I've been asked many times in recent months about the mosaic in the Chapel Lounge - will it be removed? The answer is a resounding NO. In fact, we intend to enhance the lighting on the mosaic so that it can be better appreciated. While there was some interest early on in our discussion about moving the mosaic, that idea was dismissed as impractical and unnecessary.
When we first started on this project I did a little research on the mosaic. Warren Bartz (bless his heart!) remembered the name of the company that managed the 1980's remodeling of the Chapel Lounge, the Potente studio from Kenosha, WI. I sent photos of the mosaic to them and they identified the mosaic artists as being from the studio of Fabiano Favret in Pietrasant, Italy. You may check out their website at http://www.favretmosaici.com. If you read Italian, you can read the actual website. There is a translated version, pretty laughable in it's language. But you can get the gist. They have done lovely work all over the world, and our mosaic is an example of venetian mosaic art. It is likely that the design was done by Potente and executed by the Italian studio.
One piece of trivia - in the picture attached you can see the crossed swords. The small item above the swords is an ear, supposedly the ear of a slave cut off by one of the disciples at the time of Jesus' arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. Two of the gospel accounts (Luke and John) specify that the slave lost his right ear. Apparently the mosaic designers/artists didn't read those versions!