Before and after artwork: Mary’s ‘new’ model of faith

By Macie Capote
Clarion Herald

After months of planning, Mount Carmel Academy revived its iconic Mary statue, which resides in the school’s grotto. For those who helped give it some much-needed TLC, the project was more than just a repair – it was an opportunity to leave a lasting legacy.

Thanks to the dedicated work of students, faculty and alumnae, the project has transformed the dilapidated statue of the Blessed Mother into a vibrant representation of faith and community.

Nicole Danos Dauterive, a 1993 alumna, was gardening in the grotto when she noticed the statue needed help and enlisted Kenny Landry, a local celebrity when it comes to restoring religious statues, to paint it.

Deep connection with the school

Landry, whose wife and daughters are Mount Carmel graduates and whose four granddaughters currently attend the school, made a Facebook post to community pages in March 2023 about the paint jobs he has done since retiring in 2019.

That post blew up, and since then, he’s painted more than 200 statues within the last year, including the Mary statue at St. Clement of Rome School in Metairie.

“I started getting calls, I still get calls – they don’t stop,” Landry said. “Just in December, I had almost 30 statues that people wanted finished before Christmas.”

Upon closer inspection

But, before he could paint Mount Carmel’s statue, there was clear – and upon further inspection – major damage to be repaired. 


Emile Casadaban, Mount Carmel’s facilities engineer, first noticed the statue’s poor condition during an episode of WMCA on Mount Carmel’s YouTube channel.

“That’s when it kind of smacked me in the face,” he said. “You could see the paint missing on her face and a big chunk taken out of her neck. I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, we need to do something.’”

Things happen for a reason, said Casadaban, who previously reached out to Landry about his own Mary statue needing work. 

“When we connected, that’s when I found out he had daughters who went to Mount Carmel and granddaughters who are here now,” Casadaban said. “After a few minutes of talking to him (Landry), he becomes your best friend. He’s such a nice guy.”

Upon getting to know each other and their connections to Mount Carmel, they both had a mutual understanding that the school’s statue needed to be restored. Casadaban agreed to help repair the statue.

Multiple cracks

But, when he went to relocate the statue to Landry’s house to be painted, he saw that the statue was not only cracked in half, it was cracked in multiple places and looked like it had concrete poured over it for a quick fix.

“Once I chipped away the concrete and saw all of the intricate details; you saw a beautiful statue,” Casadaban said, recalling the roses around Mary’s feet that had been covered in concrete. 

After almost 10 hours of chipping away concrete, restoring broken pieces and pressure washing the old paint away, it was finally time to paint it. 

Landry’s work consists mostly of painting Mary statues, but this one was special to him, so he said he was a bit nervous about the task.

“I had to keep talking to myself and saying, ‘You can do this. You can paint this statue,’” Landry said.
Once he was finished, Landry turned it over to Mount Carmel senior Kylie Diaz to paint the facial features.

“Before starting to paint on the face, Mr. Kenny showed me some of his other restorations for examples of eyes and eyebrows, and I did my best to both match the style of his previous projects and the unique face of this particular statue,” Diaz said.

Facial features

Diaz said Landry also mentioned to her that he attempted to paint blush on Mary’s face, but couldn’t get it to look quite right. Using experience from doing her makeup, Diaz said she placed the blush where it would look most natural, and in light layers, to ensure that it blended with the rest of the face. 

“Adding that final touch of blush, I think, made the statue much more lively. Overall, it was a wonderful experience getting to work with Mr. Kenny on this project and to give back to the Mount Carmel community that has shown me so much love over the last four years,” she said. “Not only did I get to leave a physical legacy at MCA, but I was also able to use my God-given talents to restore a statue of Mary, who is a wonderful role model of faith and love within our school community.”

Likewise, the statue turned out to be one of Landry’s prized possessions. The new and improved statue features metallic gold trimming and bright blue accents to Mary’s white dress and veil.

“I’ve painted close to 200 statues within the last year,” Landry said. “But this is the prettiest statue I’ve ever painted.”

Landry said he believes God has blessed him with the opportunity to touch so many hearts with the painting of these statues.

“You never could’ve told me I’d be painting statues in my retirement, but I feel like this was my calling; I’ve met so many wonderful people through this,” he said. “I think this is God’s way of letting me give back.”

The Mary statue, donated in 1930 in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel T. Gately, serves as a significant historical marker at Mount Carmel Academy. Now restored and returned to its place in the grotto, the statue represents the ongoing commitment of alumnae and community members to preserving the school’s traditions and values.

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