Creating Mural 'Was So Magical' Pends Years Painting Tribute to Kapaun by ROY WENZL
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Creating mural 'was so magical' pends years painting tribute to Kapaun BY ROY WENZL The Wichita Eagle THE UNVEILING What: Mass and unveiling of artist Wendy Lewis' 12foot mural of the Rev. Emil Kapaun, a priest of the Wichita Diocese and a Korean War hero whom the Vatican is considering for sainthood. Bishop Michael Jackels will celebrate the Mass. Where: St. John's Chapel, Sacred Heart Hall, Newman University, 3100 McCormick When: Wednesday. Mass begins at 5 p.m.; the unveiling will be at 6 p.m. A reception will follow at the Newman University campus center. How much: The event is free and open to the public. VIDEO As Wendy Lewis painted a face on a mural in the chapel at Newman University a few weeks ago, something strange and wonderful happened, she said. The eight other faces in the mural — the face of potential saint Father Emil Kapaun, for example — took her many layers of paint over many days to complete, she said. "You can see how I labored when you see his face," she said. But the ninth face — the face of Jesus — took only two layers and five hours. It has colors in it that she says she will never be able to replicate. It took almost no time at all. It's the best face she's ever painted, she said. "I kept turning around and wanting to see if anybody else was watching this happen," she said. "It was so magical." The public will get to see those faces in her mural at an unveiling at 6 p.m. after a special Mass on Wednesday at St. John's Chapel in Sacred Heart Hall at Newman University. She's worked on the mural, an homage to Kapaun, since 2005, in spite of poverty, hardship, a layoff from her job at Cessna, and trying to be a good single mom. She's fond of telling people that "I paint the painting, but sometimes it paints me." It has enriched her life. But painting Jesus' face felt like something beyond that; she said she's never felt that way or done that kind of work before. Painting Kapaun also deeply moved her. She'd never known his story until the church asked her to paint the mural; when she read about his life and death in North Korean war prison camps, she said, "I cried. I cried a lot." Bishop Michael Jackels of the Wichita Diocese will celebrate the Mass in St. John's Chapel beginning at 5 p.m. Wednesday. After that, Lewis will unveil the 12foottall mural, painted in oil on hardwood. Kapaun, a native of Pilsen, was ordained in this chapel. The mural will be the latest work in the diocese to honor Kapaun, who is being investigated by the diocese and the Vatican for possible sainthood. Kapaun was a Wichita Diocese priest. He served as a U.S. Army chaplain and died a hero (and possibly a martyr) in a North Korean prison camp in 1951. Fellow soldiers say he saved hundreds of lives in the camps before he died, stealing food, bathing the sick, and encouraging fellow prisoners of war who were freezing and starving to stay alive at a time when 1,200 of 3,000 soldiers in compounds around Kapaun died. Lewis, a lifelong Wichitan, has done paintings for the church before; she painted another mural in St. John's Chapel, the scene of St. Maria de Mattias, founder of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ. The Kapaun mural took four years to complete, in part because Lewis lost her job at Cessna working with electrical and other components. She quit painting for a while. She later resumed, though she is still jobless. She prayed often, before, during and after each long day before the mural, she said. Many of the faces in the mural, a prison camp scene in which Kapaun is reaching out to Christ, are modeled on the faces of members of Kapaun's family, or Lewis' children, or the faces of her friends. Kapaun's brother Eugene and sisterinlaw Helen were involved in the project from the beginning and enthusiastically talked to Lewis about Kapaun and their own lives as she began the painting. "Anybody can embellish a wall," Lewis said. "But to paint a painting like this you have to know deeply who Christ is." The painting is a prayer, she said, adding: "And it has given me great comfort." Reach Roy Wenzl at 3162686219 or [email protected]..