Sanctuary is an art installation exploring the essence of sacred space. It reexamines the fundamentals by recreating a sacred space from scratch in an unexpected setting. It operates at a scale that is architectural but as low cost as possible so it can be disconnected from tradition and institutional oversight. The project constructs a space intended to be dedicated to existential contemplation, while in parallel creating personal and interpersonal experiences that will mark the space with a spiritual dimension. Doing this in an unconventional space (a public sidewalk) amidst a community marginalized by many current religions (LGBTQ+ Pride Festival) reexamines the fundamentals of sacred space while asserting that the sacred should be accessible to any human or group of humans by nature of their humanity.
A cardboard surface designed with parametric modeling software is erected on a sidewalk to form a domed space with three side chapels. While visibly a product of technology, the structure’s materials - cardboard and repurposed manufacturing waste - clearly manifest its fragility and its theme of constructing beauty from the mundane. The form of the structure with its computer-designed complexity reads as being of our time while reimagining historical elements of sacred space such as the arch and the stained-glass window. Participants complete the experience by writing directly on the surface. They share their inner joy, hope, or sorrow in the context of LGBTQ+ lived experience and read what others have shared. The spatial experience and the community acts of expression combine to create what many describe as meaningful and emotionally evocative. The space aspires to transcend the everyday in becoming a monument to personal struggle and triumph, as metaphorically expressed in the conversion of simple materials to something more transcendent.
The project was presented at Utah Pride, then Rexburg Pride (in Idaho), and finally at West End Church during New York City Pride Week, where it was shown in a closed-street festival and then installed in the historic church as a backdrop to the sermon.
