Gallatin County Parishioners Gareth and Andi York, two cousins who both
have artistic backgrounds, are working to restore damaged statues
recovered from St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Ridgway, which was
completely destroyed by the Feb. 29 tornado.
The
pair approached the Rev. Steven Beatty about the possibility of
repairing the damaged statues, some of which are original to the more
than 100-year-old church, after doing some minor repair and touch-up
work to statues in St. Mary's Catholic Church in Shawneetown.
At
first, Beatty was reluctant about the undertaking because he thought
the statues were damaged beyond repair. However, the Yorks were
confident in their abilities and thought the restoration work was a
worthwhile endeavor, even if only a few of them could be fully restored.
They are doing the work for free, only requiring minor costs for
materials.
"The way I see it is we're young
professionals who can't afford to give financially to the Church, so we
give our time and efforts instead," Gareth said. "Plus, it's a way of
preserving history."
They began working on the
four statues from St. Joseph's that were in the worst condition about
two months ago and are nearly finished with at least two of them. There
are a few more statues they plan to repair when they complete work on
the first four.
Gareth explained that they are
attempting to make the statues look as much like they did before they
were damaged as possible, which is time-consuming, meticulous work.
Though both Gareth and Andi have other jobs, they work on the statues
together almost every night in a workroom at St. Joseph's Chapel in
Equality. Both Andi and Gareth admitted they are perfectionists and
sometimes redo their work several times before they are satisfied with
the repairs.
"Trying to match the intricate
details of the original work has been the most challenging aspect of the
work so far," Gareth said. "It's a time commitment."
Gareth
has been focusing his time on statues of St. Joseph and St. Mary, who
each hold symbolic items in their hands. The colors and symbols on the
statues are significant in the Catholic Church and require detailed work
in order to restore them properly.
For example,
St. Joseph holds a carpenter's square in one hand and baby Jesus in the
other. He is always portrayed in various shades of brown clothing. St.
Mary is holding lilies in one hand and baby Jesus in the other. She is
always depicted in blue robes.
The statue of St.
Mary was heavily damaged and required some resourcefulness on Gareth's
part to restore it. The head of baby Jesus had been ripped off the
statue entirely during the storm and the gold crown which adorned her
head had to be replaced, as well. Using mixed media, he was able to
recreate the missing parts. He is currently finishing paint work on her
robes.
Andi, on the other hand, has spent most of
her time so far working on two angel statues that were once seated on
either side of the altar at St. Joseph's. One of them is missing its
wings and is still being repaired, while the other angel was missing a
hand and is undergoing plaster work. Both required plaster and spackle
work to patch up missing pieces and repair the many scratches and dents
they acquired in the tornado.
"The things we thought would be hard sometimes we breezed right through," she said.
Other times, the work can be difficult and frustrating.
"It's challenging, but it's fun for us," Andi said. "We have very high expectations of ourselves."
Fortunately
for the two perfectionists, they are in no rush to complete the
repairs, as it will take some time before a new church is built in
Ridgway, which will be the new home for the statues.
"We know people will be satisfied with the end result, but we want to do it right," Andi said.
"Because hopefully they will be around in another 100 years," Gareth added.
The
two thank Beatty for allowing them the opportunity to take on the
project, as well as St. Joseph's of Equality for giving them a workspace
to use.