Guadalupe Maravilla to Fill St. John the Divine with 100 Works

Creative Time has commissioned Guadalupe Maravilla to build a major installation inside the Synod Hall of New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine, on view from December 16, 2026, to February 7, 2027.

The work, Consejos de las Estrellas, will gather 100 sculptures and textile works in the Morningside Heights cathedral. The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center presents the project in collaboration with Creative Time.

What will the installation include?

The commission will also bring Maravilla's traveling school bus–cum–artwork Mariposa Relámpago to the site. The artist transported the bus from Mexico to Boston for an exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, and has since driven it to Austin and Marfa, Texas.

Per a release, the installation is "conceived as a sanctuary space—a place for gathering, reflection and respite during a season that can be both celebratory and vulnerable."

During the run of the show, Maravilla will activate the commission with weekly sound baths, an essential component of his practice.

Why healing sits at the center of the project

Maravilla's work connects art and healing to his own biography. He fled El Salvador as an unaccompanied minor in the 1980s during the country's civil war, and later faced cancer as an adult — traumas he sees as linked.

"For my project with Creative Time, I'm creating a sculptural installation that will serve as a healing instrument and a place to find warmth and belonging when the holidays deepen the feeling of absence, whether from grief, illness, or separation from family because of immigration status or other circumstances," Maravilla said in a statement. "It's a place to come in from the cold, connect with others, and feel supported."

How did the institutions describe the commission?

Creative Time director Jean Cooney called the work "a beautiful and timely coalescence of Maravilla's practice, a choreography of his visual work across mediums, his profoundly moving work as a sound healer, and his deep commitment to community."

"Both in the way he approaches his work and moves through the world, Guadalupe Maravilla embodies a commitment to care and creates the conditions for healing as an offering to all," Cooney said.

Laura Bosley, the cathedral's executive director for programming, framed the commission within the institution's history. "For more than 130 years, our Cathedral has served as a house of worship, sanctuary, and center of intellectual light for all people," she said in a statement.

Bosley added that Consejos de las Estrellas "beautifully embodies that mission, creating space for meaningful conversation, reflection, and unity at an increasingly tumultuous moment in our country."

Will the cathedral host mutual aid?

St. John the Divine will also serve as a mutual aid site during the exhibition. Donations of food, clothing, and toys will be collected and redistributed through partnerships with local community organizations.

The commission extends Creative Time's model of mounting ambitious public art in nontraditional civic spaces, and positions Maravilla's practice — sculpture, sound, and community care together — at one of New York's largest religious venues during the holiday season.