Stripes for St. Joseph, 2015-2016

In Northern Europe during the Middle Ages, St. Joseph was commonly depicted in visual art with stripes on his breeches, rather than a halo, to symbolize his distinctiveness, challenges, marginalization, yet inherent significance. This inspired me to embellish the abandoned building, formerly St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church, with stripes, creating a visual pattern that evokes a restoration in progress. Instead of painting the stripes, I chose to reveal the original cedar boards by flipping them over, and exposing the building’s unseen facade. The former concrete parking lot barriers outside the church had been repurposed as seating for open-mic performances within the structure.

This work aimed to draw attention to the Roosevelt Park, Grandville Avenue historic neighborhood undergoing gentrification. The former St. Joseph the Worker was a beloved structure, and its imminent demolition was underway by developers without significant community engagement regarding what would replace it. The initial installation was created for ArtPrize in 2015 as part of Site:Lab’s Rumsey St. Project. Following this event and throughout the subsequent year, I revisited the site to create portraits of former parishioners with an 8x10 large format film camera, and deepening my engagement and relationships with the community. The series of portraits led to a second installation, 'Stripes for St. Joseph: Redux,' which was showcased at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park for ArtPrize in 2016. My engagement also intersected with broader advocacy efforts within the community.