{"id":4917,"date":"2010-09-15T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-09-15T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2010\/09\/the-rescuer.html"},"modified":"2010-09-15T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-09-15T11:00:00","slug":"the-rescuer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2010\/09\/the-rescuer.html","title":{"rendered":"The Rescuer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"g2e22e2000000000000a04ac541f979951a960ebc5e9e1b7de0501e7e1e.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>He may have one of the more unusual jobs around — but he’s providing an invaluable service: <\/a><\/p>\n

\nLou McClung’s past life as a handyman, and his present career as a photographer, makeup artist and manufacturer, were perfect preparation for his future as a curator of an unusual museum.<\/p>\n

The owner of Lusso Studio and Lusso Statuary recently purchased a decommissioned church, 104-year-old St. Hedwig at 12903 Madison Ave., which will serve as the Museum of Divine Statues.<\/p>\n

McClung said his mission to rescue religious statues, many of which come from parishes closed recently by the Cleveland Catholic Diocese, will help ensure the history of those churches.<\/p>\n

Several statues — many more than a century old — were in great need of cleaning and repair. Stuffed in closets, storage rooms and choir lofts, some pieces fell victim to a push for modernism in the 1960s and 1970s.<\/p>\n

“It’s interesting how all the little things you learn to do can contribute,” he said. “You wonder why you’re doing things, then it comes in handy for something like this.”<\/p>\n

McClung, who has been footing the restoration costs out of his own pocket, taught himself how to clean and repaint the pieces, as well as craft missing fingers and arms.<\/p>\n

“My goal as an artist is to make the statues as realistic as possible,” he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To find out what led him to this, continue at the link.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He may have one of the more unusual jobs around — but he’s providing an invaluable service: Lou McClung’s past life as a handyman, and his present career as a photographer, makeup artist and manufacturer, were perfect preparation for his future as a curator of an unusual museum. The owner of Lusso Studio and Lusso…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-churches","category-people-in-the-pews"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Rescuer - The Deacon's Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2010\/09\/the-rescuer.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Rescuer - The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"He may have one of the more unusual jobs around — but he’s providing an invaluable service: Lou McClung’s past life as a handyman, and his present career as a photographer, makeup artist and manufacturer, were perfect preparation for his future as a curator of an unusual museum. 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