The Churches of New York XC: Art of the Archdiocese

How do the arts in the New York Archdiocese stand? We have before us two recent examples connected with church closures and renovations.

We have described how the chapel of St Joseph in Battery Park City had been closed. Now this chapel – unknown to almost everyone in the City – also had been converted by the Archdiocese to a 9/11 memorial. That didn’t save St. Joseph’s from closing.

The “artworks” connected from St Joseph’s have been moved over to St. Peter’s church. Now the grand, 180-year old facade must serve as an exhibition stand for dubious, inexplicable statues. At least they are set back from the columns. Other items from St Joseph’s are housed inside St Peter’s.

We had covered in 2013 the restoration of St. Brigid’s (earlier, St. Bridget’s) church – and the closing of nearby St. Emeric’s parish. Within a year, however, frescos were added to the wall behind the the sanctuary to impart some color to the barren, almost Calvinistic interior (the Archdiocese had previously stripped out all the interior decoration under its original plan to permanently close the church) and the modernistic furnishings of the altar space.

So, as early as the rebuilding of St Agnes church in 1998, a more popular, figurative art was felt necessary at least as a decorative component. It was clear that outright, exclusive modernism had outlived its usefulness. Whether the results so far rise above the level of kitsch is another question.