Immaculate Conception 

Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church, located in Astoria, Queens, was constructed in 1951 to accommodate the area’s rapidly expanding Catholic population. The church was designed by prominent ecclesiastical architect Henry J. McGill, whose work contributed significantly to mid-20th-century American Catholic architecture. Notably, the church also serves as the founding post and designated national shrine of the Catholic War Veterans, an organization established in 1935 by Monsignor Edward J. Higgins, a former U.S. Army chaplain during World War I. The organization received a Congressional Charter in 1984 under President Ronald Reagan and remains active today as one of the oldest veterans’ service organizations in the United States.

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Architecturally, the church is distinguished by its unique interpretation of the Art Deco Moderne and Mid-Century Modern style, a rare approach within ecclesiastical architecture. Key design features include a ceiling composed of alternating arches and decorative brickwork in the nave. Of particular note are the stained glass windows, which combine traditional religious iconography, such as the Annunciation and the Nativity, with patriotic and political themes, including imagery promoting faith, American democratic ideals, and anti-communist sentiment characteristic of the post-World War II era.

As part of an interior enhancement initiative, the ecclesiastical design studio MPSB enlisted the services of SL Design to develop a comprehensive decorative program. This project involved creating design treatments for the nave, sanctuary, and seven devotional shrines, as well as for the spaces beneath the arches and the area behind the existing corpus. The proposed designs were conceived to align with and complement the church’s modernist architectural vocabulary, ensuring a cohesive and contextually appropriate visual language throughout the sacred space.