When a religious sanctuary in our modern age makes room to provide a place of spiritual worship, solace, commune and prayer for people of all peaceful faiths, beliefs and viewpoints, it is to be celebrated. After all, inclusion and open-minded conversation is a powerful magnet for bridging the divide within our diverse communities and it's a wonderful thing to behold when a different point of view on cultural and/or religious or spirituality is openly welcomed and respected.
Building such respect for religious differences encourages communication and understanding, reduces prejudice, misconceptions, hatred and violence. Religious leaders of different faith in Sonoma County are increasingly called to come together in the most difficult of times during this era of wildfires and other natural disasters, sharing places of worship and other vital resources for their congregation and communities at large. And a religious sanctuary is capable of providing shelter and safe haven for even the most devout non-believer and all those in between.
And so it is especially heartening to revisit the story of Jewish artist Ruby Newman's 30-year relationship and deep-rooted commitment as the decorative paint technique specialist and design consultant to historic St Vincent de Paul Catholic Church (circa 1927) in Petaluma.
Photo: Frances Rivetti — Artist Ruby Newman in the entrance to St. Vincent de Paul Church on Liberty Street, Petaluma, CA. Bullnoses of exterior columns have been re-gilded and gold-leafing refreshes and brightens the ornate design above the church doors.
"The parish totally trusts me and embraces me," says Ruby, who was born and raised in a Jewish household in Northern New Jersey. "It's a lovely relationship."
Photo: Ruby Newman — The entrance to St. Vincent de Paul Church before Ruby Newman's faux marble finishing of the columns and decorative painting of the architectural details in 1993.
"The exterior paint has held up well," said Ruby during my visit to the church this late February. I first met with Ruby 11 years years ago to write about church refurbishment and her remarkable work, in my former column in the Petaluma Argus Courier. Now in her seventh decade, she is still spritely enough to climb to lofty heights in the almost 100-year-old building in her mission to create and embellish beautiful spaces that open people's hearts.
However: "I do take the tower steps to get to the top of the 13-story-scaffold," she shared. Ruby has a sense of humor and wonder in her exuberant life's work, which she came to following an early career in theater arts after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
Ruby was inspired to paint and draw as a young child by her mother, Lucille, a graduate of Pratt Institute. During this early period she developed her skills in pen, watercolors and pastels.
"I was exposed to the galleries and arts museums in New York City throughout my formative years," Ruby shared. "My mother owned Lucinda Ltd, Fine Art Gallery . . . which gave me my first exposure to the inner working of the art world. She featured high-quality contemporary NY area artists whom I had the opportunity to meet when I accompanied her to their studios."
She also assisted in organizing and hanging shows in her mother's gallery.
Ruby is no longer taking new commissions for decorative interior painting and faux finishings, in which she has a prolific body of work, including religious centers such as Spirit Rock in Marin, Victorian homes throughout the Bay Area, restaurants, wineries, spas and other commercial buildings, though her portfolio will forever burst with stunning skies, scenes and effects. She's happiest now painting abstract, plein air landscape, figurative and still life studies in her art studio in rural West Petaluma. And yet she's not quite ready to set aside her brushes and tools and trowels that she depends upon to upkeep her three decades of artistic devotion within the sanctuary of St. Vincent's.
The artist, whose enthusiasm for her work shines through a broad smile when she talks on the subject, studied classical figurative drawing with Charlie Mazussian (BFA Pratt). "This foundation has given me a strong ability to capture the human figure and nature alike. I delight in creating work from live models, candid portraiture of musicians in performance and listeners," Ruby explained.
Faux painting, popular since classical times, when an artist apprenticed for a decade or more with a master faux painter, tricks viewers into believing marble and ancient stone work effect, especially, is real. Faux painting reappeared in commercial and public spaces in the neoclassical revival of the nineteenth century and the Art Deco style of the 1920s and in the case of St. Vincent de Paul's inner and outer sanctuary, completely transformed a cold, bland and colorless environment into one of warmth and texture and depth.
"I was originally hired by an interior designer who had volunteered to work with the late Father George and the church," Ruby explained. "The faux finisher they were considering first wasn't available so they took a chance on a little Jewish girl. I believe they've never regretted it!"
It was board member, the late Don Ramatici who told her, years after the finishings were complete how much the Church appreciated and valued her work.
Ruby described the original "before" interior of the church as chalky, grey white. "It looked like a mortuary, it was very grim." Plaster had cracked in the arches and so she set about faux finishing ancient stone effects to disguise the fixed cracks as well as around the doorways and plaster surrounding the stained glass windows, rosettes and Stations of the Cross. Ten columns were transformed by a marbling effect that complimented the original marble in the Italian prayer railing.
Boyd Meacham, now owner of Spurgeon Painting assisted the artist in execution of the color washes back in the 90s. "He's still so great to work with," she said.
Photo: Ruby Newman — Before photo in St. Vincent de Paul Church in the early 90s.
Photo: Frances Rivetti — Interior of St. Vincent de Paul Church Petaluma Feb 2023
Even the glass of the chandelier lanterns has not escaped the artist's discerning eye. Ruby transformed the dark glass of the original fixture by donating her time for the faux marbling replacement glass for a softer light to shine over the congregation and choir.
Ruby is also restoring the far-right column on the front entrance to the church since mold and calcification has occurred. "Next to it, I’ll also be repairing some major cracks in the small columns . . . probably due to little earthquakes and/or movement in the 100-year-old building in general.
At Carnegie Mellon University, Ruby majored in Theatrical Design under the direction of Cletus and Barbara Anderson. She received a B.F.A. and The Bess Kimberly Award for best costume designer of her class. She worked for the Santa Fe Opera, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the International Opera Barga in Italy.
To quote Ruby from her website: "I then turned my attention to public art and devoted over ten years to projects from the San Francisco Arts Commission. These included several public mural works and the restoration of the 1914 Golden Gate Park Carousel. I oversaw the restoration process and personally hand-painted the 62 wooden menagerie figures, decorative panels and masks."
She received numerous awards and recognitions for this effort. Following this commission, she spent two years as a resident artist at the Headlands Center for the Arts in Marin County, where she had the opportunity to focus on her fine art work.
Since 1977, Ruby has used her talents to create an assortment of unique commercial decorative painting applications. The mastery of Trompe l'Oeil, custom murals and decorative painting has won the artist several national awards, including the decorative finishes for Petaluma's St. Vincent de Paul Church and the Reutlinger Mansion in San Francisco. Many custom size prints of her images have been chosen by the Healthcare Industry for hospital art because of their positive, uplifting energy.
Ruby's advice for young artists: "Follow your spirit, believe in yourself. There will be rejections, but move on, you don't belong where you've been rejected. Knock on new doors, the worst they can do is say no."
There have been many a 12-hour-day in the past when Ruby Newman has been so thoroughly immersed in her work within St. Vincent de Paul Church. When she first started, there were the major religious holidays to work around to deadline. At one stage she blew out her meniscus — knee cartilage torn by clambering up and down scaffolding and steps. These days she is much more aware of the physical demands on her body and is more mindful of her own self-care.
"It's been an extraordinary story in the length and breadth of our relationship," she said, as she lovingly checked to make sure the lights were off as we left the sanctuary of the church and headed back outside into the afternoon rain. Ruby was on her wayback to her studio to work on her latest fine art assemblage series "Paint Slices" until the weather warms and she''' be back at St. Vincent's to continue on the restoration of the main entrance.
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