Mark Rothko is the centerpiece of my altar - his calming paintings blew me away when I saw them at his retrospective in DC years ago. The scale of the works - the progression of his palette from light to dark as he progressed into his depression was hauntingly beautiful. One of these days I really want to see the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas. The Rothko Chapel, founded by Houston philanthropists John and Dominique de Menil, was dedicated in 1971 as an intimate sanctuary available to people of every belief. A tranquil meditative environment inspired by the mural canvases of Russian born American painter Mark Rothko (1903-1970), the Chapel welcomes over 60,000 visitors each year, people of every faith and from all parts of the world. On the plaza, Barnett Newman's majestic sculpture, Broken Obelisk, stands in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.