The 8 Month Process
Conception
The idea for the First Millennial Saint Began midsummer 2024. Johnny selected a slab of wood on June 29th.
Work Begins
Johnny acquires help from the Flynn and Shriver family to cut and sand the slab to 3x4 feet.
Priming
Once wood is smooth, Johnny primes the wood.
Editing & Drawing
Johnny uses the cutout feature of photoshop to create a 3 colored version of the iconic photograph of Carlo in his red polo with a backpack, then Johnny draws this on the wood using a pencil..
Painting
3 layers of acrylic painting begins because the wood is so porous! Let the Holy Spirit fall thick over our souls!
Background
Johnny covers Carlo's face and uses liquid cement to adhere the fine grass fibers to the background creating soccer pitch.
Circumnavigation Break
Work pauses while Johnny sails around the world on Semester at Sea. He keeps a singular army figure in his pocket, remembering the work he will finish when he returns home. Johnny visits the African island of Mauritius, where Carlo's nanny Rajesh is from: Rajesh said, “Carlo communicated to me and electrified me with his faith, his charity, and his purity.” Rajesh converted from Hinduism.
Painting Figures
Johnny acquired thousands of miniature army men from the greater Saint Paul, MN area. He told the sellers he was going to give them a new mission! Once he had an army of over 1,000, he began to use a combination of spray paint and handpainting to get into the nook and crannies. Each figure was divided into groups so Johnny knew which figure received which new coat.
Staging
This stage is roughly the second longest due to the meticulous attention to detail and coordination of the precise placement for each and every figure. No glue was added so one wrong move and dozens of figures fall down. Soon enough the desired arrangement is achieved and gluing can commence.
Gluing (1/2)
By far the longest and stickiest stage, gluing. One by one Johnny lifted the pieces and glued them using E6000. There are a total of 53 Hail Mary's in the Rosary. Johnny prayed just shy of 21 roasires to complete The First Millennial Saint.
Transport (1/3): Saint Paul, MN -> Salt Lake City, UT
With the help of the Smith family, Johnny secured Carlo in a wooden box and drove the almost complete piece to SEEK25 from Saint Paul, to Salt Lake City in a 15 passenger van. For many hours of the journey, Carlo's box was used as a bed. This was not the first (or last) time Carlo helped people sleep better at night!
Transport (2/3): Salt Lake City, UT -> Phoenix, AZ
After the SEEK25 conference, Johnny rented a small Mazda SUV which was the exact fit the crate. Hard to tell from the photo but it fit by just 1 centimeter on either side! Phew! This was the last rental car they had from UT to AZ! Time to finish Carlo down in the valley!
Dance Party!
Carlo arrives safely at the Vrba residence in Phoenix, Arizona! Johnny and his mom moon walk to Forest Frank and celebrate Carlo's journey across the United States!
Unboxing (1/2): Phoenix
Johnny and his father, Big John, carefully take out Carlo from his box and create a new space to work. This gives Johnny a huge rush of adrenaline for what it will feel like to finally unbox Carlo in Rome in a few months!
Gluing (2/2)
Johnny and his oldest cousin and confirmation sponsor, Nick, work together to finish the arduous gluing process. Johnny's back was bent like an old lady for many hours.
Finishing Touches
Johnny gloves up to touch up any imperfections on all figures throughout the mosaic. This stage gives Johnny much needed time to reflect on his work and continue to be persistent with Mrs. Acutis's team.
Framing
This stage was brought to you by The Sheston family, Johnny's nextdoor neighbors! Shoutout to Paul for helping us cut and nail the frame! The sound of the nailgun jolted Johnny as the frame was shot into place a few dozen times.
Okay, actually finishing touches
Johnny spends the final minutes on the piece patching up the frame with putty and painting it over. Many tears were shed as The First Millennial Saint approaches it's completion. When the piece is finished, Johnny sprinted up the mountain behind his house and begged the Lord to help him get it to Mrs. Acutis.
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Private Viewings
Johnny took carlo on a few small missions to his friends beautiful homes to see how the piece looked in a real life setting, to see if it was worthy of being gifted to Mrs. Acutis. Needless to say, Johnny and his friends were very happy with the result.
The Crate
Thank you so much to Sacred Heart Art Gallery, The Pabst Family, and Phx Art Care for donating the heat treated wooden crate that will take Carlo across the Atlantic! The crate was a perfect fit! This was no coincidence!
See You In Italy!
NEXT STOP, ROMA! Johnny say's see ya later to his friend Carlo. Johnny was also made aacutley aware that this may verywell by the last time he ever sees his piece again as uncertainly with international shipping, customs, and non-business mailing label. Johnny was warned by multiple professionals to keep the piece in the USA but Johnny took the risk...and sent it.
Papal Funeral
"We came for a canonization but received a funeral." The Lord calls His own at His own time. Johnny, Alli, and Tatum are interviewed multiple times while waiting more than 3 hours for the Mass to begin.
Drill Aquired
Thank you to John and Ashley Noronha for the incredible hospitality and the drill! Johnny tried for days to find a drill in Rome, he couldn't find one...isn't that screwed up. ;)
The Big Reveal In Rome!
After keeping this project a secret from Alli for 1 year, Johnny finally unboxes Carlo and the piece is seen for the first time in Italy! Thank you to Thanos who helped store the massive crate until my arrival! What a beautiful relief it was to discover that all of the figures were unharmed during the transatlantic crossing!
On The Phone With Mrs. Acutis
Johnny and the squad arrived early on April 28th to the Friends of Carlo house in Assisi. Thanks to our driver Christian, we were able to locate Flavio who called Antonia to confirm that she was in Milan and that it was not possible for us meet her. Our new plan was to take the piece to the church where Carlo is buried and arrange a meeting with the Bishop of Assisi.
Assisi First Impressions
When the van pulled up to the Santa Maria Maggiore Church where Carlo was buried dozens of pilgrims came over to take photos and learn about the piece. The team passed out QR codes that linked to this website for people to learn more! Through Google Translate we were able to find Fr. Marco Gaballo who called bishop on the spot and confirmed we had a meeting after 6pm Mass!
Carlo's Mini Assisi Pilgrimage (1/2)
Johnny and Ryan Keller begin to carry the 45 lb piece through the streets of Assisi to the main piazza for public viewing. We stopped a handful of times to share with people, Johnny was especially intentional about sharing with children.
Carlo's Mini Assisi Pilgrimage (2/2)
Carlo just barely fit through the narrow alleys of Assisi! Phew, that was a close call!
Carlo Then & Now
We took Carlo to the exact same place where Carlo stood when he visited Assisi on his pilgrimage.
Public Viewing
While the team ate lunch, Johnny engaged with pilgrims from Mexico to India who were inspired by the piece!
FOCUS Founder
Even Curtis Martin, the founder of FOCUS, gravitated towards the piece.
Bl. Carlo Acutis Parish
Right after 6pm Mass in the church where Carlo is buried, we ran into a large group of parishioners from the only catholic church that is named after Bl. Carlo Acutis in Illinois. They were the most excited out of the hundreds of people we had met throughout the day!
Meeting Bishop Sorrentino
Meeting Bishop Sorrentino was such a blessing. Johnny slowly explained a few of the aspects and handed him an italian version of the artworks description. Bishop reminded us that the most important thing for us to do is pray, so he led us in prayer and gave us a blessing. Bishop declined accepting the piece, but said he would call in the future when the gallery space is made available.
Carlo at the Pantheon!
After a very tired drive all the way back down to Rome, Johnny leave the piece in the van and Christian takes it to John at the Pantheon!
Carlo, The Best Dinner Guest
John holds up the piece at a dinner event next to the Pantheon and shares the piece's remarkable story of persistence and resilience.
Whats Next!
The First Millennial Saint will be on display at the Centro Internazionale Giovanile San Lorenzo (CSL)!