Unsung mural on York, Pa.’s Trinity United Methodist Church preserved – at least digitally
About a decade ago, Wayne Fettro, of Elizabethtown, painted the panel “Feeding of the 5,000” Trinity United Methodist Church in York. A structural issue with the church’s roof has since endangered the future of that East King Street building – and the mural, painted out of sight of motorists on the side and back of the church. (See photograph of the mural below.) (Update: The church has been preserved, with another congregation taking ownership of the building.) Also of interest: Will another York, Pa., landmark come down? and Old Children’s Home of York another example of unleashed wrecker’s ball in 1960s era and Adding up all its clubs, organizations and churches, York County, Pa., is a quietly social place.
At about the time the last of the Murals of York were going up 10 years ago, one those mural artists was commissioned to do another ambitious outdoor panel.
The Rev. Chuck McCulloh Jr. of Trinity United Methodist Church and Mechanicsburg’s Wayne Fettro worked out a wide set of scenes on the side and back of the East King Street Church.
The chronological scenes tell the biblical story from Creation to the Ascension of Jesus.
A decade later, structural deficiencies have threatened the church and the mural… .
The York Daily Record/Sunday News updated the story and created a slide show .
Interestingly, the Fettro’s three paintings that are part of the Murals of York work also will become endangered. The 18 large-scale murals were not painted with permanence in mind. They went up with a lifespan of 20 years.
The oldest one was painted 15 years ago.
The newest, Fettro’s – “York’s Defenders of Freedom – will soon celebrate its 10th birthday. (Fettro’s two other murals: “Dr. George Holtzapple, the Breath of Life” and “York County 250th Anniversary.”)
At a time that York is developing its arts scene, it’s interesting that so much existing art is fading.
That’s includes the Trinity United Methodist Church’s mural.
At least, the Trinity mural is preserved digitally on ydr.com.
Also of interest
To see all of the Murals of York, visit: http://www.ydr.com/murals,
The late Rev. Chuck McCulloh Jr. holds Wayne Fettro’s sketches for the mural that wraps around the side and back of Trinity United Methodist Church in York.
Archives
– York can always search for York Town Square posts on Google. For example, when you search for yorktownsquare and the Murals of York, you get this.
