news article
‘Piece Corps’ at Delta UMC challenged by Wildlife
February 12, 2015 / By UNY Communications / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
By Paul Phister*
On Nov. 13, 2005, members at the Delta United Methodist Church started a small group called the “Puzzle Fellowship,” or, more affectionately: the “Piece Corps.”
The first puzzle chosen was an 18,000-piece puzzle titled “St. Columbia Altarpiece” based on a painting from 1455 by Rogier van der Weyden. The puzzle represents three events in the life of Jesus Christ: Annunciation, Gifts of the Magi, and Presentation in the Temple. Seventy individuals from the Delta UMC as well as the local community participated in assembling the puzzle over a period of 1,259 days (approximately four years), ending on April 26, 2009. Over a two-week period six individuals framed, glued and mounted the puzzle, culminating in hanging the finished work on Nov. 7, 2009 in the Delta UMC sanctuary.
In May 2009, the Piece Corps started its second puzzle. At 24,000 pieces, “Life” was the world’s largest puzzle, at that time. This puzzle, which measurers 16 feet by 7 feet took approximately 20 individuals nearly two years to assemble; it was mounted in in May 2011.
That same month, May 2011, approximately 25 members of the Piece Corps started their third puzzle by putting together the newest world's largest puzzle. This puzzle, titled “Double Retrospect,” is a collection of works by artist and social activist Keith Haring (1958-1990) that was designed into a 32,256 piece puzzle by the German puzzlemaker Ravensburger.
This puzzle is more than 18 feet long and nearly 7 feet tall. In October 2014, the Piece Corps contacted the Capitol Theater in Rome to see if it would like to have the puzzle displayed in its new cinema building. The powers that be were extremely pleased with the offer and they said they would love to have the puzzle on display. So, on Oct. 9, 2014 the Piece Corps started the "Puzzle Mounting Project."
They were provided a work area in the Capitol Theater, behind the new cinema building, and the Piece Corps began the process of building the frame, découpaging the puzzle, then gluing the puzzle to the finished frame. On Dec. 22, 2014, the puzzle was moved to the new Capitol Cinema and mounted on a wall outside the 58-seat auditorium.
A special thanks goes to George and Judi Laver for their expertise on building the frame and mounting the large puzzle on the wall.
Starting this April, the Piece Corps will be assembling its fourth puzzle and the most daunting to date: the new world’s largest puzzle. This is a 33,600-piece puzzle titled "Wildlife" (puzzle #4 below); the plan is to complete and donate the puzzle to the Utica Zoo in 2018.
If you plan to be in Rome on a Sunday evening, contact the Delta UMC at (315) 336-1940 for directions to the Phister’s, and come for great Christian fellowship and puzzle building as one of the unique missions of Delta UMC!
Editor’s note: If your church has a unique ministry that may inspire other in the Upper New York Conference share your story by sending it to news@unyumc.org.
*Paul Phister is a member at the Delta UMC and is one of the Piece Corps members.