What is the White Church Gallery?

Mike and Carrie Zaitz are renovating an old Methodist Church in Grindstone City, Michigan. Mike claims he just wanted a place to work on his art. He sold Carrie on it, since she's usually up for adventures. From that happy December of 2011 till now, the investment in time and money has seen the church rebuilt from its glorious bones into a work of art, in progress. Carrie is documenting the process because, well, it's easier to hold a camera than to hold an edging sander. She's done both, because she is having an adventure, but it is Mike who drives this project with his intelligence, talent and energy. Together they are working toward creating an art gallery. A gallery which holds objects of beauty and inspiration, but which always points back to the source, our heavenly Father.

Monday, February 23, 2015

Ode to an Arch

We're working on the Arch.
It has served as a backdrop since we bought the church. This is how it first appeared:

Where's the Arch? December 2011
Removal of the dropped ceiling revealed:

Oh there is is!   February 2012
Yikes.
We tried to pretty it up! 
Quaint it up with a rocker!  April 2012
Yeah, I guess. It was temporary. 

And as long as we're in memory lane, when Mom turned 70, we dressed up the chaos and had a birthday party. Again, the Arch was the backdrop.
Good times,  July 2012!
I remember mopping that nasty floor with rainwater to try to get the worst of the ancient filth off. It sort of worked!

Pre Party Arch July, 2012
By December of 2012, It looked like this: 

December, 2012 Chaos

Then the fancy table was replaced with  picnic table. In case we wanted to have a picnic. 

Uh, aren't picnics held outside? April, 2013
Yes, so I we exchanged the picnic table for a bed! A futon, in case we got tired and had to nap, apparently. 

Perfect place to take a nap! Ha! July, 2013
Yeah, and as you can tell, we have a continual storage problem. We fixed the storage of the futon problem by finally getting rid of it. After three decades, it's time to ditch the College Futon. Sniff.

Next came the Big Demolition, and we had a bare bones situation.


Uncovering the Arch! August, 2013
Later that same day - actually about 15 minutes later, we had this:
Hey now! 
Closer inspection:

Naked Arch, August, 2013
Behind those enormous planks is nature. Cool, raw nature.  These are truly the bones of the church. Which is fine for August, but by Fall..

The Church's long underwear! October, 2013
We needed some protection from the elements. Yes, it was a happy day! 
Warmth!

Insulation by spray foaming. Next comes the drywall. And not soon after! 
Later that same month, 2013
Drywall! Then Mike and Dad put up nailers on the arch in several death defying maneuvers. 

Here's Mike finishing up.

December 2013

And then… a whole year went by… what happened to 2014? Well, there were ceilings to paint, floors to sand, trim to put up, caulk to stuff, windows to fix…


March 2014, Edge on Arch

Sanding,  April 2014
The Arch also became a bit of an Art supporter.
September 2014
And so it has been till this month, February of 2015. We keep rearranging and cleaning, trying to keep the Church work-wise. But we're not done with the Gallery, so the art must go!


And so, it's February of the self-same year the White Church Gallery is set to open. 2015.

YIKES!!!!

We need to pedal a little faster!

So now we have begun an art/science project.
I'm a scientist by nature, and Mike's an artist. But he's also an engineer, so that's like a scientist. And I have a musical nature, so that's artistic, right? Hence the art/science project that we are in the midst of. What to do with the arch!
Cherry and Pine. What say you?
This is only the beginning. As I type this, my soul mate is over yonder drawing up the arch on his CAD program and figuring out dimensions, beveling, and molding ideas. He's trying to figure out how to make this arch a piece of art. There will be more to this story. Stay tuned.




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