The story of Croatian peasants who came to America to work in the country's mines and mills is told on the walls of St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church in Millvale. It's a story filled with anguish and hope, and it was painted by Croation artist Maxo Vanka in two sessions. Vanka painted his first set of murals in the spring of 1937, and returned to paint another series in the summer of 1941. The brutalities of war and poverty are reflected in many murals, yet even in these images the careful observer can find small flowers painted into the landscape.