Seekonk, Massachusetts: Lifted Up Cross and Hands Sculpture

Big, fat hands made of heavily-laquered wood seem to jut out of the parking lot next to the Christian Assembly church.

Christian Assembly

Address:: 1494 Fall River Ave., Seekonk, MA
Directions:: Hwy 195 exit 1. Drive south, go to stoplight on Hwy 6 and turn left. Drive east for less than two miles through four more lights. Christian Assembly is on your left just past a Getty station.
Phone:: 508-336-4023

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Wooden Hands.

Large Wooden Hands

Along Route 6 in Seekonk, Massachusetts the Christian Assembly is located. The front of the building which faces Route 6 bears large heavily lacquered wooden hands with a cross. A year ago or beyond, the tips of the hands were covered for months, most likely in an effort to prevent further weather damage, as the lacquer around the tips of the fingers appears today to have been reapplied.

[Cheryl Bernat, 02/25/2006]

We debated the merits of these shiny praying hands. The sculpture lacks several attributes we look for to garner roadside detour points: 1) the hands are not particularly icky-veiny in the style of other large praying hands; 2) they aren't angled to cup visitors seeking photo op mementoes; and finally, 3) they're too relaxed looking to create the illusion of a person trapped under the parking lot.

Lifted UP hands sculpture.

Lifted Up Cross and Hands Sculpture

When traveling along Route 195 east towards Cape Cod from Providence, RI, those of you with an interest in objects of Faith might want to detour onto Route 6 East. Along Route 6 in front of a church you will find what is believed to be the largest set of wooden praying hands in the US.

"Lifted Up" as the sculpture is titled, is two 8 foot, 3 inch tall hands that stand before a 21-ft. tall, six-sided cross. The hands are intended to give the idea they are lifting up the cross. The cross has a 14 ft. wing span. The hands are fashioned of south American Mahagony and are relatively solid, as their 1,600 pounds per hand weight can atest. At the palm each hand is five feet wide and three feet thick.

Built by the sculptor- Art fabricator Richmond Watrous, owner of "Trees of Life Art Fabrication Company" between 1998 and 2001. They were installed in October of 2001.

[Richmond Watrous, 10/27/2004]