“The Strange Artistic Genius of This People”: The Ephemeral Art and Impermanent Architecture of Italian Immigrant Catholic Feste

abstract: During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Italian working-class immigrants in the United States staged religious feste (street feasts) in honor of the Madonna and other Catholic saints to express their beliefs in a socially acceptable, aesthetically pleasing, and recognizable manner. Impermanent edifices and other ephemeral constructions were integral parts of these cultural-religious extravaganzas. Hanging decorative illuminations, elaborate sidewalk altars, freestanding multistoried chapels, and various ambulatory structures were architectural wonders that boldly transformed, sacralized, and claimed American urban landscapes. A vernacular baroque aesthetic permeated the occupation and sacralization of the streets that engendered hallowed and convivial topographies that would have lasting ramifications for how people imagined their lives and neighborhoods. This article examines how these transient objects of devotion, predominantly in East Coast cities, enacted and proclaimed a diasporic community of believers that challenged hegemonic notions of artistry, religion, the built environment, and the public sphere. Ephemeral festival architecture captivated the attention of outsiders, including photographers, journalists, and visual artists, who depicted them in words and imagery. The article also contextualizes this source material as part of the Progressive era’s xenophobic climate and, in particular, the picturesque gaze that racialized and othered Italian immigrants.