Kapa’a resident Olga Urminska’s careful restoration of expensive pieces of art makes her an “art conservator.” The pieces enjoying the attention of her painstaking effort are valuable works of art at three Catholic churches making up the St. Catherine parish.
Kapa’a resident Olga Urminska’s careful restoration of expensive pieces of art makes her an “art conservator.”
The pieces enjoying the attention of her painstaking effort are valuable works of art at three Catholic churches making up the St. Catherine parish. The churches are St. Catherine in Kapa’a, St. Sylvester in Kilauea and St. William in Hanalei.
Done in time for the beginning of Lenten reflections Wednesday (Ash Wednesday) is work at St. Catherine and St. Sylvester. Urminska is finishing up on the final three pieces at St. William, explained Anne Loquercio, director of the restorations known as Art Angel Project.
At Kilauea, the 14 stations of the cross that depict the crucifixion of Christ, done fresco-style by Jean Charlot in 1958, are above the altar and around the ceiling line of St. Sylvester Church.
“The rounded building is a gem of architecture,” said T. Barrow, certified art appraiser and former museum curator who came to the island to evaluate and appraise the religious works of art at all three churches.
“This series is one of Charlot’s finest works,” he said of the Kilauea display.
Fresco involves mixing earth pigments with water painted on a wet plaster surface. As the lime dries, chemical reactions take place, and the color fixes permanently. Only enough plaster for the day’s work is prepared.
It is a demanding, painstaking process that allows for no painting over.
Even more painstaking is the cleaning process. Millimeter by millimeter, using cotton swabs and distilled water, Urminska gently removes grime, dust and salt layers from the artwork, working from a scaffolding at St. Sylvester.
In addition to the actual restoration work, project plans include printing greeting cards and fine art prints of selected images at the churches.
“The Hawaiian Madonna and Ho’okupu” by J.M. Fraser, depicting a multi-ethnic nativity scene complete with the Native Hawaiian tradition of gift-giving (ho’okupu), and Charlot’s charcoal head sketch “The Compassionate Christ” are among the selections being considered for the cards and prints.
Charlot, Fraser and Tseng YuHo (Betty Ecke) donated their works to the church. YuHo still lives in Honolulu, but the other two artists are dead.
After two hurricanes, the works needed cleaning and restoration. The parish, under Loquercio’s leadership, undertook documentation and preservation of the entire parish art collection.
The parish provided money to start the project, which has been bolstered by grants from the E. and M. Davis Foundation ($37,000), S. and W. Wilcox Foundation ($15,000), G. N. Wilcox Foundation ($12,000;), Hawai’i Community Foundation ($10,000), Atherton Family Trust ($5,000), D. and W. Frear Foundation ($5,000) and Cook Foundation ($4,000).
Funds are still being solicited, with a portion to be used to have the entire collection examined periodically by conservators. Donations can be sent to St. Catherine Church, 5021-A Kawaihau Road, Kapa’a, HI 96746.
Additional information is available at 822-7900 and www.artangelproject.org.
Staff writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) and mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net
