Church celebrates centennial with a great work of art

Wartrace artist Sue Fuss and preacher Don Gallagher looks over her finished painting, a mural of the River Jordan behind the new baptistry at Wartrace Church of Christ. (T-G Photo by Mary Reeves) [Order this photo]

Anniversaries are special, especially 100th anniversaries, whether it's a church or a business, and most people recognize them with some sort of celebration.

At the Wartrace Church of Christ, it's been a year-long celebration, and it's not over yet. Besides the special singing and ice cream social planned for this Sunday from 3 to 5 p.m. and the homecoming and fellowship dinner on Sept. 27, the church has celebrated its centennial by doubling its size.

Literally.

"We've been building on an addition," said Don Gallagher, preacher for the church as well as town mayor.

The addition has given the church an airy, welcoming fellowship hall, a beautiful, open kitchen, new classrooms and an office. Two old classrooms have been converted, one into overflow space for the sanctuary and the other into a nursery with a one-way glass that allows the children to peek out and see their parents in the congregation. The old wooden pews have been refinished and new wooden floors gleam under the soft light.

"We replaced the old concrete baptistry with a new fiberglass one," said Don. "Sue's mural is the finishing touch of the renovation project."

"Sue's mural" is the work of Wartrace artist Sue Fuss who has worked with Bell Buckle sculptor Russ Faxon and now works with tile artist Sherri Hunter. It is a landscape -- the River Jordan flowing through Israel and framed by cedars, palms, and in the background, rolling, sand-colored mountains. The painting is a first in many ways for Sue, and holds layers of meaning for her.

"I've been doing art since I could pick up a crayon," she said. "But I hadn't done a lot of my own work for a long time."

Working with Russ and Sherri inspired her, and she began to rediscover her talent and refine it. She never went to art school or took formal lessons, and while she considers herself largely "self-taught," she does have one instructor she credits.

"If it weren't for Bob Ross, I could have never done this," she said, waving at the mural and referring to the late artist who taught painting on PBS stations everywhere.

"I'm not a landscape artist -- or maybe I am," Sue added, laughing. "I do horses. I love horses and consider myself a horse artist."

Sherri, her employer, was very supportive.

"She said whatever I need, if she had it, I could use it," said Sue. "She let me use her big wall projector to project the drawing up there and I penciled it in."

She worked on the mural for several months ­-- 52 hours of actual painting time.

"If she didn't like it, she'd paint over it," said Sherri. "This piece really evolved into a work of art."

As work on the baptistry was completed, members of the church discussed the possibility of a mural. Knowing that Sue was an artist as well as a member of the congregation, they approached her.

I was very nervous doing this," she said. "But everybody said I should do this."

She worked with Don and others, scouring the Internet for ideas.

"I'd like something in this painting, and something else in that one," she said. "I got an idea of what they wanted and it just kind of evolved."

Some of the imagery was drawn from memory, not the Web. Sue, a native New Yorker, and her husband Tom often visited Sue's sister, Jan Cataldo. They fell in love with Wartrace and 18 years ago, moved down here. When Jan went to live in Israel for a couple of years, Sue took their mother over to visit.

"The hills really are that color," she said, pointing at the sandy hills in the painting. "And there are palms growing all along the River Jordan."

Despite the praise for the painting and her own pleasure in her developing talent, Sue hasn't forgotten the purpose of the artwork and where it is. There is a dreamy quality to the landscape, done with simple wall paint, that was intentional.

"I didn't want bright colors," said Sue. "I wanted it to be calm and serene. These people are being baptized and it's a serious and important moment in their lives."