Mission Hospital Re-Designs Chapel for Interfaith Community, Western North Carolina Craft Artists Highlighted

Asheville, NC, May 31, 2008 --(PR.com)-- A re-design of the chapel on the St. Joseph campus of Mission Hospital began in 2005. An interfaith committee and interior designer Jaan Ferree planned and executed this new sacred space. On June 10, 2008 it will be open for a ceremony at 11 a.m. Interior designer Jaan Ferree met the dual challenge of updating Mercy Chapel, named for founding sisters of Saint Joseph’s Hospital, and creating an interfaith design motif in the main chapel area. St. Joseph’s merged with Mission in the late 1990’s.

The sacred space is designed to honor natural elements and incorporates original pieces by Western North Carolina craft artists working in wood, ceramic, stained glass, and paint. These works represent talent from the Arts and Crafts movement in Western North Carolina: stained glass artist Martha Mitchell, furniture makers William Everette and Josh Bruton and artist Jesi Trentham.

Mercy Chapel retains the meditative presence of a Christian chapel. Relaxed lighting, new fixtures, and a reupholstered church pew and kneeling benches are some new features. A Venetian plaster finish on the walls by Perry Francis utilizes Earth Paint, a locally made non-toxic natural paint.

Members of the Mission Hospital faith community involved in the project were Chaplains Jerene Broadway and David Nard, Reverend David Blackmon, and Mission volunteer representative Ann Orndorff. Brewster Ward was the liturgical architect. Rev. Blackmon, Director of Pastoral Care for Mission Hospitals, comments, “Mission Hospital’s new chapel is wonderful. The intersections of glass and water and art and everything fill that room with energy and spirit. The colors are bold. The room changes as you move around in such a large space. It invites sacred reflection.”

Jaan Ferree is the daughter of Jean Council Diab, a nurse and pioneer in health care in North Carolina. Ferree visited hospitals to see her mother work. Diab worked in Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill and Craven County Hospital in New Bern.

Ferree’s interior designs for health care and faith-based facilities have been ongoing throughout her career. Ferree was also commissioned to design the Memorial Campus Chapel of Mission, completed in 2007. Original art by potter and fountain designer Rob Magnum and photographer David McRary was used in this project. Ferree has also created meditation gardens and labyrinths at Valle Crucis Conference Center. For more information visit Intentional Designer http://www.intentionaldesigner.com.

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