St. Patrick’s Cathedral Mural Honoring New York’s Immigrants

by NOS.3 Editorial Team - Cover photo courtesy of St. Patrick’s Cathedral

New York’s iconic St. Patrick’s Cathedral has a new masterpiece greeting visitors: a towering mural that celebrates the city’s immigrants, blending history, faith, and contemporary life. Spanning the Cathedral’s entryway, the 25-foot-tall artwork, What’s So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding, is the largest ever commissioned for the landmark.

Artist Adam Cvijanovic | Photo courtesy of The New York Times

Created by Brooklyn-based artist Adam Cvijanovic, the mural features everyday immigrants alongside notable historical figures, including Dorothy Day, Pierre Toussaint, and the Native American saint St. Kateri Tekakwitha. One section honors Irish immigrants, depicting the Apparition at Knock, a Marian vision witnessed in Ireland in 1879, the same year the Cathedral opened its doors. Other panels show contemporary migrants arriving in New York, standing alongside civic leaders and saints, creating a sweeping narrative that spans centuries and continents.

Cvijanovic’s composition merges the sacred and the everyday, executed in oil on canvas with hand-applied gold leaf. The work draws from Baroque drama, Byzantine iconography, and modernist abstraction, creating a space where historical figures and ordinary people coexist, angels hover over the city, and divine light reflects in gilded surfaces. The mural invites visitors to witness an ongoing story of migration, faith, and resilience.

Artist Adam Cvijanovic working on the piece | Photo courtesy of The New York Times

“Each figure, from Mother Cabrini to Alfred Smith, represents acts of courage, compassion, and service,” Cvijanovic said. “By interweaving these stories with contemporary life, the mural celebrates a living, pluralistic church.”

Installed directly into the Cathedral’s architecture, What’s So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding transforms the entrance into a luminous space of reflection and inclusion. For the six million visitors who enter the Cathedral each year, it serves as both a visual feast and a profound reminder: in New York, every arrival matters.

Discover more at https://saintpatrickscathedral.org/mural