Holy Family Catholic Church
Latrobe, PA
Designed by John T. Combes, Holy Family Catholic Church is an impressive building, but for many years the interior did not do justice to the architecture or the promise of a foretaste of heaven. Artwork had been covered with layers of dingy monochromatic paint and liturgical furnishings had been stripped out. When EverGreene was commissioned to design a new liturgical artistry program we met with the community to better understand their motivations and vision. A parishioner who grew up attending Holy Family told us “When I was a little girl I felt like I was walking into the King’s palace, and now I feel like I’m walking into a dungeon!” We had our orders!
The plaster was restored, new architecturally sympathetic murals and decoration was introduced and we worked collaboratively with a marble specialist to elevate a salvaged historic altar to become a fitting high altar through the addition of new plaster ornament which was decoratively painted to seamlessly integrate with the true marble. All of the artistry at the renewed Holy Family subtly supports the architecture and the liturgy, and will do so for generations to come.
