Jesuit Chapel

Wauwatosa, WI

Client: Midwest Jesuits

Scope: Comprehensive Design, Art Sourcing, Furnishings Production, Installation

Media: Wood, glass, stone, mosaic, metal, suspended canopy, fine art and finishes, lighting

Date: February, 2018

Story: 

The Midwest Diocese of Jesuits was having built a new residence for retired priests to replace ill-suited and aging accommodations.  The jewel of this residence would be the chapel.  Design Fugitives worked with liturgical consultant Gilbert Sunghera SJ of the University of Detroit Mercy on the concept and design.  We conducted a series of workshops to gather from the men the values and stories they would like incorporated.

The overarching input from these workshops was to portray and honor the divine spiritual journey, and the geographic journeys many of the men had taken during their ministry.

The vertical journey: The Jesuit logo – the Sunburst – centers the design from above to below.  Its rays travel to every surface of the chapel.

The horizontal journey: The artwork guides one around the ambulatory – a nod to medieval cathedrals – and focuses on the stories and journeys, trials and triumphs of saints past and present.

Artwork for the project was created custom by Design Fugitives, Inspired Artisans of Milwaukee and Italy, Catherine Lotes of Milwaukee, and Stephanie Barenz of Shanghai.