would be told by non-members of the community and displayed for profit was "more than some religious leaders in the community could stand." They formed a committee to develop a Mennonite Information Center; the main agenda item at their first meeting was concern about the painting being purchased by someone who wanted to use it in a business venture. When Gaugel told the investors he would need five more years to complete the painting, they sued him for breach of contract, and in 1980, the unfinished painting was seized by the Holmes County Sheriff "for safekeeping." In early summer 1981 Gaugel's former studio was opened to the public as the Mennonite Information Center. The painting was returned to Gaugel later that year, but a lawsuit required he change its name and move it out of state. In 1984 the group of investors offered their share of the mural to the Center. In 1986 a lien against the painting caused the work to be seized again, this time in Pennsylvania. In 1988 the Mennonite Information Center finally signed a purchase agreement, but the board struggled to purchase land and build a facility. In 1989, a group of Mennonite business leaders succeeded in their offer to purchase the painting and build a display facility. In 1990 the facility opened with the mural on display while Gaugel continued his work on it. Description The cyclorama follows the development of the early Christian church, the acceptance of the Christian church by the Roman Empire under Constantine, and the early evolution of the Roman Catholic Church. It then moves to the Reformation and narrows its focus to 400-year history of the Radical Reformation and the Anabaptists. The remainder of the painting demonstrates how the Amish, Mennonite, and Hutterite movements grew, moved and developed from the Anabaptist beginning in 1525 in Zurich, Switzerland, their persecutions and their emigrations. It ends with the disappearance of Mennonite missionaries during the Vietnam War. The mural portrays over 1200 people, representing Amish, Mennonite, Hutterites, and other Anabaptist groups. In 2019 an estimated 18,000 to 20,000 people from many countries viewed it. The mural has a storyline progression; Gaugel intended that each scene would be "...the light source for the next" so that light radiates from one scene to another emphasizing the relationship between and among them. The installation is octagonal, but the painting curves so that there are no visible