There's a special kind of church in Uptown right now that has a congregation of just one.  "It's become a church space for me, yes it has," Mark Balma said. "It definitely feels like that now." Balma has created a church-like space for himself in Uptown, where he has rented a studio to work on his paintings. He spends hours there each day, bringing to life three women of faith.

Except, his portraits aren't simple portraits. They are 20 feet tall. "I was working in Assisi, where I have my studio, and the parish priest from the city of Terni, where the church is located, sought me out because of the work I had done in Assisi, Italy years prior," Balma said. "And their church was completing their restoration process, and they had these huge empty spaces."