Museum of the Moon
Moon as Sacred Mirror
Cathedral of the Incarnation
36 Cathedral Avenue
Garden City, New York
Through May 4
“How did you do that?” is the question people most frequently ask British artist Luke Jerram, creator of Museum of the Moon, when they first encounter his 20-foot, 3D representation of our nearest celestial neighbor. They wonder what magic he might have used to pluck it from the sky, bring it to Earth, and suspend it in midair, float it on the water of a swimming pool, or show it within the ruins of a medieval abbey.
Since 2016, the Museum of the Moon has traveled to and been displayed in a variety of public spaces, ranging from India to England to the West Bank. There are several other copies that tour the world for temporary exhibitions. The Museum of the Moon’s website lists the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg, Florida, as a perpetual exhibitor.
New York has now been added to the Museum of the Moon’s long list of venues, at the Neo-Gothic Cathedral of the Incarnation. This is the Museum of the Moon’s first installation in a U.S. house of worship. Within this year’s observance of Holy Week, the Long Island cathedral presented the lunar exhibition as a “Journey from Passiontide to Eastertide Under the Glow of the Lesser Light Which Rules the Night.”
Bridging sacred and secular understandings of human existence, a variety of Moon-themed events allow visitors to engage with the installation, including a discussion of celestial symbols in sacred dress, Moonlit music and entertainment, special yoga sessions under the Moon, organ recitals inspired by the Moon, and “Cosmic Conversations,” comprising academic lectures on lunar and cosmic subjects given by scholars from nearby Adelphi University.
Accompanying the Moon display is a soundscape, which provides Moon-related audio: an excerpt of Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune”; the distinctive voice of President John F. Kennedy (“We go to the Moon, not because it is easy, but because it is hard”), and the powerful sound of the Apollo 8 rocket lifting off with its crew of astronauts, who were the first to orbit the Moon (during which they read passages from the Book of Genesis).
Jerram is known for other artwork relating to the cosmos, notably the touring light and audio shows Helios (Sun), Gaia (Earth), and Aeolus (Wind). His multidisciplinary art practice incorporates sculptures, installations, and live art projects, which have excited and inspired people around the world. Like Museum of the Moon, Jerram’s work is informed by science, engineering, and the arts.
But he does not omit playfulness (as in his giant water slide installation, Park and Slide, in his home city of Bristol), which has a special appeal to children. In addition to his touring installations and permanent sculptures, Jerram’s artworks are in over 70 permanent collections around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Shanghai Museum of Glass, and the Wellcome Collection in London.
He creates works in all scales, often inspiring communities to reflect on challenging concepts and pressing social issues, such as the need to protect and care for the Earth. In the works Oil Fountain (2022) and Tipping Point (2024), for example, the artist uses his skills to focus attention on cultures’ over-dependence on oil and on the connection between money and deforestation, respectively.
No otherworldly magic was used to create the Moon installation. Rather it is the meeting of Jerram’s imagination and science after his observing the wide tidal range of a local waterway in Bristol. Cameron Balloons created a helium balloon using ripstop material (a woven material often made of nylon) coated with urethane. The sphere’s body is printed with high-resolution images of the Moon’s craggy surface from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and stitched together by the Astrogeology Science Center of the United States Geological Survey.
When installed in a dark place, the orb is illuminated from within, creating a glowing effect. Although the sphere’s surface is smooth, the fine detail of the imagery reveals the Moon in all its cratered glory. Like its subject, the installation Moon is motionless, held firmly aloft over the nave floor by strong rods. It is we who must move around and beneath the sphere to fully engage with its mysterious beauty.
There were certain logistical concerns the cathedral staff needed to consider for hosting Museum of the Moon, such as the liabilities involved in hanging a large artwork in the nave, where there is existing artwork, light fixtures, and various architectural features. There was also the need to work out liturgical schedules so that the display would relate appropriately to the calendar during Holy Week, as the Very Rev. Michael Sniffen, 13th dean of the cathedral, pointed out.
“This display represents a nexus of humanity inclusive of the divine encounter,” Sniffen said. “It shows that the Christian life and spirituality are creative and imaginative, and that God is a creator in sacrament and story.”
Science has played a significant role in the creation of Museum of the Moon, but the cathedral’s community seeks to underscore its spiritual importance. The Moon has been a source of spiritual reflection and religious symbolism across all cultures and faiths, and it has been mentioned in several biblical narratives.
Reference to the Moon in Genesis, as the “lesser light” that rules the night, speaks to the importance God conferred upon this heavenly body at creation. As Bishop Lawrence C. Provenzano of Long Island explains, “The Moon stood in witness to the mighty acts of our God, it was a witness to the events of this week we call Holy, it is used to calculate exactly when to observe these liturgies, and is a reminder of our most basic calling to reflect the light, mercy, grace, and love of our God, as the moon reflects the light of the sun. It serves as an icon of truth over fallacy and accepted, conventional opinion.”
Frequently the subject of poetry, music, and visual art, the Moon has been a “cultural mirror” throughout human history. Holy Week is an appropriate time to understand the Moon as a “sacred mirror” that, as Dean Sniffen said, “opens a space for religious contemplation.”
“The Moon as Sacred Mirror program reflects our mission as Long Island’s center for prayer, learning, culture, and the arts, inviting all to engage with the intersection of faith and creativity,” Sniffen said.
After entering the cathedral and walking around it for several minutes, visitors sit on smooth wooden pews and quietly look at the softly lit and serene object suspended from the nave’s exquisite, vaulted ceiling, and the line between heaven and earth disappears. This is what a visit with the Moon feels like.
Pamela A. Lewis is a member of Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue, in New York City. She writes on topics of faith.
