Latest news with #MILLVALE
Washington Post
5 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
What it takes to clean industrial soot and grime from a Pittsburgh church's murals
MILLVALE, Pa. — How do you conserve 80-year-old murals that have accumulated decades' worth of soot, salt and other deterioration? Slowly and carefully, using everything from scientific analysis to seaweed extract to everyday tools — like cosmetic sponges and shish kebab sticks. That was the approach taken by a conservation team as they labored on a section of murals at St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church near Pittsburgh.
Associated Press
5 days ago
- Associated Press
AP PHOTOS: Famed church murals featuring social commentary revived by conservationists
MILLVALE, Pa. (AP) — Workers have completed a phase of conservation work on historic murals by the late artist Maxo Vanka at St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church near Pittsburgh. The vivid results underscore the original power of the murals, which Vanka painted more than 80 years ago, fusing traditional Catholic iconography with searing social commentary. The team of more than a dozen workers cleaned off grime, extracted corrosive salts from the walls, stabilized plaster and delicately filled in areas of lost paint with new pastels and watercolors. The artist's granddaughter said of the mural, 'He always called it his gift to America.' ___ This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editor Patrick Sison. See more AP photography at
Washington Post
5 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
Inside a historic church painted with murals that reflect searing social commentary
MILLVALE, Pa. — When the scaffolding came down inside the unassuming hilltop church near Pittsburgh, it revealed a raging storm of biblical proportions. A wide-eyed Moses holds the Ten Commandments aloft in righteous fury, ready to shatter the tablets when his followers abandon God for a golden calf. Lightning sizzles and a tornado surges in the background.
