In the season after Pentecost each year, a stunning quilted banner is displayed on the reredos.

First displayed at Saint Mark’s in 2017, this striking banner depicts the symbols of the four evangelists (the Four Living Creatures from the book of Ezekiel). It was made in the 1980s by Northwest textile artist and sculptor Margaret Hays.

Margaret Hays was born into a  family of women artists in 1931. She received her MFA in 1975 from the University of Washington. Her passion was sculpting with fabric and liturgical art was her primary subject, with an emphasis on mother and child. Throughout her career as an artist, she contributed much to churches across the Diocese of Olympia. She was a member of St. John’s, Snohomish. She died peacefully in 2016 at the age of 85.

The evangelists banner was displayed for many years at St. Hilda-St. Patrick Episcopal Church in Edmonds, WA, but was ultimately given to the Diocesan Altar Guild. The Altar Guild gifted this banner to Saint Mark’s Cathedral in 2017. It was repaired and restored in 2017 by Saint Mark’s members Sandra Piscitello and Jo Ann Bailey, and Diocesan Altar Guild chair Sherry Garman, and has been displayed every year in this season since then.

UPDATE: After this post was initially published, the daughters of the artist reached out to the cathedral, and were able to schedule a visit together, during which they viewed the work and conferred with the altar guild members who care for it. See photographs of their visit below.

Click the images to enlarge.