AWARD FOR RELIGIOUS ARTS
Austin Chapel Series John Patrick Cobb Austin, TX
The artist of this traveling mural exhibition sought to express God’ s ideals through the depiction of ordinary, modern people, including children and the unhoused, in biblical scenes. He based the subjects on his own life experiences— people he worked with, situations in which he recognized God in others, people he could see and relate to— to depict seemingly unremarkable people as saints and prophets. Using traditional religious iconography techniques, the murals offer viewers an opportunity to meditate on the mysterious holiness of everyday people or even put themselves in the scenes.
JURY COMMENTS: The artwork uses some of the traditional materials and tropes of religious art but includes individuals who would never appear in such works. This helps make us attuned to their humanity.
John Patrick Cobb
AWARD FOR RELIGIOUS ARTS
Friends Seminary Skyspace Perkins Eastman Architects DPC New York, NY
Friends Seminary K-12 School shares a site and programs with the New York Quarterly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. This project included additions to school buildings and construction of the Skyspace, which contains an aperture that opens to the sky. A programmed light show washes the walls and ceiling, changing the perceived color of the sky and interacting with the natural changes in the sky at dawn and dusk.
The Skyspace challenges our understanding of light and space. For Quakers greeting the light, understanding that the perceived color of the sky is an individual perception rather than a fact embodies the Quaker doctrine of guidance from an inner light.
The design involved close collaboration between architect and artist. To support year-round use, a retractable roof with a cast fiberglass dome was designed to cover the aperture. The completed Skyspace is integrated into the curriculum and activities of the school and serves both as a place of contemplation and meditation and as an active arts and collaboration space. It is open for visits from children in neighboring city schools and from the community at large.
JURY COMMENTS: This space makes us see light in a new way, creating a sense of awe and wonder in the presence of the sky. It is transcendent in the tradition of great spirituality.
John Galayda
26 SACRED PLACES • SUMMER 2025