A conservation team preserves historic church murals of faith and social justice

Описание: (5 Jun 2025)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4580875

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Millvale, Pennsylvania - 23 January 2025
1. St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church from across the river

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Millvale, Pennsylvania - 21 January 2025
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Rev. Nicholas Vaskov, Director of the Shrines of Pittsburgh:
++COVERED++
“St. Nicholas was actually the first Croatian parish in the United States of America."

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Millvale, Pennsylvania - 23 January 2025
3. Exterior of St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Millvale, Pennsylvania - 18 May 2025
4. Beginning of a Croatian Mass at St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church
5. Parishioners singing in Croatian

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Millvale, Pennsylvania - 21 January 2025
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Rev. Nicholas Vaskov, Director of the Shrines of Pittsburgh:
++PARTIALLY COVERED++
"This building was built in 1900 and in the 1930s and 40s Croatian artist Maxo Vanka painted murals on the walls, which are really treasures. One of a kind."

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Millvale, Pennsylvania - 7 November 1941
++STILL++
7. Artist Maxo Vanka at work on a mural for St. Nicholas church

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Millvale, Pennsylvania - 21 January 2025
8. Self portrait of artist Maxo Vanka in one of his murals in St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church
9. Maxo Vanka mural in St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church
10. Mural in St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church
11. Pan of Maxo Vanka mural in St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church
12. Pan of Maxo Vanka mural on the ceiling of St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church
13. Construction worker building scaffolding
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Anna Doering, Executive Director of the Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka: ++PARTIALLY COVERED++
"The damage to the murals caused by water on the murals had been evident for a while. But in 2009, they had decided that yes, we're going to have a campaign, and we're to try to clean and restore these murals comprehensively for the first time in their existence."
15. Various of construction worker building scaffolding
16. Conservator Naomi Ruiz climbing the scaffolding
17. Ruiz inspecting the damaged murals

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Millvale, Pennsylvania - 30 January 2025
18. Close-up of Conservator Naomi Ruiz wet cleaning a mural of Moses

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Millvale, Pennsylvania - 21 January 2025
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Naomi Ruiz, art conservator:
++PARTIALLY COVERED++
“So right now, I am wet cleaning. This is Moses in the Old Testament mural. And I'm using a cosmetic sponge with pH-adjusted water.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Millvale, Pennsylvania - 30 January 2025
20. Mid of Ruiz wet cleaning a mural of Moses
21. Ruiz wetting sponge
22. Ruiz wet cleaning a mural of Moses
23. Art conservator cleaning a mural
24. Damage to a mural
25. An art conservator cleaning a mural
26. Comparing a dirty and clean sponge
27. Art conservator describing mural damage
28. Art conservator cleaning a mural

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Millvale, Pennsylvania - 19 February 2025
29. Ruiz cleaning a mural
30. An art conservator cleaning soot and grime from an aluminum leaf of a mural
31. An art conservator wetting her sponge

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Millvale, Pennsylvania - 21 January 2025
32. SOUNDBITE (English) Anna Doering, Executive Director of the Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka: ++PARTIALLY COVERED++

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Millvale, Pennsylvania - 19 February 2025
33. An art conservator cleaning soot and grime from an aluminum leaf of a mural
34. Pan of the scaffolding where the conservators work






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