Rochester, NY

Completed 2020

It was in the year 1891 that English-born ecclesiastical architect Robert W. Gibson began his relationship with Christ Church Episcopal Parish of Rochester New York. Having opened his architectural practice in the city of Albany some ten years earlier, Gibson was celebrated as the winner of the design contest for Albany‘s new Episcopal Cathedral of All Saints when Christ Church of Rochester enlisted his services.  An English-born ecclesiastical architect with an office in Albany, New York was like manna from heaven for the then rector of Christ Church who himself was an enthusiastic proponent of the architectural renaissance that was taking place within Anglican communities on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Today, the interior of Christ Church serves as a worship space for the Episcopal community of Rochester, as a concert venue for the Eastman School of Music and as a permanent home to some of the finest examples of Gilded Age ecclesiastical art still housed within their original location.  It was with the later in mind that the parish vestry enlisted the design services of MPSB for the purpose of creating a decorative painting program that would serve as a complementary backdrop to the parish’s collection of Tiffany, Gorham, and Rambusch stained glass, mosaic, and metal work. Soft but rich shades of rose and blue articulated with gold leaf stenciling provide a period stage set where the decorative art of previous generations shines forth and once again is celebrated.