Installation of Saints
St. Austin’s Catholic Church on Guadalupe Street in Austin, TX, now has two female saints (St. Phoebe and St. Mary Magdalene) joining St. Peter and St. Paul on the walls of the sanctuary. Due to the efforts of Women of Faith Unbound (WOFU), the project was approved. WOFU began looking for the artist to create these sculptures. We were asked to help guide the group in their search and offer our technical and artistic advice. The group finally decided on The Sculpture Studio from Phoenix Az., to undertake the project. WOFU flew the sculptor to Austin in January 2019, so he could see the church firsthand and especially see the St. Peter and the St. Paul statues which would establish many of the parameters for the statues of the new female saints. But the trickiest part of having St. Phoebe and St. Mary Magdalene look congruent with their male predecessors would be the staining and the finishing which we agreed to tackle. The statues had several different colors of boards of basswood glued together, which had to be stained to blend into one final color – a color as close to Peter’s & Paul’s aged patina as possible.
Finally in December of 2019, we installed the new statues up on the limestone walls. Since the statues would hang over the steps leading up to the altar, we had to first create a platform to set on the steps in order to create a level floor for the erection of our scaffolding. Then we could drill into the limestone and set a custom post for hanging the statues. Now St. Phoebe and St. Mary Magdalene are home with hands raised and ready to welcome the congregation each Sunday.
St. Phoebe and St. Mary Magdalene installed.
Platforms built for installation.
Members of Women of Faith Unbound at our shop.