Menu

Art & Design Department

  1. Whitworth University
  2. Art & Design
  3. Art Collection
  4. Messiah Reredos Dedication

Messiah Reredos Dedication

Whitworth University rescued the Messiah Reredos from Messiah Lutheran Church at the corner of Longfellow and Belt Streets in Spokane after the church closed its doors in November 2024. The Reredos was created in 1961 by Harold Balazs for the new sanctuary at the church. A reredos is a decorative screen behind an altar, often incorporating religious images. The cast concrete panels of this artwork tell the story of the life of Christ using Christian symbols, which are meant to be read from the top down.

Harold Balazs was born in a farming town in Ohio in 1928 but would later settle in Mead, Wash., near Spokane. In addition to his many public works, Balazs created sculptures, paintings, stained glass and reliefs for more than 200 churches and synagogues in the Northwest before his death in 2017.

The dedication for the Reredos was held on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025 to celebrate the addition of this significant work of art to our campus and to acknowledge the individuals and organizations who took part in the process of bringing it to Whitworth's campus: Messiah Lutheran Church and Pastor Bob Kenyon; the Bouten Construction team led by Jim Putnam, who deinstalled and transported the work as a pro bono project in the shared interest of preserving an important piece of local art; the Whitworth Facilities team led by Shawn Struble, who designed and constructed the frame and installed it in the HUB Dining Hall; and the Whitworth Art Collection Committee, particularly Stacey Moo and Tad Wisenor who made the arrangements.