Lighting Upgrade Helps Protect a Priceless Work of Art

The midtown Manhattan church that houses the chapel, Saint Peter’s Church, was completed in 1977 as part of the development of Citigroup Center.

The corporate/church/public facility is home to the only remaining comprehensive sculptural environment by modernist artist Louise Nevelson. Titled “Chapel of the Good Shepherd,” the sculptural environment comprises nine white paint and gold leaf three-dimensional wood abstractions of thematic material from the Christian tradition, intended as a place of joy, peace and transformation.

The chapel is currently undergoing a $5.75 million restoration, partly funded by a Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and an art conservation grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. The former grant funds improvement to things like lighting or HVAC to provide long-term care that protects national heritage materials.