Symposium on the Work of Patrick Charles Keely

WHO WAS PATRICK CHARLES KEELY?

(1816-1896)

           Although he was the designer and architect of approximately 700 churches and ecclesiastical buildings in the eastern and western United States and Canada from the 1840s, Patrick Charles Keely is relatively unknown among authorities in the fields of American and European art and architecture of the 19^th century.

Yet, in 1884, Keely’s extraordinary output resulted in his being the second recipient of the University of Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal.  Given annually, it is the oldest and most prestigious award given to an American Catholic whose genius has ennobled the arts and sciences and enriched the heritage of humanity.

It is believed, however, that the religious tensions of the period contributed to Keely being largely forgotten.

           On Friday, March 22, 2013, The Monuments Conservancy will present its 23^rd Annual Symposium at the Time & Life Building, Rockefeller Center, 1271 Avenue of the Americas (at 50^th Street), Henry Luce Room (second floor), 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 pm, to explore Keely’s legacy and to correct the failure of recorded history.

Featured will be speakers from the fields of art, history, conservation of the decorative arts, psychology, and photography.  Keynoter will be Edward Furey, artist, educator, and founder of the Keely Society, to explain his dedication to documenting the life and work of this influential, but unsung, artist.

Nothing is known of Keely’s formal architectural background other than that he was trained in construction under his father, a draftsman and builder.

What is documented is that Patrick Keely arrived in Brooklyn, New York, from County Tipperary, Ireland, in 1842, just when the Roman Catholic Church was experiencing unprecedented expansion.  A chance meeting with a young parish priest led to the design and construction of Keely’s first church in America, the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Brooklyn in 1848 (demolished in 1957).  Built in the Gothic Revival style, it brought him a succession of commissions for cathedrals, churches, and institutional buildings that became models for religious buildings during the last half of the 19^th century.

Keely drew on the talents of leading artists and artisans from the fields of sculpture, painting, stained glass, and the decorative arts to create sacred spaces “of grand and godly proportions” that address and symbolize Catholic worship.

Patrick Charles Keely died in Brooklyn in 1896.