TAYLORVILLE - Renovation work in 2006 at the then 55-year-old St. Mary Church in Taylorville revealed a surprise to many people. During a 1972 renovation after Vatican II, a handmade art glass mosaic of St. Joseph on the right side of the sanctuary had been entirely covered up, only to later be partially uncovered to balance a scaled down mosaic of the Blessed Mother on the other side of the sanctuary.
Now both repaired and fully restored to their original size, St. Joseph is depicted as a carpenter at a work bench with the child Jesus at his feet at a smaller work bench. A huge art glass mosaic of Christ, on the back sanctuary wall was also restored in the 2006 renovation.
"Tony Durbin, our ‘go to' parishioner on parish history, put together a church photo collage. In a 1995 dated photo, you can see St. Joseph, and if you really looked close you could see the head of Jesus, but you didn't know who it was, or what he was doing," said Father Dan Willenborg, parochial vicar.
Parishioner Jane Frey, an artist who exhibits her oil paintings at the Old State Capitol Art Fair among other places, cleaned and restored the mosaics. "They took several feet off the Blessed Mother mosaic, and in so doing there was more damage on Mary's side," she said. "There was also quite a bit of damage to the Christ mosaic in the middle. But since the St. Joseph mosaic was entirely covered up, it actually fared better."
The mosaics are made of Venetian art glass, each piece hand placed by an artist in the plaster. "This is the real thing, the same thing that you would find in the cathedral in Venice. They are beautiful art pieces," said Frey.
She cleaned the mosaics, replaced damaged and missing glass pieces, and removed the plaster left from parts that had been covered over. "Friends helped me to rent a lift, so I could do the cleaning and repairs. It took me a week to finish," said Frey.
A mosaic of the Holy Spirit on the sanctuary ceiling at St. Mary is featured in a picture in a liturgical arts magazine in 1942. "We think it was taken out in 1972, when a new lowered lighting system was put in," said Father Willenborg.
Durbin said he thinks the older people in the parish particularly appreciated it when the mosaics were restored. "People were upset when they remodeled the church, and covered up the mosaics," he said.
"It is a beautiful church," said parishioner Alacoque Traynor, whose family moved to Taylorville in 1950. "Msgr. George Powell was the motivator when it was constructed."