Matthew Alderman Studios’ 2015 Year in Review
From designing new art and stained glass for churches from Minnesota to Texas, last year was our busiest so far!
Now that we’ve all had a month or two to recover from the hustle and bustle of Christmas and the New Year, we can’t think of a better time than to consider the many and varied projects and other events that marked 2015 for Matthew Alderman Studios. We began 2015 with a commission for a design concept for a new altarpiece in a rectory chapel being designed by Curtis and Windham Architects in Sugar Land, Texas. The final painting would be done according to our cartoons by a local painter. The client was very impressed with the work of the early Netherlandish painters, but the finished design needed to complement a simple paneled classical interior. The central Crucifixion is flanked by images of St. Thomas the Apostle and St. Margaret of Scotland, the patron saints of the earthly patrons who funded the altarpiece. Local landmarks and the church and school itself appear in the background of the image.
Much of 2015 was spent working with Fr. Dwight Longenecker and his architect Christian LeBlanc on the furnishing designs for the new church building at Our Lady of the Rosary in Greenville, South Carolina, slated for dedication in mid-2016. Ground was broken on the building in July 2015. MAS has contributed designs for a new baldachin, altar, tabernacle shrine, faux-alabaster windows with geometric frames, column capitals, and other interior elements. Ratigan-Schottler is currently in the process of carrying out our designs. We are presently putting the final touches on a series of symbolic patterns for the floor.
MAS also undertook designs for a custom door with inset stained glass depicting symbols of the virtues of the Blessed Virgin for a church in Minnesota later in summer and fall. The highlight of our year, though, was Matthew being invited to teach a course on sacred architecture at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome as part of a summer program for American seminarians, The Rome Experience, which earned Matthew, at least temporarily, the privilege of being called “professor.” Other adventures included a visit to a private archaeological dig in one of Trastevere’s most obscure churches and a tour of the Vatican Museums led by the distinguished Dr. Elizabeth Lev. Fall saw some time away from the desk, with Matthew accompanying his parents on a seventy-mile walking pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, a first for all three of them which earned them the official Compostela certificate.
Matthew also gave a presentation at the newly-opened Sheen Center in New York entitled “Unwreckovation” on the rehabilitation of church interiors, part of the Society for Catholic Liturgy’s 20th anniversary conference, which was well-received. The year ended with Matthew working on his third annual Christmas card design for FAITH Catholic Publishing, taking a well-deserved rest, and starting designs for a new stained glass window overseas, which we hope to share more about in future posts here.
This article is taken from the February-March edition of our studio newsletter. If you wish to subscribe, please send us a message or visit matthewalderman.com.
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