When getting to know someone, what’s under the surface can be far more interesting and beautiful than the
facade they show. And so it is with the walls and ceiling at St. Aloysius Catholic Church in Bowling
Green.
The church, through a team of restoration artists, is stripping away five layers of paint to reveal the
original mural in the sanctuary from when the church was built in 1924. This is one part of a larger
renovation and improvement project. CLICK HERE TO
WATCH VIDEO
The season of Lent is beginning for many
Christian churches, which is also a time when people of faith dare to strip away surface obstacles to
become closer to their underlying faith. Thus, this is also an appropriate time for the restoration,
The original artist was Felix Lieftuchter, the same man who created the noted murals in Holy Rosary
Cathedral in Toledo.
"He is considered a significant artist," said Father Mark Davis, pastor of the church.
He explained the mural, done much in the style of a fresco, was painted over around 1968. The pastor said
they are not sure for all the reasons but cited the possibility of the inability at the time to restore
some damaged areas of the mural, as well as the era in post-Vatican II, when there was an emphasis more
on the altar and simplicity within the church.
"Those are just two of our guesses in this mystery," Davis said.
Because many parishioners fondly remembered the mural there has been some ongoing discussion about the
possibility for several years.
Denise Foos, business manager for the parish, said someone came forward and told Davis, "If you
restore (the mural) we’ll pay for it."
Davis said, indeed, that planted the seed and "it has taken several years to come to fruition."

Through an online search, the church was fortunate to find Evergreene Architectural Arts, who specialize
in this type of work and are familiar with and have restored other murals by Lieftuchter. The company is
based in New York.
Foos says they are budgeted for $195,000 for the restoration. Donors have covered that cost.
Jill Edit, of Wisconsin, is one of the lead artists in this restoration and this project is "a
treat" for her and the other artists.
"We are very excited at how well the art work is preserved," she said. "You usually don’t
encounter such quality under five layers of paint. This is a real treat." CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO
She explained their process is
time-consuming but effective. They use a two-step process of removing the paint. The first layer of
stripper is applied and sits for three hours. That usually takes off all the top two layers of paint. A
second application is applied and after another three hours that "cuts through the rest to get down
to the original."
After the stripping process, the restoration artists mostly use plain water to remove the remainder of
the paint. Part of the credit to the success goes back to the artist and the Kiem painting process he
used.
"That paint is very strong onto the surface. ¬?- He made it to last," Eidt said of
Lieftuchter’s original work. "It is designed to duplicate the look of a fresco."
She said this is perhaps, the easiest project of this scale they have encountered. The artists are also
benefitting from pictures from people’s weddings as well as a black and white archive photo array from
the Catholic Chronicle.
Both Foos and Davis noted the gold leaf halos which have been found behind the angels in the mural. Davis
indicating those were part of the area that maybe was too difficult to restore in the late 1960s.
With the restorations expertise they will strip the entire mural back to the original form as close as
possible. At that point a clear coat will be applied to the entire mural to protect the original as it
now exists. At that point the artists, using the safe color palate as the creator of the mural, will
paint over to try and duplicate the original look.
"We want it to be beautiful and as close to the original vibrancy as possible," Davis said.
"We want to make the church as awe-inspiring as possible."
While ideally, they would like to have the mural work complete by Easter, there is a strong possibility
the scaffolding may still be in place.
"We’ll make do, it’s all in God’s time," Davis said. "The vast majority of the people are
very supportive. They are pleased, very impressed and thankful."
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Video: http://www.sent-trib.com/all-videos