly, invest in sustainable equipment and fixtures. Retaining function over time will provide value.
Practice what you preach.
