Artist creates a 'Divine Pathway' of hopes and dreams inside Cathedral of St. John the Divine
MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, Manhattan (WABC) -- A divine pathway of hopes and dreams hovers inside a Manhattan cathedral.
Attendees who look up inside the Cathedral of St. John the Divine will be greeted with a majestic sea of multi-colored ribbons suspended 90 feet in the air.
Back in October, the cathedral unveiled the large art installation, called "Divine Pathways."
The textile art project was created by artist Anne Patterson, who calls describes it as a labor of love.
"I thought, I want to bring intense light into the space and make the spiritual light manifest," said Patterson. "So, I want the piece to have a gold center."
In addition to the vision for the heartfelt project, Patterson wanted to community to also have a hand in making it their own.
To do so, she invited people to write their hopes, dreams and prayers onto ribbons that would be included in the project.
There are more than 1,200 pieces of fabric, each 75 feet long, with these handwritten hopes, prayers, and dreams.
The comments, placed at the top of each ribbon, are from those in the Diocese of New York and visitors from all over the world.
Anne says most of the comments were not about individual needs, but rather for the greater good of society.
"With all the stuff we are being hit with day in and day out, to know that everyone has a good heart," she shared.
Unsurprisingly, getting to this point was a process.
"I have seven artists, we take the ribbons and tie them and bag each ribbon individually," said Patterson.
To avoid them getting tangled, they are then attached to huge metal frame.
"Your hopes dreams and prayers are flying up and the divine from above is coming down to you," added Patterson.
Praising the installation, Father Patrick Malloy of St. John the Divine said, "Part of what this project showed us is we have a lot more in common than difference. You don't have to scratch the surface too deep to find that people all bleed the same color."
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