A Field Trip

For my Art History class I had to take a field trip to a civil building or church and then write a paper on the building and how it was built, and what kind of art influences were present. Meredith helped me out on my paper, and between the 2 of us, ended up with a perfect score of 250/250 ... the biggest scoring assignment for this class.

W00T!!!

I am posting the paper here, and I am also wanting to take a moment to publicly thank my wife for her help and insight. She is the best!!!


Holy Trinity Church; Bloomington, Illinois
For my field trip I went to the Holy Trinity Church in Bloomington Illinois. This church has the distinction of being one of five registered churches in the United States to be done entirely in Art Deco and is on National Register of Historic Places as of 1984 (Holy Trinity document, March, 1989). Although it is in need of many repairs, it is still a very beautiful building.
The church has a great history dating to before the current structure was built. The original Holy Trinity Church was established in the late nineteenth-century by Irish-American immigrants wanting to show God the glory of a building dedicated to the Catholic faith. However, the parishioners must have spent all of their money on the construction of the building because insurance was not purchased when the building was finished in 1869. Central Illinois resides in the “Tornado Alley:, the swath of middle America where tornado season ensures that all buildings have tornado exit plans and drills in today’s age. The almost-finished building and rectory was demolished by such a tornado less than 10 years after construction was finished. Between building the replacement (the second church) and the existing Holy Trinity, the area near the church sustained fire damage that was classified, “mysterious”. The Chicago architect, A.F. Moratz, was consulted at one point about the cost of replacing the church structure and is largely credited with saving the parish from ruin when fire did destroy most of the building in 1932. (Jutkins, p.10) The parishioner’s gratitude most likely provided Moratz the commission of the third church, the Holy Trinity that stands today.
The architect, A.F. Morantz, appears to have done other buildings in both Illinois and Indiana, including another Catholic Church in central Indiana. Today, Holy Trinity Church is conducting a capital campaign to repair the almost 70-year-old building. Due to the Depression, there was a great desire and need to reuse as much as possible from the partially destroyed building. For that reason the steel structure of the second Church was reused in Morantz’s design. Inside the steel rafters are supported with solid concrete pillars
The term “Art Deco” is used to describe the overall decorative movement that originated in the mid-1920s and lasted through the1930s. According to www.wikipedia.com, the phrase is used to describe the period of decorative arts where Neoclassical, Constructivism, Cubism, Modernism, Art Nouveau, and Futurism culminated into an art form where chevrons, stained glass, steel and aluminum we used as mediums. Famous examples of the Art Deco style include the Chrysler Building in New York City and the Omaha, Nebraska train station. Moratz utilized a glass-maker in Munich, Germany to create the distinctive cobalt blue glass for the windows and lead to outline the patterns. One of the interesting points about this building is that the Art Deco theme is carried out in all of acid-etched stained glass windows and there are no religious scenes are utilized in those windows. Another characteristic of Art Deco arts is the usage of decorative plaster. The main vault is barrel arched was created and completed in 24 hours using a scaffolding that was constructed to allow a specially built trowel to plaster the richly adorned ceiling in a continuous concave oval. Outside, the Church is recognizably Art Deco with multiple layers of stepped brickwork on every side. In 1996, the Chicago Art Deco Society published an article in their quarterly newsletter on Holy Trinity Church. Art Deco structures are based on mathematical geometric shapes (Hauffe). . The roof is a massive steel structure that is covered in gothic art. The spire was made of limestone, and is in need of repair. The rectory itself was done in red sandstone which also needs some repair. Copper was used on the roof in the ridge caps, the box gutters, and the downspouts located inside the walls, all which needs to be replaced. The pillars that ring the altar are simple cylinders, plain but topped with decorative elements.