Southern Nebraska Register
As Catholics participated in Holy Week liturgies across the globe, those attending St. Michael Church in Lincoln had a beautiful visual reminder of Christs’ loving sacrifice in a stunning new mural of Jesus on the Cross at Calvary.
The compelling mural is a combination of Scripture, traditional and contemporary local elements.
During the planning for the new St. Michael Church, which was dedicated April 23, 2023, parishioners wanted the church to be adorned with beauty that illustrates the goodness and truth of the Catholic faith. Well-known Lincoln artist, Corbert Gauthier, was asked to accept a commission to provide murals for the church interior. After extensive discussions as to the nature of the artwork, he accepted. Gauthier partnered with Conrad Schmitt Studios of New Berlin, Wisc., to develop and create the overall interior design of the church. Conrad Schmitt’s team of designers and craftsmen did the decorative marbling and stenciling work, while Gauthier concentrated on the murals.
Gauthier sat down with St. Michael parishioners about the artwork they desired for their new church. He said it quickly became evident that parishioners wanted the church to have a “wow” factor. The murals deliver that.
“It is obvious that when you walk in the front doors of St. Michael Church you know why you are here,” Gauthier said. “The mural of Jesus on the Cross at Calvary depicts the source of the Mass and the price paid for our salvation,” he added. “With the mural of Calvary as a backdrop, it is very easy to understand the impact of the Mass in our lives,” he said.
Every element of the mural was designed with that goal in mind.
“As you come in and focus on the crucifixion, your eye moves upward,” he said, calling it a visual “corridor” to the cross. “Once you take in that scene, you go up to the angels, and Michael’s eyes are focused on the risen Christ and the ceiling and the communion of saints. There’s this transition from the Passion to heaven,” he said.
“Everything leads you to the cross,” he reiterated. The spear of Saint Longinus and the motion of Mary’s hands form a triangle up to Jesus. Even the rocks are designed similarly. Light and shadows direct the eye to Christ.
The mural of Jesus on the Cross at Calvary is Gauthier’s second mural in St. Michael Church. The first is a more than 900-square-foot mural of a number of the Communion of Saints which adorns the ceiling above the altar. That mural is a visual reminder of the connection between the earthly liturgy celebrated on the altar of sacrifice and the heavenly liturgy described in the Book of Revelation. That mural was completed just before the church’s dedication.
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Photos by Kayla Hepburn Olmer courtesy Corbert Gauthier
Gauthier, a 1973 graduate of Pius X High School in Lincoln, has worked on many religious murals around the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln, including the chapel at the Marian Sisters’ motherhouse, St. Anthony Church in Steinauer, and All Saints Church in Holdrege. While the Holdrege mural was underway, he visited with the students of All Saints School about the project. He recounted a story with the Register during a video interview.
“Before I answer your questions, let me ask you a question,” he said. “Why are Father Lux and your parents and the parishioners working so hard to make your church a more beautiful place?”
He said a few students raised their hands and had decent answers.
“Then this little girl—maybe third grade at the most—shyly raised her hand. She stood up and said, ‘We’re doing this to help us pray better.’… she said it about as well as anybody.”
At St. Michael, parishioners expressed a desire for murals to be created in realism, that would be relevant throughout the centuries, transcending time.
Gauthier took that to heart, and worked with the performing and fine arts department at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln to find time-period dress for individuals in the mural. Some of the models are friends or members of Gauthier’s family.
“I’m forever grateful for the help of family and friends,” he said. “I couldn’t have done it without them.”
After photographing individuals in the garments of Biblical time, he rendered preliminary drawings and made modifications with the help and expertise of assistant and fellow artist David LaFleur.
Gauthier said there are specific characters and generic ones as well. Mindful of the demographic of the parish, with many young families, he aimed to include characters “people could relate to.”
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Photos by Kayla Hepburn Olmer courtesy Corbert Gauthier
“One of my favorite parts,” he said, “is the little girl looking at the grieving boy with empathy in the foreground.” The unexpected character is mentioned by many visitors, which brings Gauthier great joy. “I love when school kids notice those touches and have someone to relate to,” Gauthier said.
The entire mural was painted in pieces, on canvas, on custom-made easels and then adhered to the wall of the sanctuary. Gauthier then completed the murals, adding detail, shadow, lighting and color.
The next phase of St. Michael’s artwork will be the creation of the 14 stations of the cross, which illustrate the last hours and events of the life of Jesus.
Additional artwork envisions a mural of Jesus’ Baptism in the Jordan River in the rondel on the ceiling immediately above the baptismal font in the narthex of the church. That mural, like the others, will be comprised of oil on canvas.
In addition, on the four flat vertical walls above the narthex, just inside the front doors of the Church, murals are envisioned to include the interpretation of salvation history throughout the Old Testament. The main covenants between God and mankind – Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and David – will be illustrated in the murals.
“It will be a type of our own small Sistine Chapel ceiling,” Gauthier said.
“When I look at the painting,” he continued, “sometimes I sit and stare and think, ‘Who did that?’ It feels beyond me. One stroke at a time. I like what Mother Teresa said about being a pencil in God’s hand. That’s how it feels.”
Father Cole Kennett, pastor of St. Michael Parish since 2024, is grateful for Gauthier’s willingness to be that “pencil.”
“Corbert isn’t simply adding artwork to a building,” he said. “He is pouring out his charism as an artist in a way that blesses the parish and invites every person who enters the church to encounter the mystery of their own redemption. His murals are meant to draw hearts toward the Lord through truth, goodness, and beauty—not just to commemorate an event, but to open a space where grace can be received.”
The murals, he added, are “a living opportunity for people to meet Christ in a new way.”
Editor's note: Weekend Masses at St. Michael Church, 9101 S. 78th St., are celebrated Saturday at 5 p.m. and Sunday at 8, 9:30, and 11:10 a.m. Weekday Masses are celebrated Monday through Friday at 7 and 8:15 a.m., and Saturday at 8:15 a.m.
