Artist lends out his 'Last Supper' where people eat Religious carving makes rounds of restaurants Sunday, February 23, 2003 BY BARBARA MILLER Of Our Palmyra Bureau If you're eating in an area restaurant, you may find yourself looking at a Palmyra man's vision of "The Last Supper." Kurt Moessner, well-known for his sign-carving business, is displaying his stylized relief carving adapted from Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" in local eateries. "I would like to put it in all the restaurants in Pennsylvania as a way of evangelizing, in a quiet way," Moessner said. The carving's first stop was Funck's Restaurant in Palmyra, where it was on display for more than a week until yesterday. Today, "The Last Supper" is headed to Grace Evangelical Congregational Church, 4501 Franklin St., Swatara Twp., Dauphin County. Starting tomorrow, it will hang in the Country Fare Restaurant in Palmyra for two weeks. "It's definitely a great attraction," said Lenny Speck, assistant manager of Funck's. "People stop and look. It's definitely an eye-catcher." The 3-by-6-foot carving includes 2,000 colors, Moessner said. He began working on it in March 2002 and figures he invested about 1,500 hours. He finished it a few weeks ago. "I've gotten more spiritual uplift from this one carving than all signs I did in my life," Moessner said. He made a few changes from da Vinci's original. He put beards on all the apostles and changed the color of their clothing, but kept their poses. He put tile and a rug on the floor and created a more open and light-filled background, with a cathedral ceiling and windows that open to a cloud-filled sky. Even the gilded frame is part of the carving. Moessner said he approached the owners of Funck's Restaurant first, because he knew they are Christians and thought they would be receptive to the idea of displaying it. "People need uplifting -- there is too much negativity in the world," he said. Moessner said he used 30 different types of chisels to carve the painting out of high-density urethane, which is about the same hardness as western red cedar. Unlike wood, it will never crack, he said. Faces and hands were the most difficult to carve, Moessner said, adding that he had to use magnification glasses to get everything right. When he couldn't get a hand to look the way he wanted it, he had his wife photograph his hand in the same position, then used it as a model. Moessner tried to duplicate the sheen of the original painting. Eyes are painted with 15 coats of high-gloss clear coating, while the hair has a satin finish. The tablecloth has a flat coat of paint, and the plates have a satin finish to simulate the look of pewter. Despite all the work he put in the project, Moessner said he's ready for more. Moessner said he believes his talent is "a blessing from God. I never went to school for this," he said. "Every single human has a gift, and I have the gift of fine art." Moessner's carved signs can be seen across central Pennsylvania -- many of them at churches. He has created signs for St. Joan of Arc Church in Hershey St. Paul the Apostle in Annville St. Cecilia's in Lebanon United Church of Christ and Grace United Methodist churches in Hummelstown Tender Years day care center in Hershey and Rhoads Pharmacy in Hummelstown, to name a few. He also created a carving of the head of Christ, which is displayed in his church, First Evangelical Congregational Church in Palmyra, which is where "The Last Supper" will be for Easter. "I couldn't have done it without God," Moessner said. Moessner said he won't sell his original "Last Supper" carving, but he is accepting commissions for Christian work and may be contacted at 832-0532.​.

Kurt appears to be changing a light bulb. In fact, he is working on a mural on the side of Holland's Paint Store on Carrboro's Main Street in North Carolina. The realistic painting is a mirror image of the store's actual front.Kurt Moessner, a native of New Jersey, has been a sign artist for over 20 years. He went to art school in NJ to further his artistic gift. He has done air brushing, hand carving, gold leaf guilding, hand lettering, and murals. You can see his work all over the United States AND NOW IN JAPAN!!!.

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Kurt was interviewed by Tom Burlington of WHTM TV channel 27 news!!!!!He appeared on the "Made in PA" segment on 3/31/99 and 4/1/99. Some of the quotes on the segment include "The

.Man They Call The Sign Carver" and "His gallery is all around us."

New store to have artistic touch Local artist Kurt Moessner has produced a carved wooden sign for the new Rite Aid store, one of a limited number used by the chain. A Palmyra resident, Moessner, who also designed signs for dentist Richard Walters and St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, said, "I put a tremendous amount of work into the sign." He said the sign for the hershey store has "Rite Aid" carved in positive letters , while many of his previous signs use negatively carved letters. This sign, which is 16-feet long, will have about 20 pounds of paint applied when finished, according to Moessner. Moessner completed two carved wood Rite Aid signs this winter, the other for the Pottstown store. He since has been contracted for more Rite Aid signs. The sign for the Hershey store is ready, and he expects Rite Aid officials to place the sign in front of the new store in the near future. Moessner is not the only artist involved in the project, as Rite Aid has another project in the works with artist Bruce Johnson. Johnson is to paint murals on the front and rear of the building, in special areas incorporated into the architecture. One will show some of the things that make Hershey famous, and the other will include the things Milton Hershey brought to the town, according to Rite Aid spokesperson Allison Costello.

Artistic Sign Erected at Church--A fine art sculptured sign for St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church made an appearance this month along West Chocolate Avenue in Hershey, PA. Kurt S. Moessner, a sign carver from Palmyra, spent 200 hours carving sculptures of St. Joan and of the Virgin Mary out of Honduras mahogany to place on the sign, which is a glued panel of wood. St. Joan faces Palmyra, PA while the Virgin Mary faces Harrisburg, PA. Eleven months ago, Moessner decided to donate the $6,500 sign to his church in exchange for payment of materials. Using woodcarver's tools and a Dremel electric tool, he was able to carve the little fingers and facial details in detail. "It's unbelievable haw much time it took to do a 20-inch statue,"he said. Each sculpture was finished with latex acrylic paint to blend colors on the faces before the paint dried--and oils would have faded in a year, he said. Accents we done in platinum and gold leaf.