A mosaic made by two Greensburg Art Center members has found a home in a small Puerto Rican church.
It’s the last thing artists Rosemary Sovyak of Hempfield and Tom Niggel of Greensburg expected when they put their hands and heads together to create something for last winter’s “Collaborations” show at the center.
“You can’t make this stuff up,” Sovyak said. “Tom and I are just so humbled that something we made ended up there and means so much to (the parishioners).”
The piece was presented to Parroquia Ascensión del Señor in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, on Christmas.
The mosaic includes two panels, an image of Mary and the baby Jesus by Sovyak and one of the glorified Christ by Niggel.
Sovyak leads mosaic workshops at Greensburg Art Center, and Niggel is a longtime maker of Christian iconography.
When she first saw the work, fellow artist Gloria Gonzalez of Hempfield thought it would be a perfect fit for the church, where her aunt is a parishioner. She sought to buy it from the artists, who decided to donate it instead.
Shirley McMarlin | Tribune-Review
Closeup of a mosaic created by Greensburg Art Center members Rosemary Sovyak and Tom Niggel, which was presented on Christmas to a church in Puerto Rico.
That it ended up in Puerto Rico is of special significance to Niggel.
“The reason I was most touched is that I trained for the Peace Corps in Puerto Rico in the late ’60s,” he said. “So when Gloria told me where it was going, it was like coming full circle.”
Niggel said he remembers the warm welcome he received from the people on the island.
After two weeks of intensive language training, he said, the Peace Corps volunteers were sent out into the communities and told to find a place to stay.
“By that time I could say, ‘Hello,’” he said. “It was really sort of frightening, but I loved how we were treated by the people. They were very poor, but they opened their homes and shared everything with us.
“I have a real soft spot for Puerto Rico.”
“My aunt delivered (the icon) on Christmas day, and the deacon presented it to the parishioners after Mass,” Gonzalez said. “Everyone was in awe. My cousin had tears in her eyes, my aunt had tears in her eyes.
“My aunt wanted to show it to one of the priests who is getting ready to retire — he’s very old. I’m sure he had tears in his eyes, too,” she added.
Before sending the artwork to Puerto Rico, Gonzalez said she separated the two panels, in case church members wanted to hang the images separately. She is waiting for her relatives to send photos when the pieces are mounted on church walls.
“They’re deciding where to put it,” she said. “I told my aunt, ‘Tell them to hurry up!’ I don’t know if they’ll put it in the main church or in the small chapel. I thought it would be perfect for the chapel, which is small and rustic.
“They are ecstatic at the workmanship and that someone would think of them and would donate this to them,” she added.
“It’s a global community now, and we’re just reaching out,” Sovyak said. “We’re hoping that other people will do the same thing.”
Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Shirley at 724-836-5750, smcmarlin@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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January 06, 2021 at 11:47PM
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Greensburg artists' work is Christmas gift to Puerto Rican church - TribLIVE
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