Great Church Art Project on Exhibit at Our Lady of Atonement Chapel, Graymoor

GARRISON, N.Y. - Oct. 2, 2013 - PRLog -- Artist Suzanne Kraus-Mancuso of Putnam Valley has created an art installation of 1,500 postcard sized paintings depicting churches, temples and holy places throughout the world.  A large portion of this mural, which took nearly three years to complete, will be on exhibit at Our Lady of Atonement Chapel (formerly Pilgrim Hall) at Graymoor in Garrison from October 6 through November 23, 2013.  The exhibit is timed to the celebration of the feast of St. Francis and Graymoor’s October 6 Blessing of the Animals public event.

The work on display will feature many of the Hudson Valley churches the artist has painted as well as from around the globe. Ms. Kraus-Mancuso, who is an ordained inter faith minister, earned her first world record on October 2, 2010, for her primitive folk art portrait of the Blessed Virgin Mary, deemed to be the world’s largest at over 1,000 feet.  “I have painted many of the sites around Graymoor as part of this work, and I wanted give the Atonement friars and sisters who live there an opportunity to see it,” she said.

The Chapel of Our Lady of Atonement is open to the public from 8am to 5pm each day, and Mass is celebrated at 11am on Sundays.  For more information, contact Linda Grassia, Communications and Public Relations Manager, (845) 424-2140.

The Franciscan Friars of the Atonement are a Roman Catholic order of brothers and priests founded in 1898 by Fr. Paul Wattson, SA at Graymoor in Garrison.  Since that time, the Friars have worked for reconciliation and healing through “at-one-ment” — the unity of men and women with God and with one another —  so that the prayer of Jesus “that they all may be one” might be fulfilled.  Through their mission and ministries they serve people of every race, religion, and walk of life. Their social ministries help the poor, the needy, and the homeless; people living with HIV; frail and elderly in hospitals and hospices; those in prison; and people seeking recovery from alcoholism and chemical addictions.  Their ecumenical work makes them leaders of the international movement to heal the divisions within Christianity and among all faiths.  Through their prayers and pastoral ministries, they bring spiritual renewal, unity, harmony, and reconciliation throughout the world and carry the Gospel message to three continents.  To learn more about the Friars of the Atonement, visit atonementfriars.org (http://www.atonementfriars.org)  .