Last summer, when Janalee was still able to walk normally, we were given a treat by a good Christian lady in northern Illinois named Patty Reimer, who had been a close friend to Mary and then befriended Jan also. Patty took us to see a place she knew of just outside the town of Monroe Center: the home and studio of a Christian sculptor named George Kapotas. Much of the outdoor space of the Kapotas property was dedicated to what he called The Life Of Christ Memorial Garden. This was full of life-sized sculptural groups, some of them with landscaping to set the scene, depicting episodes in Jesus' earthly life up to and including His Resurrection. There was even a small but functional chapel close by, suitable for prayer and worship.
The statues WERE painted to give lifelike color. Around the periphery, independent of the Biblical exhibit, were numerous animal sculptures, bears being the single most-depicted animal.
Mr. Kapotas and his wife Jeanne, being of retirement age, were planning to move to Wisconsin. They were hoping that some church would buy their property, complete with all the religious displays, for use as a retreat center. Jan and I never did hear how that turned out; but I do hope that their inspirational artistic retelling of the Gospels wasn't broken up, or worse, thrown away.
)! *beams*