Nonprofit group hopes to restore artist Howard Finster's chapel

SUMMERVILLE - A nonprofit group is hoping to raise two million dollars to restore the deteriorating Garden Chapel at Paradise Gardens, the artistic creation of the late Reverend Howard Finster. <br> <br> About five-thousand dollars is needed immediately for a quick fix on the property in the northwest Georgia mountains, according to Finster&#39;s youngest daughter, Beverly Finster, who runs the nonprofit Paradise Gardens Park and Museum. <br> <br> But the organization&#39;s 16-person board has a long-term plan to restore the Garden Chapel, originally known as the Church of World Folk Art. The price tag will be about two million dollars. <br> <br> Beverly Finster told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, ``We want to make it a living history museum of Howard Finster and his collections.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Profits from this weekend&#39;s 17th annual Finster Fest will be used to stabilize the upper level of the chapel, a 16-sided structure that was built by Finster in the 1980s out of scrap material. <br> <br> His daughter said that although popular, Finster was not wealthy when he died in October. In 1994, he began selling off major pieces, many of which are now in the permanent collection of the High Museum in Atlanta, to make money. <br> <br> She said, ``People think Howard was rich. The dealers who bought the works for 300 dollars and sell them for $20,000 are the ones who are rich. But that&#39;s their business, and I&#39;m not saying anything against it. <br> <br> A preacher and bicycle repairman, Finster began the garden in 1961, turning the swampy property into what he called ``a museum of the inventions of mankind.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> He continually added to the garden, building pathways and buildings, along with his own sculptures and paintings. <br> <br> The garden operates on less than $20,000 annually, which barely covers maintenance.