https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oLjZvna7I5pxOKMyJYCapgM_r1ietnD2k8f0KI3Ersk/edit?usp=sharing
In the 1930s and 1940s, there were some 500,000 Croatians living in Pittsburgh. Now, that community is spread out — across the state and elsewhere. In 1937 and 1941, Croatian artist Maksimilijan Vanka traveled to Pittsburgh to paint the walls of St. Nicholas Church — covering the entire space in paintings of religious figures, Croatian immigrants, and the horrors of war. The Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka (SPMMMV) gives tours of the space and works to preserve and light the artwork with LED lights. Most visitors to the space are people who go on tours of the murals. There is still a Croatian Catholic parish at the church, though they are unseen by visitors.
While visiting the church, I took photos of the space and the people in it. For my final project, I created a photo essay of those photos. I tried to focus on the visitor's relationship to the church while photographing and, in my essay, I tried to underline that distanced relationship. Father Nick Vaskov, the parish's priest, and Becky Gaugler, the SPMMMV Director of Education and Interpretation, speak in the essay as well.