Detroit Catholic Central High School Dedicates State of the Art Stem Building Including Blessings of King Richard’s Liturgical Pieces.

Detroit, Michigan— August 13, 2024 — Today at the Detroit Catholic High School, faculty, students, alumni and their friends and family dedicated and celebrated their new 57,000 square foot Stem education building named also The George and Mary Turek Hall of Science. The remarkable building contains a competitive robotics space, an aviation flight school, computer lab, science labs, greenhouse, telescope and observatory and a 270-degree immersion lecture hall. King Richard’s is proud to provide several liturgical and astronomical pieces for their new space. The blessing and dedication of these pieces was a proud moment for the King Richard’ team. Each liturgical item was blessed in a procession with a student carrying a blessing cross to each item while priests from the Basilian Fathers sprinkled holy water and prayed over them.

What started out as a simple request for more information about two statues ultimately blossomed into an all-encompassing, full-scale Design, Fabrication, and Installation partnership, between Detroit Catholic Central High School and King Richard’s Liturgical Design and Contracting. Over the last two years King Richard’s team has met with Sandra Humenny, Michael Oakleaf, Fr. Fulton, Jim Capo, and all the architects and planners of the new building to bring into stunning reality all the hopes and dreams they have envisioned.

First, the exquisite indoor statues created from Carrara Marble, sourced from Italy, serve as significant liturgical pieces, capturing the serene essence of Mother and Child, as well as honoring St. Basil. These meticulously crafted sculptures not only enhance the spiritual ambiance but also reflect the rich artistic heritage associated with sacred art, inviting reflection and devotion within the space.

After a successful communication and partnership for the indoor statues, King Richard’s then got the request to provide two outdoor statues for the building. The exceptional Mary Seat of Wisdom bronze statue, which now graces the DCCHS courtyard, is an excellent melding of the proper respect due to Mary and the Christ Child, while at the same time delivering some specific school and science elements which are woven with expertise into the basic design. Mary Seat of Wisdom is often portrayed as sitting on a throne or a Church as a throne. King Richard’s artists created the perfect balance between a place for the Blessed Virgin to rest with Jesus on her lap, and an interpretation of her continual protection over the students and staff of DCCHS.

The second outdoor statue is a large St. Albert the Great statue which greets all persons outside the doors of the Great Hall entrance is a tribute to the great educators in the Catholic Church. St. Albert taught one of the greatest theologians ever in St. Thomas Aquinas, who given the title “Doctor of the Church”. St. Albert is an inspiration to the faculty and staff of DCCHS to always strive for Truth and Excellence in passing on their Wisdom, Knowledge, and Understanding of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, as well as our Catholic Faith. The model for St. Albert was created by King Richard’s design team in conjunction with King Richard’s Owner, Rick Lair. We felt in a special way that the detailed elements of the statue, including the specific items on the desk of the Saint represent his place in the history of the Church as well as the future of education for Detroit Catholic Central High School. The St. Albert statue, like the Mary Seat of Wisdom statue, was cast in bronze in King Richard’s foundry in Italy. Great attention was paid to design and detail as these pieces were first created in a clay and wax models which were eventually cast in bronze.

Next came the Crucifix hanging for all to see in the Courtyard between the original school and the new STEM addition. There is no other piece that speaks more to the Catholic Identity that is Detroit Catholic Central High School. This artistic representation of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice is made of two parts. The bronze cross was designed and fabricated in our King Richard’s workshops in Spain. The corpus of Jesus was made in clay and wax then cast in bronze at King Richard’s foundry in Italy. The cross and corpus were then brought together in an unusual way as our King Richard’s installers had to hammer the nails on the Body of Christ to attach it to the bronze cross. Special care was taken by King Richard’s installers to be sure the crucifix was perfectly placed and properly finished so that it will bring to mind the sacrifice made for us by Our Lord.

Not only did King Richard’s provide liturgical pieces but also astronomical pieces that maintain the theme of the STEM building. The staircase rondels were requested to highlight and depict the greatest achievements of mankind in the fields of science and industry. We paid great attention to detail as we worked consistently with DCCHS planning members to choose the exact representations and then to home in on the perfect artwork. The Earth and Saturn finials which adorn the bottom and top of the stair rails represent man’s movement in science from the Earth to the great expanse of our solar system and beyond.

Lastly, were the unique bonze floor medallions that depict certain Saints and Subjects that have a specific connection to the school in their design and imagery. Each design was drawn, submitted, edited, revised, and drawn again, with the intention to create the perfect inspirational representation of its Saint or subject. King Richard’s fabricators in Spain worked to mill out each design first in wood, and then in bronze, following the detailed artwork provided by King Richard’s design team. During installation of the 250 pound medallions, King Richard’s installation crew worked around the pouring of the new terrazzo floor. Large holes were left in the floor and 4-foot blank wood circles were inserted to reserve the spots where these medallions would eventually be installed. The three-day installation process was intricate and handled flawlessly.

The dedication and blessings of our liturgical pieces was a pivotal moment for the King Richard’s Liturgical Design and Contracting team. Benefactor George Turek and other Catholic Central leaders and guests spoke at a dedication ceremony including Congressman Dan Crenshaw, Marcus Lattrell of Lone Survivor, and Ed Turek principal of DCCHS. Other performances included the Catholic Central marching band and glee club, and even a flyover from four planes. “The remarkable building as part of our Vision 100 Plan, to make sure Catholic Central continues to be successful for the next 100 years,” School principal Ed Turek said in an article from Detroit Catholic. It was built so it will keep and attract all types of good students and give those students the very best education, the best knowledge, the best hands-on experience, so they can go out and make a difference.

From that first conversation with Sandra Humenny, to the highly anticipated dedication of the whole Detroit Catholic Central High School new STEM addition project, King Richard’s has been, and will be, grateful to have been a part of this monumental undertaking. We believe all the hard work and attention to detail has resulted in works of art which will stand the test of time and inspire all who see them. It has been our honor and great pleasure to work with Sandra, Michael, Fr. Fulton, Jim Capo, Justin, Nick to bring about the perfect fulfillment of their grand vision as it was set before us. We are also thankful for our partnerships with the architects and construction teams including Joe and Valerie Vig of Vig Construction and Bruce Syder and Adrian LaTona of IDS Architects. We thank the Detroit Catholic Central High School for allowing us to be involved in their sacred space in and on your exceptional Catholic campus.

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