Beal-Art History

Favorite Monument in Beal

There were many monuments in "Roadside Religion in Search of the Sacred, the Strange and the Substance of Faith" that I became interested in. The monument that I enjoyed reading about the most was the Precious Moments Inspiration Park. This monument was mainly a chapel filled with paintings of the sufferings and joyous occasions that the friends and family of Samuel J. Butcher went through. The "people" in the painting were the famous precious moments except for when there were adults in the picture, they were not precious moments. Every other person in them was children. There were Precious Moments figurines everywhere that Beal described.

I enjoyed this monument because the Precious Moments figurines are something that just about everyone enjoys or has admired at some point in time. As a child I always admired the figurines. As I grew up I realized that there was a greater meaning behind them and grew even fonder of them. Learning about the Precious Moments Inspiration Park really interested me because I never imagined that something like that would exist. It is interesting how someone would take their whole like and dedicate it to these precious moments' paintings and figurines. I also enjoyed reading how Samuel J. Butcher took mostly tragic stories from his friends and loved ones and made these paintings and figurines. I believe that it shows a greater respect for the events of life. These figurines and paintings are kind of reminders of the sometimes tragic events that happen in a life time and they share a way to get through any situation.