Our Mother of Sorrows Grotto, (sculpture).

Our Mother of Sorrows Grotto, (sculpture).

Lightner, William H., 1885-1968, sculptor.

Our Mother of Sorrows Grotto, (sculpture).

1929-1941. Dedicated Aug. 1941.

Concrete, semi-precious stones, rocks, shells, ceramic tiles, glass.

The grotto installation consists of two large arches, a bridge over a lagoon, and a columned structure symbolizing the Ten Commandments. The Grotto's shrine, which had to be torn down in the 1960s due to repeated vandalism, was adorned with mosaics depicting the Seven Sorrows of Christ's Mother. The grotto is constructed of 1,200 tons of stone and 300 different kinds of rock, semi-precious stones, coral, mosaic, and petrified wood collected from all over the U.S. and Mexico.

Religion -- New Testament -- Mary

Religion -- Old Testament -- Ten Commandments

Outdoor Sculpture -- Iowa -- Cedar Rapids

Mount Mercy College, 1330 Elmhurst Drive NE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52402

In 1929 William H. Lightner was commissioned by the Sisters of Mercy to design and build a grotto on the Mount Mercy College campus. Lightner was a self-taught visionary artist and the Grotto was his life's work. What began as a single structure eventually expanded to five structures (only four remain; a mosaic shrine was torn down in the 1960s due to vandalism). It took Lightner twelve years of daily work, which he donated along with over $42,000 worth of materials, freight, and landscaping.

SOS Conservation Treatment Award, 2001.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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