The Italian American Museum and The John D. Calandra Italian American Institute Queens College, The City University of New York present the exhibition "Architecture of Devotion: Italian American Religious Expression in New York City"

Photographs by Larry Racioppo
Opening reception:
Wednesday, May 4, 6-8 pm. RSVP (212) 642-2020

Italian American Museum
28 West 44th Street, 17th floor
between 5th and 6th Avenues

Museum Hours:
Monday-Friday, 10Am-4PM and by special appointment

RSVP for opening reception: (212) 642-2020


Admission is free.


In the exhibition "Architecture of Devotion", photographer Larry Racioppo looks at Roman Catholic sites of religious belief and practice created by members of New York's Italian American community of the past one hundred years.

These religious landscapes include ephemeral sites such as the annual giglio feast in honor of St. Paulinus of Nola in Williamsburg and Joseph Pezza's decorated parking lot attendant's shed in Bay Ridge.

Construction of Lourdes Grotto facsimiles on church properties proliferated in the United States after Bernadette Soubirous was canonized in 1933, as was the case at St. Lucy's Church in the Bronx and Brooklyn's St. Francis of Paola Church.

On the other hand, the Lisanti Family Chapel in Williamsbridge and Rosebank's Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Grotto, both listed on the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places, were built by immigrants on private property.

 Racioppo's photographs illuminate the lasting impact Catholicism and Italian American architectural design and building skills have had on the urban environment.