The following description has been provided to us by some of those close to the project:
The new shrine to Blessed John Henry Newman is a testament to the devotion that this new beatus has inspired and the example of Christian faith and scholarship that he represents. This shrine houses a first class Newman relic, a piece of his hair. It is the first shrine to the beatus to be completed this side of the Atlantic. The shrine woodwork was adapted from an existing confessional in one transept which had been turned into a storage closet. It was returned to its original, shallower depth, and new decorative elements were added in the center and side bays. Joel Pidel and Matthew Alderman worked together on the initial concepts for the design, with Pidel carrying out the majority of the design development and final drawings. Alderman provided the design for the cartouche with the Cardinal's coat of arms and consulted with Joel on other elements in the design. Joel is a current member of the parish, while Matthew was active in the parish before his move out of state in 2009. Pidel's work on the pedestal was inspired by the famous Hunt Memorial on Fifth Avenue, while Alderman's cartouche drew on other neo-Grec ornamentation; both harmonize admirably with the Byzantine-Greek ornamentation of the church's interior. The polychromy was devised by Fr. Rutler and carried out by him and other volunteers. Millwork was executed by the New York-based Authentic Restoration, Inc.
