'That's how I see Jesus'

Artist’s work captures the honor of people who serve and give their lives for others

In creating the bronzed figure of Christ on the cross at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Indianapolis, firefighter and sculptor Ryan Feeney wanted to depict Jesus as a symbol of strength. (Photo by John Shaughnessy) Click for a larger version.

By John Shaughnessy

Emotions once again grip Ryan Feeney as he looks up at the huge, bronze figure of Jesus that he created for the cross that hangs high above the altar at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Indianapolis.

“I didn’t see him as a defeated Christ,” Feeney says, his voice a blend of pride, humility and reverence. “Some people said he looks like a body builder, but I wanted him to be powerful. He’s not a frail, defeated Christ, but a strong, powerful figure. That’s how I see Jesus.”

That sense of respect and emotion also inspires some of the other creations that the Indianapolis firefighter and 1992 graduate of Cathedral High School in Indianapolis has made in recent years.

His sculptures include the “Fallen Deputy” monument in Indianapolis that honors the Marion County Sheriff’s Department deputies who have died in the line of duty.

There is also the bronzed eagle he created that adorns the top of the 9/11 monument in Indianapolis that pays tribute to all the people who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists attacks in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

And now Feeney has been enlisted by the local chapter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians to help create a monument to Holy Cross Father Peter Cooney, a chaplain who served Indiana’s troops during the Civil War.

“The idea that he has such a legacy of work at such a young age is amazing,” says Kevin Murray, co-chairperson of the committee that hopes to make the Father Cooney monument a reality. “They’re so life-like, and yet they are so different. The one I’m most familiar with is the Fallen Deputy monument. It attracts people like you wouldn’t believe.”

Murray sees a common theme when he looks at Feeney’s artworks. Most of them focus on people who have served others and were willing to sacrifice their lives for the good of others.

“There’s the Christ-like attitude of Father Cooney, the Christ-like attitudes of the firefighters who died on 9/11, the Christ-like attitudes of the deputies who have died,” Murray says. “It’s the sacrifice that connects them.”

While that quality influences his work as an artist, Feeney also strives to live that attitude as a firefighter.

“I’ve always been brought up to know that it’s not about me,” says Feeney, who grew up in Our Lady of Lourdes Parish and later St. Pius X Parish, both in Indianapolis. “I try to help out anybody I can. If my life can be lived so I can impact and save someone else’s life, that’s what I’ll do.”

He knew that was the mindset of the firefighters, police officers and other safety personnel in New York who rushed into the World Trade Center on that fateful day. So when he created the bronze eagle that is part of the 9/11 memorial in Indianapolis, he wanted to honor that approach to life.

“The eagle faces east toward New York, like it’s ready to take off,” Feeney says. “I wanted to do it that way so no one would forget. To put the eagle on top was to remind people we will always be there.”

The 37-year-old father of three has faced his own close calls as a firefighter while working on Ladder Truck 13 for the Indianapolis Fire Department.

“We were on the roof during a house fire,” he recalls. “It was rainy and dark, and I was putting on my mask as we were cutting a hole in the roof so the smoke and fire could get out. As we were cutting, I noticed a light coming around the corner. The fire blew out of the hole.

“We had to get off the roof right away. I got to the end of the roof, my mask was dirty and I couldn’t see. But we had to go. I caught the ladder with the edge of my foot and climbed down. When I was on the ground, I looked at what I would have fallen on. There was a spiked iron fence and an air conditioning unit.”

Then there are the moments when he’s worked with emergency medical service technicians to give CPR to people who have gone into cardiac arrest.

Feeney’s faith helps in those moments.

“With my training, I know what I’m doing, and I feel God will watch over me and protect me,” he says. “Before I go to bed, I pray for my wife and my family.”

His faith also guides him as an artist.

“In sculpture and art, I really get into it,” says Feeney, a 1996 graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, who majored in graphic design and sculpture. “People have told me I have a God-given talent. I think that’s both a trust and a blessing.”

He especially feels grateful to be both an artist and a firefighter.

“I’m blessed to have two jobs I love,” he says. “As a kid, I watched the fire truck going by with the firefighters hanging off the truck, and that’s just what I wanted to do. I also did my first oil painting when I was 8. I’d do paintings down in my basement while my friends were playing flashlight tag. They were both my dreams, and now they’re realities.

“It’s faith. I absolutely live life by faith.” †

 

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