Geneva artist gifts mosaic to the Blessed Carlo Acutis Parish in Chicago

On Wednesday, July 23, Blessed Carlo Acutis Parish in Chicago will host missionary and artist Johnny Vrba, of Geneva, Ill., for the unveiling of a large image composed of 1,000 pieces of toy figures in the image of Blessed Carlo Acutis from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at St. Hedwig Church, 2226 N. Hoyne Ave. in Chicago.

Pope Leo XIV announced that the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis will take place on Sept. 7, 2025.

Vrba will offer a talk about the mosaic and gift Blessed Carlo Acutis Parish with the 3-foot by 4-foot image. Vrba, who also presented a similar piece of artwork in Assisi and Rome, will speak in Rome about his artwork in late July at the new Carlo Acutis Center.

“The First Millennial Saint” mosaic was created in a meticulous process from a thousand individual fragments. Vrba created a three-colored version of the iconic photograph of Acutis in his red polo with a backpack and drew this on the wood and then used layers of acrylic paint to cover the porous wood.

Vrba used liquid cement to adhere thousands of miniature army figures and used a combination of spray paint and hand painting to create the image. Each figure was divided into groups for precise placement. One by one, Vrba glued the pieces to the wood.

In addition to biblical references and various moments in Acutis’s life, Vrba included figures of Acutis’s four dogs and two cats; two soccer balls as a nod to Acutis’s love for the game; various Pokémon are scattered around the piece, one of his favorite video games; a green motherboard represents Acutis’s love for computers and his knowledge of coding and technology; and references to Acutis’s two miracles.

More information about the mosaic can be found at carloacutisart.com.