Cathedral of All Saints Awarded Four Grants

Within the last few months the Cathedral of All Saints has received awards from three prestigious grantors: the New York Landmarks Conservancy; the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; and the Friends of Cathedral Music in Canterbury, UK.

The grant from the New York Landmarks Conservancy was awarded to help fund a survey of  needs and costs to restore John La Farge’s “Adoring Angels,” a stained glass rose window situated over the Cathedral’s west entrance. La Farge, mentor to Louis Comfort Tiffany, created many exquisite works that reside in some of America’s notable houses of worship including Trinity Church in Boston, St. Thomas, and the Church of the Ascension in New York City.

The Landmark Conservancy’s is one of the original non-profits supporting houses of worship. The Cathedral has been a previous recipient of the Conservancy’s Sacred Sites Grants.

The grant from the Office of Parks was awarded through the State’s Consolidated Funding Application process. It makes possible historic restorations of masonry and fencing on the northwest corner of the Cathedral as well as the creation of a multi-purpose park with a small stage for noontime music, children’s arts, festivals, and just simple get-togethers and relaxation, as shown above. (Read more about it here.)The park will welcome neighbors, State workers and tourists. The project also includes newly restored stairs on the north side to provide easy access to the sanctuary of the Cathedral, the oldest Episcopal church created expressly as a large Gothic cathedral. This project enhances the Cathedral’s new emphasis on outreach.

The British Friends of Cathedral Music awarded the Cathedral of All Saints a grant for endowment support of the Cathedral’s Organ Scholar. It was the only FCM grant made this year to an American cathedral. In announcing this year’s awards, totaling £600,000 to two dozen cathedrals, the FCM noted that many cathedral music programs are battling with running costs. The grants aim to ensure that a priceless 1,400 year-old heritage will be preserved for future generations. The Cathedral of All Saints’ Lloyd Cast Organ Fellowship was established in 2008 by The Cathedral Friends of the Choir in memory of a recent long-time Organist and Choir Master at Cathedral. The intent of the full-time 2-year Fellowship is to provide to an emerging Organ Scholar post-graduate study, practical musical and management experience, and the opportunity to perform in a cathedral setting.  In the US this fellowship program is unique to The Cathedral of All Saints.

The Cathedral has completed a project sponsored by National Grid’s “Energy Initiative for Energy Efficient Lighting.” The Cathedral saved money on materials and will save even more on future electric bills. 158 energy efficient lamps were installed to replace old lamps. The Cathedral is brighter and more environmentally friendly.  Most replacements could be accomplished with ladders of various heights, but some required the ingenious construction of platforms on which to place ladders where needed above flights of stairs. Yet to come is a project to revamp the high lighting system in the sanctuary and chancel.