By Amy White
The Texas Catholic
Can contemporary artists contribute to the long tradition of liturgical art in a meaningful way? North Texas artist Tony Schraufnagel posed this rhetorical question, and—as a Catholic artist utilizing modern technology to create religious art—he answers it through his work.
A parishioner of St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Richardson, and founder of Art of Twisted Nail, Schraufnagel has employed his expertise in metalworking to produce several prominent pieces of liturgical art in the Diocese of Dallas. His projects include the creation of a large Dominican Cross for John Paul II High School’s prayer garden; panel art for St. Mark the Evangelist’s Our Lady of La Vang Rosary Garden; and Stations of the Cross sets for St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Richardson and Mary Immaculate Catholic Church in Farmers Branch, among other projects.
“Tony’s love for our Lord and the Church comes to life in his art,” Father John Szatkowski, pastor of St. Paul the Apostle, said of his parishioner. “We need beautiful art in our lives, whether it’s a painting, sculpture, church, or majestic symphony. Beauty takes us beyond ourselves, ultimately leading us to contemplate things divine… Tony’s work comes from the heart, and his beautiful works bring hearts closer to our Lord.”
Labor of love
The process of creating art can be arduous at points—time consuming and highly detailed work—but the results reflect the effort. Schraufnagel offered the example of one of his recent art pieces: St. Mark the Evangelist’s Our Lady of La Vang Rosary Garden.
In February 2024, the artist began creating a design for the metal paneling around the garden’s Marian statue. He wanted the paneling to depict a wilderness of plant species native to Vietnam—from the jasmine leaf to the banyan tree.
“I had to do my homework because I had not known previously of the story of Our Lady of La Vang,” the artist said of the 18th century Marian apparition reported to have appeared in Vietnam. “Part of the story is that this vision of Mary encouraged the faithful to eat the nutritious jasmine leaves to sustain themselves, because they were hiding; they were persecuted; and this was nourishment… I felt like I could tell the story by placing her in that space. And so, the idea of replicating the jungle flora and fauna came.”
Schraufnagel meticulously sketched onto his computer positive and negative shapes that could later be translated onto metal using CNC technology. The work was so detailed—with some flourishes less than half an inch tall on an eight by four panel—that the computer crashed. With some adjustments to avoid system overwhelm, the art was installed at St. Mark the Evangelist in October 2024.
“Quite a few people cover a lot of subject matter from liturgy and cover it pretty well,” Schraufnagel said, but with Our Lady of LaVang, less artistic depictions existed, “so that gave me a lot more of a chance to explore and really push the ability of the laser and the torches and the digital side.”
Reflecting on his role as a contemporary artist, Schraufnagel said, “We’re living in a unique age; we have new technologies that allow for us… to be able to work in a somewhat abstracted, figurative way… but [the art] feels like it still can teach.”
Guiding the way
Schraufnagel has also contributed to the tradition of liturgical art by fostering the creative spark of the next generation of artists at John Paul II High School in Plano.
“He’s incredibly creative and engaging to the kids,” Michael Browning, dean of arts and athletics at JPII, said of Schraufnagel, who teaches fine arts at the school. “He uses a lot of 3D printers and things like that in his art, because that’s really where the future is going.”
Browning said Schraufnagel’s professional experience as an artist lends itself to a hands-on pedagogy. “He interweaves liturgical art within his class. They go out and they say, ‘In this church, this is how they’ve done stained glass… This is how they’ve done it in sculpture.’ He’s wonderful at that.”
In his work as an educator, Schraufnagel said that he most enjoys those “aha moments” when students learn to create something of their own.
“When you can lay the groundwork for a student to be able to be expressive, to find their voice in a new medium, to become acquainted with working with a new type of material and to excel, that is very, very gratifying,” he said. “I am just so thankful… to serve in a way where my skillset can be put to use.”
Cutline for featured image: Tony Schraufnagel, a parishioner of St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Richardson, is the artist behind several prominent pieces of liturgical art in the Diocese of Dallas. He is pictured in front of one of his recent projects: the Dominican Cross for the John Paul II High School prayer garden. (AMY WHITE/The Texas Catholic)
