Students transform church pew into work of art

Kevin Kilbane, Stephen Glover, Tammy Sparks, Emily, and Pastor Nelson Blount with the hand-painted church pew. Photo by Susan Love

View Image Gallery

Once upon a time there was a pew bench in a back room at Westlake's CrossPointe Community not being used. Lo and behold, one day an idea surfaced in the mind of Stephen Glover who spoke with Mary Ann Corrigan-Davis, president of St. Joseph Academy. Their conversation sparked a thought – what if the art department at St. Joseph made this a semester project?

Mrs. Corrigan-Davis took the idea to St. Joseph’s art department director Beth Pieban and art teacher Tammy Sparks. These ladies saw this as a unique opportunity for the Art Club to use their skills to serve the greater Christian community.

The initial phase of the "Bible on a Bench" project included a preliminary sketch submitted to the CrossPointe Leadership Team. We thought the artistic rendition was amazing.

The project was launched with a team of students led by Emily, a senior AP student. Ms. Sparks gave leadership and the Art Club went to work after Mr. Glover oversaw the transporting of the 18-foot pew bench to St. Joseph with the help of Kevin Kilbane and his truck. After several phone conversations to let us know how the project was proceeding, the call came that the Bible on a Bench was ready to travel home.

Steve and Kevin loaded up the pew on Kevin’s truck, strapped it down and moved it to its final resting place, the lobby at CrossPointe Community. What an amazing piece of art! What a blessing to have such a beautiful and functional art piece in our lobby which tells the story of God’s unconditional love from Genesis to Jesus’ resurrection!

Emily is an amazing art student. She will be attending the University of Dayton this fall, continuing her passion for art. The team of students created a masterpiece which has blessed our CrossPointe Community.

The Bible on a Bench will be dedicated during the Worship Gathering at CrossPointe Community, 1800 Columbia Road, on Sunday, Aug. 16, at 10:30 a.m. There will be a reception cook-out after worship to honor those who have served us and for the community who will participate in this grand day. All are welcome.