Concordia's Center for Liturgical Art serves the Christian community nationwide

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SEWARD, NEB. (04/27/2018) Concordia University Nebraska's Center for Liturgical Art designed and created four special paintings for Long Island Lutheran School in Brookville, N.Y.

Jane Lottes, head of advancement at Long Island Lutheran and Concordia alumni, contacted the center and tasked them with making four sanctuary pieces for the high school's chapel area. These were based off of their school's mission points of operating in Christian love, reaching excellence, learning in an engaging and supportive community, and being a family in Christ. Artist Mark Anschutz created the designs while studio assistant Austin Romine and CLA operations manager Evan Balleweg made the paintings, dedicating two and a half months to the project. Assembly and installment were carried out on site in Brookville.

"We got the paintings installed, and they look fantastic," said Lottes. "Our Head of School was doing chapel and did a review lesson on each of the pieces, reminding students of our four core values. It's great to have a connection between Concordia, the CLA and our school."

The Center for Liturgical Art's mission is to promote the use of exceptional visual art in worship and ministry. Since its establishment in 2002, the Center has become a recognized leader in liturgical art, providing meaningful, reflective and powerful pieces for ministries around the world. The CLA studio was dedicated just this past fall, but nearly 30 projects have already been completed this year. Anything from stained glass and mosaics to furniture and altar pieces are being produced from CLA's staff.

"Every project that we do is different," said Balleweg. "Two weeks ago, I was out in Wisconsin installing seven of our stained glass windows and an 8x8 mosaic cross. Today, I'm working on constructing eight candle stands with color-changing inserts for a church in Naples, Florida. Every piece is unique, and that always keeps things interesting."