Focused on Faith and Beauty: Labora profiles liturgical designer Paige Stransky ’01

 

In Italy, she was able to touch the materials of what would become an altar. She could touch 900-year-old stained glass. She felt a powerful connection, “a connection to her fellow sisters in Christ,” and it was through design. She saw that sacred art and sacred spaces were “a design of the heart” for Christ, and the Church. She “felt the connection through the material,” adding that “I felt a calling.” Once she returned to the United States, and continued to pursue work in that arena, there was a moment where she realized she “felt more connected to this work than anything else I’d been exposed to.” Always committed to discernment, she said a prayer that this might be a path for her:, something along the lines of “If it be Your will, I’ll give You everything.”  

 

She sensed the great power held in the beauty of sacred art and sacred spaces, and saw the potential for her talents and knowledge to be a part of creating those things. In doing so, she would be helping people access their faith, express their faith, deepen their faith. Knowing the power of faith, and the extent of its reach, she also realized she would be enhancing people’s lives, and the lives of their communities, for generations. 

 

The call was strong. She felt its power, and its opportunity. Her mission was now to pursue the niche business of sacred art and liturgical design.

 

For many entrepreneurs, faith is an important part of their foundation, but it’s not part of the business plan, or the skill set. For Paige Mahefky Stransky ’01, who founded New Jerusalem Liturgical Design six years ago this July, faith is front and center, integral.   

 

After Stransky’s return from Italy, she pursued the calling, and her first real stop – her professional training you might say – was working with Rolf Rohn of Rohn Design. One thing led to another, one mentor led to another, one set of learning led to another, and all those led to her being fully equipped with the business skills, product knowledge and courage to set out on her own. She aspired to have more control, had developed confidence in the value she could offer, and clients were seeking her out, asking to work with her directly. She would offer her own services as a liturgical designer, be a conduit between churches and their congregants, between artists and her vision for what churches were seeking. She wanted to help create sacred art and sacred spaces that would speak to people, reach their hearts, touch their faith, inspire them – and more greatly fulfill their lives. 

 

Stransky came to Saint Gertrude by virtue of her father, Deacon Paul Mahefky, who was impressed that it was Catholic and an all-girls environment. He felt that was a great foundation to build leadership. Paige was involved in vocal ensemble, drama club, basketball, and tennis. Looking back, she realizes that “I was always drawn to the arts,” and her senior year she received the academic achievement award in Art for her ceramic teapot. 

 

Upon graduating she did not yet discern that art and faith would ultimately become her career path. She pursued a Political Science degree at VCU, and considered getting a law degree. She married in 2011, and soon after her husband, who was in the 173rd Airborne, was deployed to Italy. Her father, a deacon with Saint Benedict’s Church who had also taken on the role of Director of Properties for the Diocese of Richmond, learned a church in Hampton, VA needed marble, and he engaged Stransky in the search. 

 

That experience in 2012 would be one Stransky describes as “the initial spark for this work.” Sourcing stone—particularly in places like Carrara— was a “formative moment” for her, and she encountered firsthand “the level of craftsmanship and artistry that goes into sacred spaces.” For Stransky, “there was something deeply moving about seeing how materials were treated with such intention and reverence, and how that translated into spaces that felt truly elevated and enduring.” It was an experience that really stayed with her. She reflects, “It wasn’t just about the beauty itself, but about understanding that beauty is the result of discipline, tradition, and a deep respect for the purpose of the space. It was the moment where I began to connect material, craft, and faith in a very real way.” As she recalls, she was “totally enveloped in all the art and beauty” in the churches in Italy, and thought to herself: “I could do this forever.” But, she acknowledges, “I never thought I would.” 

 

She came back to the states in 2013, and her husband headed into the Special Forces, leading them to  Colorado Springs, CO in 2016. While there, in 2017, she started to work with Rolf Rohn of Rohn Design, a leader in the liturgical design field, whom she had met in Richmond in 2013. He was based out of Pittsburgh, PA and needed help with his west coast projects. While working with him, she traveled to California, North Dakota, Texas – and “learned a tremendous amount.” 

 

As her skills developed and her relationships grew, she found that churches were approaching her to just do Liturgical Design, and to just work with her. This offered more creative control, expanded the possibilities of who she could work with. In working with churches, she found strong connections where “we spoke each other’s language, as to how the design should be.” She found herself wanting “to pursue my own creative designs.” Over the next couple of years she did two “very meaningful” projects for the Diocese of North Dakota, and was also a manager for a stone company, Planet Granite in Colorado Springs, CO. “I learned everything you could possibly know about quartz, quartzite, marble, granite. I learned about colors, sources, coloration,, how porous certain stones were. It really opened up my world,” she notes. 

 

Adding that product knowledge helped, and she knew she had to add to her design skills as well. She became one of two people in the national KBIS search for interior designers who were selected for a program involving becoming more skilled with CADMUS Design. While the primary function of that opportunity centered on kitchen and bath design, she found it “helped me (to) design sacristees.” By 2020, she felt ready to take the leap – a leap of faith – and launch her own company.

 

An opportunity with Holy Cross in North Dakota “was a now or never moment” for her to do something on her own. 

 

She and her husband had divorced in 2019, and she was navigating life as a single mother while continuing to pursue her professional and creative ambitions. Struggling to straddle the demanding worlds of her profession (both interior design and liturgical design) and motherhood, she saw the attraction of having her own business. She often reflected on the adage that ‘God doesn’t want you to live in two worlds. 

 

“My daughter was my top priority,” she notes. “Having my own business gave me the opportunity to do both.” Looking back, Stransky says “the entrepreneurial spirit is a beautiful thing. Mine was a byproduct of my passion. Christ wanted my full attention.” She continued, “my insight into the window of the soul” is a talent that comes from Him, and is in partnership with Him. “I ask ‘what is this beauty that You want to be revealed?’ And that’s the truth.”  

 

Part of Stransky’s success has been realizing her talents – and her limitations. “I am not an artist,” she admits. “I can see it. I just can’t draw it.” Able to envision what is possible, and what will work, she has a process where she comes up with inspirational images for artists to work from, and supplements that by giving them enough contextual background, including historical considerations, to create an accurate and appropriate piece of sacred art that will fulfill all the requirements, as it were, and still leave room for their own authentic artistry to come through. Her role goes from communicating with her clients at a very deep level, to be sure she understands their needs, hopes and ambitions, to envisioning and developing a workable concept, to then providing inspiration and guidance to artists who can bring it to life in a truly beautiful way that will resonate with congregations, and become a timeless part of that faith community.  

Over the years, Stransky has developed an international network of trusted artisans she can depend on to deliver the level of beauty and artistry required by sacred art. These relationships have been built over time and allow each project to be approached in a very tailored and intentional way. A few key collaborators include:

Part of Stransky’s work is finding agreement with her clients on what is needed and how it should look, and for those presentations to her clients, when those important early layers of the business relationship are being conducted, Stransky actually goes back to a technique she experienced at Saint Gertrude.  A history teacher she loved, Mrs. Smith, “really made it come to life. She had great energy, and she told a story so well. I use that today. When I put a piece of art or design concept into context, I put it in story form.” She explains that she puts a lot of effort into “learning the story behind it, giving a context and the history behind it, and connecting it to the faith.” Doing it that way, in story form, “engages. It pulls everything together for them. You see the light bulb go off!”

 

Another teacher, Theology Teacher Mrs. Riley ’84 (current Chairman of the Theology Deaprtment at Saint Gertrude), was also instrumental. “She was one of my favorites. She gave us a faith understanding.”  Those experiences in Theology at Saint Gertrude “helped me with understanding the ‘why’ of it. The Catechism became a foundation for my work today.”

 

In 2020 she officially started on her own, with a project for Saint Benedict’s Church in Wild Rice, ND. “They were in a flood zone and they had to move. It was a very delicate project, involving Prairie Gothic architecture.

 

Armed with the confidence that had been built at Saint Gertrude – that she could succeed in numerous disciplines, and that she did not have to be limited to a single path – she combined her religious, design and historical backgrounds, business savvy, and faith into a business – New Jerusalem Design. Her father had run his own company, and “I had already seen that there could be success on that path, that you could be independent and you could achieve great things.” 

 

She enacted core business principles to attract and retain clients: clear, thoughtful, effective communication, deeply committed service, a spirit of collaboration – with both her clients and her artists – and a commitment to delivering results that would not only match and meet the hopes and requirements, but exceed them. Each project would be pursued as a unique opportunity to reveal the identity and spirit of a particular parish. 

 

Reflecting on her journey as an entrepreneur, she says, “I have so much more understanding of everything. I knew I could do it, but now I've proven I can, so now I have this confidence – this ability that is a proven ability. I also have an understanding that it's not just about me. It's about what they want.” 

 

It’s also about who can produce it.  “With each and every subcontractor that I work with, I give the design over to them and they fulfill the vision. There's a lot of coordination that goes with that – because any aspect of the design that does not reflect well reflects on me. It is a challenge in each and every project not to micromanage, to oversee it, but to be able to work with people that you trust immensely, that can bring a whole design together.” Stransky accepts the responsibility, but knows it’s the team she built and guides that delivers it. “It’s me, but it is definitely a team effort to have it all come together just the way I envisioned it.”

 

This deeply committed, purposeful and collaborative approach was exemplified in Paige’s extensive work on the Sullivan Chapel. She worked with the entire Design Committee, with BSoR President Jesse Grapes, with numerous artists and artisans spread out across the country and overseas, and with the local contractors on installations. Her touch and design can be seen throughout the deeply inspiring sacred space – in the Our Lady of Guadalupe murals, the Stations of the Cross, the Marian symbols, the statues, the pews, and most recently the bas relief virtues of Saint Gertrude.   
 

Almost six years since she took the leap of faith to be an entrepreneur, Stransky was asked to describe one of the most fulfilling moments along the way. She did not hesitate, connecting that special moment that came to mind to the tactile experience she had had back in Italy, when the path first revealed itself.

“The moment that hits me, hits my heart, was the first altar I ever designed – touching it. That was in Holy Cross Catholic Church, in West Fargo, ND. It's a 10-foot altar. It's huge and it's beautiful, because it has a mosaic of the Sacrificial Lamb and Alpha and Omega. I can remember at the dedication mass running my hand over the stone of the Mensa and just feeling this total connection to Christ, and feeling so honored at that moment. It was a realization of my design coming from love – and now here, where I could touch it, for this loving sacrifice.” 

She halted, tearing up at how powerful and profound that moment had been. “I hope every altar I have designed has that kind of moment for me. It was a moment that is still very, very powerful. It seems to me like I'm where I'm supposed to be, doing what I'm supposed to do – with God's will. I knew at this moment – by me being able to create this altar – how many people this is going to serve, this little speck that I am. I thought of the brides that are going to walk up this aisle and have mass and celebration of this new life that they're starting. I thought of the people who have died and their caskets are going to be brought forth and that hopefully the people gathered around will be elevated by this ethereal beauty – having hope and faith that these people they love are going to have eternal life. I'm thinking about how many lives this church is going to change, because of this one altar,  and it really gave me the gravity of the church and how important it is and how many lives it changes and shapes. 

To be a part of that – I mean you really are connected through faith, all through life, through God's creation  – to be a part of that continuation is…I think it's the greatest honor of my life. I mean other than being a Mom – which is also creating life. I want my daughter to see this and to know that beauty really means connecting yourself to God's creation, to God's church – and to fulfill your purpose in life that He's given you.”