Church of the Transfiguration: A Masterpiece of Lithuanian Folk Art Modernism

Tucked away on a quiet side street in the low-rise Queens neighborhood of Maspeth sits a little known modernist masterpiece of Lithuanian architecture, the Church of the Transfiguration. The church can be viewed as a holistic work of art and design through contributions by Lithuanian and Lithuanian American artists and designers. The building is also an unusual combination of modern design and construction with Lithuanian folk elements along the lines of a country church, seen by many as one of the only buildings outside of Lithuania that truly evokes Lithuanian design. 

 

The founding of this parish, created to serve Lithuanian immigrants, dates back to 1908. The Lithuanian population in New York City was sizable and grew starting in the late 19th century, with almost 300,000 Lithuanians arriving in America by 1914. Distinctive waves of immigration continued through World War II and Soviet occupation from the 1930s through the early 1960s.

 

After fires destroyed the first two Transfiguration churches, the congregation bought an existing site which belonged to the parish of St. Stanislaus Kostka. A new convent, rectory, and basement church were built in the 1930s by A.F. Meissner, an architect who worked almost exclusively in Queens, Other houses of worship by Meissner include St. Teresa of Avila in South Ozone Park, St. Francis de Sales in Belle Harbor, and his late career, Queens Chamber Award-winning Blessed Virgin Mary Help of Christians in Woodside.

 

As early as 1945, the pastor of the parish, Rev. John Balkunas, was looking to complete construction of a new church above the simple basement church of 1935 that had served the parish for much longer than originally anticipated. Meissner was hired to develop working drawings in 1953, but it is unclear if this ever happened before he died in 1959. Finally in 1960, this project began to gain steam for the 450 Lithuanian families who regularly worshipped at Transfiguration, and the Diocese approved the construction of a new church, encompassing the lower structure, as well as design changes to the rectory and convent to match the new building. Unsurprisingly for a national Lithuanian church in New York, Balkunas turned to a Lithuanian architect,  Jonas Mulokas, who was based in Chicago where another large Lithuanian population existed.

 

Mulokas was born in Lithuania's capital of Vilnius in 1907 and trained at Vytautas Magnus University in civil engineering, graduating in 1935. During World War II, Mulokas and his family fled Lithuania and spent time in a displaced persons camp, eventually making their way to the United States by 1949. In the United States, Mulokas was employed by several architecture firms, including the noted modernist firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, but relatively quickly opened his own office. Mulokas had designed at least three earlier, more traditional churches for the Lithuanian community: Church of the Immaculate Conception (1956) in St. Louis, Holy Cross Church (a redesign) in Dayton, Ohio, and Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1957) in Chicago.

Transfiguration, however, is undoubtedly the signature work of Mulokas’ career and the one that best expresses a pure blending of Lithuanian architecture and modernism. The exterior is an A-frame design, with a front wall of steel frame and stained glass panels. The roofline is topped by a modern take on a traditional Lithuanian gable. Above the door in Lithuanian , is a text that reads, "Mano Namai Maldos Namai" ("My house is a house of prayer").

 

The bell tower, located on the southwest side of the building, is designed to evoke a roadside shrine, an object of particular interest to Mulokas. Mulokas also designed a Lithuanian wayside cross for the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, although it has disappeared. As explained in the World’s Fair Manual and a plaque at the site where the cross stood, “Thousands of these artistic forms of folk art formerly dotted the Lithuanian countryside. Today, the godless Communist oppressors have destroyed these shrines, but they cannot extinguish the spirit of the courageous Lithuanian people who long to be free again.”[1]

 

On the front facade above the entrance is mounted a Christ figure in aluminum, representing the Transfiguration, created by the Lithuanian American artist Aleksandras Marciulonis (1911-1998). Marciulonis studied sculpture at the Kaunas Academy of Art in Lithuania. Early in 1956, the Marciulionis family relocated to Chicago, and Aleksandras went to work at firms engaged in designing and producing sculptural decorations and monuments, completing projects for more than a hundred churches.

The other significant artist who worked closely in partnership with Mulokas on Transfiguration was the prolific Lithuanian-American Vytautas Kazimieras Jonynas. Like Mulokas and Marciulonis, Jonynas was an immigrant to the United States, arriving in 1950. Between 1955–1979 Jonynas designed interiors for more than 60 churches in the United States, Europe, and Australia. His decoration firm, Joynas and Shepherd, was based in Queens, and their works can be seen on numerous churches around New York City.

 

At Transfiguration, Joynas was responsible for the majority of the interior detail elements. The stained glass depicts various saints, and each window includes the names of the individuals, primarily Lithuanian families, who paid for it. Two windows are signed with Joynas’ initials and the date of fabrication, 1961. Other original details on the interior include the wooden confessional booths (now painted white) with stylized Lithuanian symbols surmounting them, a wooden gate with stylized details, the wooden pews (also painted white), and the aluminum light fixtures. Other sculptures and the stations of the cross may be by Jonynas but have not been confirmed.

 

Joynas returned to Transfiguration in 1967 to complete alterations to the chancel brought about by the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican (Vatican II,1962-1965), which simplified the spatial hierarchy between the clergy, the liturgy, and congregation. A letter from the Brooklyn Diocese’s Diocesian Building Office from April 1, 1965 states that Monsignor Balkunas had hired Jonynas and Shepherd to investigate making changes to the altar to align more with Vatican II including “...establishing the practice of Mass facing the congregation.” [2]

As part of this work, Jonynas redesigned the space behind the altar and added new elements, including a bronze cross with emanating rays of light and 7 attached reliquaries, a tabernacle in sculpted cast aluminium, and two aluminum candelabras.   The culmination of this work is the incredible mixed media reredos behind the altar. Attached to the original wooden cross designed in 1962, a sculpture depicts the figure of God in front of bursting rays of light, below which stand five other figures looking up. Behind the reredos is a wall of blue mosaic tile in various shades, also designed by Joynas.

 

In New York, shortly after his commission for Transfiguration, Jonynas entered a competition to decorate the Vatican Chapel of the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, a short distance away. Jonynas won commissions for the Holy Trinity bas-relief sculpture on the main façade, the unusual cross above the church, the main altar in the Good Shepherd’s Chapel, and an eye-catching monstrance. The artist personally attended to each one from design to delivery. With Mulokas’ wayside cross, the World’s Fair demonstrated the influence of these designers on mid-century ecclesiastical art. The bas-relief sculpture and a set of cast panels still exist, but much of this work has been lost today, meaning that Transfiguration remains the most comprehensive example of Lithuanian modernist art and architecture. 

 

Today the future of Transfiguration is unclear. The Brooklyn Diocese has proposed to close the church by Fall 2025, merging it with the nearby St. Stanislaus Kostka and selling the site. The Lithuanian community has rallied around preservation efforts, having already lost a hard fought battle in 2015 to save Our Lady of Vilnius, a national parish church for the community that was located next to the Holland Tunnel in Manhattan. Thus far, numerous organizations and entities have supported landmark designation of Transfiguration, including the Consulate General of the Republic of Lithuania in New York, the Lithuanian Alliance of America, the Knights of Lithuania Council 110, Newtown Historical Society, the National Commission for Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Lithuania, and Council Member Robert Holden. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission has determined that the church may merit designation as an individual landmark and the community will continue to advocate for the successful protection of this unique building.

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Notes

[1] World’s Fair Photos (copyright Bill Cotter, 1985-2025). Garden of Meditation and Lithuanian Wayside Cross. 

[2] Letter to Bishop of Brooklyn McEntegart from Msgr. John J. Rudden, Director, Diocesan Building Office. (1965, April, 1). Building and Property Office Parish Correspondence Files. Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, Diocesan Archives, Brooklyn, NY.

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About the Author

Frampton Tolbert a New York City-based preservationist and architectural historian. He is currently Executive Director of the Historic Districts Council (HDC), the citywide advocate for New York's historic neighborhoods. Tolbert previously served as HDC’s Deputy Director from 2005-2014 and has held positions at the Center for Urban Pedagogy, Brooklyn Museum, and the Phillips Collection. 

 

His Queens Modern project, examining vernacular modernism in the borough of Queens, has been acknowledged by the New York State Council on the Arts (2013), James Marston Fitch Foundation (2017), and Modernism in America Awards (2020). He currently serves on several boards including as Vice President for Advocacy at Docomomo US New York/Tri-State.