Mesa parish spreads faith through artwork

By Mary Moore, The Catholic Sun
December 21, 2006

MESA — St. Timothy parishioners will have a fuller understanding of their place in salvation history when the new 30-by-30 mural depicting dozens of saints is completed this Christmas.

That’s according to local artist Steve Voita, who’s been working on the project since last December. He began painting late last summer.

The mural, titled “Salvation’s Family,” depicts the second coming of Christ — along with some 30 saints — and spans the width of the sanctuary’s apse.

“I wanted people to remember that we belong to a communion of saints with Jesus in the center,” said Fr. Jack Spaulding, St. Timothy’s pastor.

Rays of light are woven throughout the mural, emanating from the risen Christ and from the actual tabernacle below Christ’s feet. The light shines on the saints, who are situated to the left and right of the tabernacle.

Paintings of Mary and Joseph — which Voita completed before the major work on the mural — flank the larger painting.

“To watch this unfold from being white drywall to chalk drawings to a vibrant, risen Lord with the blazing sun behind Him has just been amazing,” said Vickie Jennett, director of communications for the parish.

The mural, a new tabernacle and a large, suspended crucifix are the latest additions to the church sanctuary.

The more impressionistic sculptural backdrop that had inhabited the space since the building’s inception in the 1970s remains in the main church as peripheral art.

“There is nothing symbolic” in the mural, Fr. Spaulding explained. “When you have the real thing, you don’t need symbols.”

The content of the work continued to grow even after it began. Fr. Spaulding added 10 saints to the 20 that had already been sketched in by Voita.

Among the nearly 30 saints represented are Maximilian Kolbe, Edith Stein, Juan Diego and Elizabeth Ann Seton.

Also present are several who have not yet been canonized, such as Knights of Columbus founder Fr. Michael McGivney and the late Pope John Paul II.

“Our Church is a rich tapestry. We have a lot of depth,” said Voita, recalling the challenge of choosing the mural’s content.

“If you’re going to do a painting in church, bring your overalls because it is going to be scrutinized,” he added.

Voita, a 51-year-old father of five, has been freelancing as an artist in the Valley for years. His artwork can also be seen at St. Thomas the Apostle, St. Gabriel the Archangel in Cave Creek and the Mission San Luis Rey near Oceanside, Calif.

“I think God wanted his Son front and center here, this way,” Voita said. “Is it as important as the lights and the parking lot?  You bet.”

Though the impressive work is drawing viewers from around the Valley, Fr. Spaulding said that attracting an audience was not his motivation.

“We are doing this so that this building can finally be a church now, a Catholic church, not just a worship space,” he said. “This is not just decorative, but very catechetical.”