I believe historic buildings are physical links to the past, portals into the lives and stories of all who lived, loved, worked, suffered, celebrated and died in them. When they are lost, so too are those stories.

To illustrate my method, these images are of a recent painting on material salvaged from the abandoned Sts. Peter & Paul Church, as part of my “Sacred Spaces” series. Presented are pictures of the church, the salvaged church pews used to build the panels, and the finished 152 cm x 135 cm painting.

Sts. Peter & Paul is a former Gothic style, Roman Catholic church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The parish was active from 1860 to 1992.

German and Lithuanian immigrants established the parish in the village of East Liberty with their own money, land and labor. Before the 1992 de-sanctification, Sts. P&P ushered its parishioners through the Civil War, WWI, the Great Depression, WWII, Korea, the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam. For over 100 years filled with turmoil, it was the
constant…a place of refuge and peaceful reflection, shelter from societal storms.

The now crumbling church stands watch over East Liberty, its future uncertain.