Main fundraiser photo

Restoration St Ignatius Mission

The St. Ignatius Mission was founded in 1854 by Jesuit missionaries on the Flathead Indian reservation in western Montana.  At one time the Mission was home to the first Jesuit theological and industrial arts school in the Northwest, the first Catholic Sisters and Catholic school in Montana, a hospital, sawmill, flour mill, printing press, carpenter shop and blacksmith shop.  

Today the Mission consists of four buildings: two of the original residences, the rectory and the church.  The missionaries and the Indian people worked together to build the church in 1891  using locally made clay bricks and lumber hewn from trees in the surrounding area.  

The most extraordinary feature of the St. Ignatius church are the 58 murals painted on the interior plaster walls.  These works of art were painted in 1901-1902 by Brother Joseph Carignano, an Italian Jesuit with no professional art training. Murals of this type are rare in this country and have been leaving visitors from around the world awestruck for over 100 years.  

The east wall has shifted causing three of the largest murals to crack and buckle.  Pieces of the plaster have already fallen, and time is of the essence to prevent the destruction of this historical and cultural treasure.  

Funds raised here will be used to stabilize the murals and stop any further damage.  We are applying for grants and exploring other sources of money to fund the full restoration of these exquisite works of art, but that is a long process and it is imperative that work begin immediately.   These funds will be used to bridge the gap until full funding is available and allow the art conservator to stabilize the murals and develop the necessary action plan to restore them to their former glory.

The  stress on the wall makes this project time critical, and each passing day further imperils this important historical and cultural masterpiece.

The  murals of the St. Ignatius Mission are truly one of a kind.  We must preserve this sacred work of art for it is irreplaceable and can never be duplicated. 

Here are photos of the murals before the damage.  Help us restore and preserve this exquisite piece of art and cultural history.

http://crownofthecontinent.natgeotourism.com/content/st-ignatius-mission-church/cotf80bfdd8b9c82269b

Organizer

Andrew Maddock
Organizer
Saint Ignatius, MT

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