We are halfway through the cleaning and restoration projects at St. Jude Chapel on Main Street. In December, a new mosaic background niche was created for the Infant of Prague statue. In February, our team ascended to the top of the Risen Christ mosaic to clean, stabilize and repair the mosaic. A small fracture was creating loose tiles in the center of the mosaic. Earlier repairs had been insufficient, as they didn't match the original material or colors. Missing tiles were sourced from our studio and filled to match the surroundings. All mosaics in the chapel received a careful cleaning, including the Virgin of Guadelupe, the Blessed Mother, St. Jude, St. Anthony and St. Theresa. See the AIA Columns Magazine article by Preservation Dallas Executive Director, David Preziosi
The restoration was awarded the 2018 Gail Thoma Patterson Award for outstanding restoration by Preservation Dallas.
Callie, a conservator with Art Restorations, Inc. of Dallas, injects a stabilizer behind the loose tesserae on the Risen Christ mosaic.
Julie is carefully placing each tessera back in place. High resolution photos mapped each inch of the fault line. Tiles were removed, cleaned, and replaced according to the traced maps and photos. Photo by Danny Fulgencio.
Our team consists of local mosaic artist Lynne Chinn, Julie Richey and Art Restorations conservator Callie Heimburger. Photo by Danny Fulgencio.
Infant of Prague mosaic background by Julie Richey Mosaics.
The 1968 Genesis mosaic designed by Prof.Gyorgy Kepes of MIT. Fabricated by Venetian Mosaic Arts studio in NY. Cleaning and fracture repair took place from April to June, 2017.