A Man, A Challenge, A Children’s Chapel
by: Eleanor Rives (The Herald, 7 January, 1972 Des Plaines, Il)
Warden, vestryman, Church school superintendent- that’s David Kwist, active parishioner at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Mount Prospect ever since his family settled in Des Plaines in 1964.
But more than this, Dave is Mr. Fix-it.
When a floor needs tilling, when a wall needs paneling, when endless repairs necessary to maintaining a public building arise, the Rev. Richard Lehmann knows whom to call upon.
About five years ago, Father Lehmeann took a long look at the 16 by 40 ft “scrap” room on the lower level of the church—an eyesore, a catch-all piled up with leftover pews.
WHAT DAVE DID is a remarkable combination of his skill as a craftsman, his interest in children, his imagination and his creative ingenuity and an artistic talent that no one even suspected.
The Children’s Chapel, contemporary in style, quietly beautiful in feeling, is a harmonious blend of natural wood and black metal- a setting that produces a feeling of serenity even in the first, second and third graders who hold a modified morning prayer service there each Sunday morning.
For Dave, the little chapel meant two years of scrounging for materials, working on a shoestring, seeking donations in order to proceed and giving all his available evenings and weekends to work.
IT ALSO MEANT the unexpected development of an art form at which he has become extremely proficient. His metal figures, which bear the unmistakable Kwist stamp of extreme simplicity , originally were a means of raising funds to proceed with work on the chapel.
“Some people decide what they are going to create, then search for materials to do it. I look over all the materials I have accumulated then ask myself “What can I make with them?” said Dave, who gathered scraps from construction companies as far away as South Bend (Indiana).
Old wood, metal of all kinds, pipes, nails, bolts- even the old pews went into the job. With the grand sum of $25 to start with, he first made an altar of expensive plywood, but constructed in such a way as to look massive and sturdy.
SINCE THEN THE Junior Altar Guild, girls 8 to 13 years old, has made all the altar frontals- cloth coverings, symbolically decorated, which change with the church seasons. These industrious young housekeepers also dust, scrub and polish the chapel periodically, and with pride.
Sections of square pipe, the top portion removed to become the base, were made into black candlestick holders. A piece of tubing from an old barn door became an altar vase.
“The pews were a problem,” said Dave. “Everything had to be scaled to children of lower grades, but we knew they would also be used at times by adults.”
The resulting pews in light-toned oak supported by black metal are neither too high for children nor too low for adults.
RELIGIOUS SYMBOLISM is everywhere- interpreted in iron on the altar rails, in painted wood on the shields that line the walls. “The shields were made of wood from the old pews,” said Dave. “I cut them out and Ken Wessling painted the symbols of the apostles on them.”
As interest in the little chapel grew, donations became more numerous. The churchwomen, the vestry supported the project from time to time, as did individuals. David began selling his metal figures.
“I felt like there was a guiding hand helping me,” he said. “Whenever I needed anything, it showed up.”
The processional cross evolved from old shovel handles combined with Dave’s metal work. Someone admired the crucifix at the apex and asked him to repeat it. This was the first of his metal figures. Dave wondered if this type of metal design might not be applicable to other figures.
NOW INCLUDED in Daves metal art are St. Francis with a tiny bird pecking at the tray he carries, Mary and the Babe, St. Michael the Archangel, the Nativity Scene, the Annunciation, Moses the Happy Family and some “fun” pieces of owls. Black metal circles of varying sizes against a wood backing are readily identifiable as a modern interpretation of The Lord’s Supper.
“Each figure is reduced to its bare essentials,” Dave explained. “There are no flowers, curlicues, or baroque junk. For example, St. Michael is represented with a halo for the religious connotation, wings to signify an angel and a sword and shield representing the warrior. These are the simplest elements.”
The figures stand about eight inches high, but Dave makes taller pieces on request, such as his 4-foot-representation of St. Francis and his 21/2 ft high Holy Family, a memorial now gracing a little church in Indiana.
AS SUPERINTENDENT of the church school, one year Dave presented all his teachers with beautiful antique silver plated crosses on chains as thank you gifts. Anything unique about that? Yes, considering he made them all from nails.
He has never entered an art fair or tried to market his art through dealers. He sells his pieces only through the church and has given away many more figures than he has sold. Once the children’s Chapel was completed, he began giving most of his proceeds to charity.
Though Dave’s interest in art has run high, the children’s chapel is still his pride and joy. Shortly after it was completed, a small wedding group gathered there for a private ceremony. Someone suddenly remembered to call Dave. “Tell them to wait,” he cried. “I’m coming.”
But the most gratifying testimonial to his talent and skill is given each Sunday morning when the church school youngsters gather to worship with hushed voices in the retreat that is all their own, and environment that whispers “peace.”
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