New Melleray Abbey

New Melleray Abbey is located in Peosta, Iowa twelve miles southwest of Dubuque in the rolling hills and farmlands. Trappist Caskets is a work of the monks creating handcrafted wooden caskets and urns as part of their sacred work.

The Trappist monks created a gift shop in their abbey and a visitors center within their manufacturing facility that needed to tell their story in a simple and understated manner, reflective of their lifestyle. Pear designed wall graphics for both spaces that explained how the caskets are made and explored a day in the life of the monks.
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Work
Gift Shop Signage
Visitor's Center Signage

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Gift Shop Signage

Pear was asked to create signage for the gift shop in New Melleray Abbey to tell the story of how the monks and local lay people create caskets.








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Trappist Caskets Visitor's Center

The Trappist monks created a visitor's center within their manufacturing facility. The large center with stark white walls needed to tell a story in a simple understated manner that reflected the monks' beliefs and lifestyle. Pear worked in concert with the monks and Trappist Caskets management to tell the story in a way that gave the monks a voice in their story.

"It has been a pleasure to work with Pear on a display room for our Trappist Casket business and pictoral history of our monastery. I can't tell you how many compliments we received on the design work. Everyone who enters the space marvels at the beauty of it. The people at Pear are extremely easy to work with and I felt at all times we were in competent, professional hands."
Fr. Brendan Freeman, Former Abbot, New Mellary Abbey