SALT summer, 2007 - Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Summer 2007 • A Publication of the Sisters of Charity, BVM
Artists
Create, Nuture Timeless Beauty
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Summer Two Thousand Seven
Volume 35, Number 4
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SALT is a quarterly magazine published for
friends of the Sisters of Charity, BVM.
Editor: Mira Mosle, BVM
Design Editor: Angie J. Connolly
Communication Advisory Committee:
Jeanne Harrington, Associate; Mary Martens, BVM; Sara McAlpin, BVM; Margaret A.
McGinn, BVM; Joan Newhart, BVM; Mary
Jeanne Stopper, BVM; Betty Voss, BVM
by BVMs Joellen McCarthy, Peggy Nolan
and Mary Ann Zollmann
4 Experiencing the Arts Vital
for Individual and Culture
by Joan Lingen, BVM
6 Art Becomes a Way of Life
for BVM Educator
by Mary Clare Sweeney, BVM
8 ‘Margaret of Winona’:
Artist, Sculptor, Professor
by Jean Byrne, BVM
Subscriptions: $7.50 per year, write: SALT,
1100 Carmel Drive, Dubuque, Iowa 520037991, ph. (563) 588-2351, or email: rbechen@
bvmcong.org
10 Artists Create, Flourish
at Clarke College
2007 Calendar
13 For BVM Eustella Fau, Early
Talent Blooms Late in Life
July
28 BVM Golden Jubilee Celebration,
Clarke College, Dubuque
August
25-26 Celebration of BVMs in Montana
for 100 Years, Butte and Missoula
September
8 Diamond Jubilee Celebration,
Mount Carmel
by Pat Nolan, BVM
by Mary A. Healey, BVM
14 Abstracts, Oils, Sculptures...
a Striking Legacy
by Jean Byrne, BVM
16
BVM Mentor, Scholarship Aid
Journey of an Artistic Spirit
by Anne Buckley, BVM
Internet Address: www.bvmcong.org
Email Address: [email protected]
17 SALT Briefs
Member of Catholic Press Association
Correction
In the Spring issue article “BVM Scholarships Enable Education for Women
with Few Financial Resources,” pp. 1617, the photo identified as Georgina and
Dorothy Roy is incorrect. On the left is
Sr. Patricia Mulkey, not Georgina Roy.
We regret the error.
—Ed.
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E
Artists Create, Nurture Timeless Beauty
3 Seasoning
Mission Statement: As Sisters of Charity
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we are called
to participate in the mission of Jesus. Our
choice of ministry is in keeping with our
BVM mission: being freed and helping others
enjoy freedom in God’s steadfast love. BVM
Constitutions, No. 10
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18 Wright Hall Stations of
the Cross are Mosaic Gems
by Sara McAlpin, BVM
20 BVM Professes Perpetual Vows
On the cover: Helen Kerrigan, BVM (Paulita) works
on a painting in her Clarke College studio. See pp. 10-12.
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SEASONing
Dear SALT Readers,
This issue of SALT arrives with the
summer solstice when our western
hemisphere and we in it lean into the
luxury of a season of leisure. With its
longer days and invitation to vacation,
summer provides space for us to hear
the greeting of beauty in the wonders
of nature, the presence of family and
friends, the silence of solitude, or the
creativity of a good book.
As you open the season of summer and this issue of SALT, you will be
greeted by beauty manifest in one of
its most ancient and enduring forms:
the visual arts. Through the stories of
a sampling of BVM artists and those
who have been influenced by their art,
beauty makes its appearance in delightful and inspiring ways.
Beauty arrives, ever new and fresh,
in expressions shaped by historical
time, geographical place and social
circumstances. As the history of art
guides us through the centuries, we
glimpse the human spirit in all its
diversity; appreciate the gift of each
society, culture and historical time;
and are inspired to make our own
unique contribution to this unfolding creative process.
Beauty connects us to one another
across generations and even into
eternity. As teachers encourage
students to engage with art, art
awakens students to gifts they
never knew they had, and those
students go on to mentor others.
As the artist shares what she loves,
inspiration awakens inspiration in a
stream of generativity. We pause to
claim what we love and commit to
passing it on.
Beauty finds its source in uncommon courage. As artists testify, doing art is countercultural in times
when value is measured by productivity, income and a plethora
of good and ready words. Resisting
the pressure of pragmatism, the
artist carves out unconventional
space, solitude and silence to sink
beneath the superficial and release
a vision. Standing before the “useless beauty” of painting, pottery or
sculpture, we are drawn into what
is truly worthwhile.
Beauty liberates. Art evokes our
deepest self and, at the same time,
calls us to pay attention to the importance of our ordinary, every day
world. In the presence of art, we
reach inward and outward at once.
Soul and body, spirit and world find
their true whole and holy form. Art
restores our integrity and liberates
us to be artists of healing in our life
and world.
To hear the greeting of beauty is to
be transformed. Contemporary theologian Susan Ross highlights beauty’s
power in this way:
There is an intrinsic generosity
that is characteristic of beauty.
Real beauty does not exclude;
rather, it invites. Real beauty does
not “count up,” but rather flings
its gifts to anyone who asks. Real
beauty invites exploration and
depth. Beauty is always ready to
give more. The ability to appreciate beauty comes from a generous heart; indeed, beauty itself
enlarges the heart (For the Beauty
of the Earth, New York, Paulist
Press, 2006).
The season of summer with its
greeting of beauty comes just at the
right time for us and for our world so
in need of generous expansion of heart.
In the spirit of this summer SALT, may
we hear and respond to the greeting of
beauty in nature, friends and family,
solitude in a favorite place, time with a
good book, a concert in the park, a walk
through an art museum, or…. In the
words of the medieval poet Rumi,
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and
kiss the ground.
Chicago Diocese Honors BVMs
The BVM congregation was among those honored by Francis Cardinal
George of Chicago as one of the communities who have been in the Archdiocese for more than 100 years, and “whose long historical presence has
helped to build up the Church.” BVM President Joellen McCarthy accepted the recognition for the congregation; the Vespers Service honoring all
religious was held at Holy Name Cathedral.
SUMMER TWO THOUSAND SEVEN
3
“Art is something that human
beings do in a great many ways,
for a great many reasons…” (Hatcher)
Experiencing the Arts
Vital for Individual & Culture
by Joan Lingen, BVM
What could be a more universal aspect of humanity than experiencing the arts? Anthropologists
tend to agree that there are no known cultures that
have not produced some form of art.
Such a concept becomes even more intriguing
when we know that many cultures have no separate
word for “art.” Rather, it is commonly an integral part
of religious, social and political life. These same cultures have created aesthetically pleasing, highly decorated objects which serve multiple functions.
Besides creating beauty, art can express ritual or
reinforce beliefs and values. It can record history, memorialize, express power, mark identity, teach or communicate, serve as propaganda, protest injustice and
raise social consciousness.
The earliest evidence of human artistic expression
is a form of ritual behavior found in the European cave
paintings dating at least 15,000 years BC. Deep within
cave recesses, inaccessible to light, are hundreds of animal images related to hunting and probably to fertility
magic. Perpetuation of the species was of primary concern and hunting animals for food was one way to assure that. So the creation of the paintings likely served
as a symbolic means of capturing the animals.
Communal Purpose
Unlike the familiar art we
know, the art of most nonwestern cultures is supported
by the society rather than
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being a purely personal concern. Art functions as a
way to hold the society together often by acknowledging the ancestors. What is produced connects with cultural values and beliefs.
For the Navajo, sand painting rituals which include
prayer and song are valued for their creation but not
for their preservation. They are used as a means of
communing with the spirit world. Once created, the
painting has served its purpose; it no longer has a significant value and is destroyed.
In traditional African societies, masks have important ritual functions. They possess extraordinary powers that transform the wearers and give new identities;
the wearers become the natural or supernatural beings
embodied in the masks. Such transformations allow
communication with the spirit world.
As part of elaborate fiber or cloth costumes—almost always connected with music and dance—masks
are seen in motion, as part of culturally significant
rituals. A mask displayed today on the wall of a museum is devoid of its intended meaning but is considered a work of art.
Religious Significance
Humans have shaped space for ritual purposes for
thousands of years. From the building of Stonehenge to
the Mayan temples to the great cathedrals of
Europe, culturally specific rituals have patterned architectural constructions. The
circles at Stonehenge likely
relate to solstices of the
sun and moon. Whatever its religious significance may have
been, its role as
a seasonal guide
for planting
and harvesting
cannot be
refuted.
During the Middle Ages in Europe, most art was in
the service of the church. The great religious mosaic
and fresco cycles articulated the meaning of Christian
beliefs and so were used to instruct a basically illiterate population. These images plus the carvings on
the facades and stone capitals of the Romanesque and
Gothic cathedrals served as the “Bibles of the Poor.”
Cities vied with each other to build the greatest
architectural structures to house the relics of martyrs
in order to attract the thousands of pilgrims who made
their way across the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de
Compostella or Rome. Art was for the masses as never
before.
Until the Renaissance, artists were patronized almost exclusively by the ruling elite. However, in the
fifteenth century, the new merchant class (Medici)
and the guilds became major patrons of learning and
the arts. The popes used art to reestablish Rome as the
center of the Western world. While the church continued to use art, it was not simply to teach doctrine but
rather to inspire religious devotion and personal piety.
logical, social, economic and medical advances. Rapid
change is also found in all forms of artistic expression.
Besides the unprecedented growth in art museums,
private galleries sprang up in large cities all over the
world.
In the early years of the twentieth century, art
dealers and collectors such as Gertrude Stein, Peggy
Guggenheim and Nelson Rockefeller were anxious to
own, display and advance the creations of the avantgarde artists. The influences of the social and political upheavals, wars of the twentieth century, current
world conflicts, and controversies surrounding government funding and censorship are evident in the
styles and subject matter of the visual arts. In fact, “It
could be said that the art world has been in a state of
perpetual turmoil for the last hundred years” (FichnerRathus:469).
The craze to own art and the growth of auction
houses, such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s, have driven
the prices of masterpieces beyond the realm of possibility for all but the wealthy or large corporations.
Signs of Power
Today it is possible for almost anyone to purchase some form of art,
and in many cases, commission it.
Never in history has art been so
accessible to so many people.
Secular and religious rulers in both western and
non-western cultures have used the imagery and symbolism of art to authenticate and promote their power
and authority. For centuries art served the needs of
rulers and kings. Note the bronze castings of the Benin, the gold ornaments of the Asante rulers, the beadwork of the Yoruba kings, or the papal commissions of
Julius II and Urban VIII.
In some instances portraits memorialized them;
in other cases art commemorated their deeds or was
used as propaganda. Under Louis XIV the arts became
an instrument of the state giving visual expression to
his absolute supremacy. Not since the Roman emperors had art been so completely manipulated for political reasons.
Art for Art’s Sake
By the seventeenth century, the status of artists
had risen and their works were viewed as objects created for their own sake. The art market emerged and
art began to be produced on a smaller scale for a more
diversified and urban population. Still life, portraiture, genre and landscape paintings became popular
themes of art to hang on the walls of private homes.
Eventually this movement from primarily religious
or political to secular imagery also “gave birth to the
identity of the artist and the concept of the art museum as a modern temple of the arts, at whose shrine
a new, secularized form of inspiration would be found”
(Walford: 374).
Artists painted the events and social concerns of
their times, often a world of violence and suffering
(Goya, Millet) or of pleasure and recreation (Degas,
Renoir). Not only did the newly powerful middle class
become the patrons of the arts but also its subjects.
Time of Rapid Change
The last one hundred years has witnessed some of
the world’s most experimental and innovative techno-
Fortunately, many cities have passed rules that
mandate a certain percentage of the cost of public and
corporate buildings be allocated for the purchase of
art. Unfortunately, without generous private bequests
museums are unable to make many substantial purchases. At the same time, the ownership of art by individuals from all social and economic levels of society
has also increased.
Today it is possible for almost anyone to purchase
some form of art, and in many cases, commission it.
Never in history has art been so accessible to so many
people. The combination of visual and audio, the use
of computers and video, actual human and animal
subjects, has created art forms never before imagined.
What will last or can be collected is only a fraction of
what can or will be created.
Bibliography
Ember, Carol R., Melvin Ember & Peter N. Peregrine. Anthropology. New
Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. 2005.
Fichner-Rathus, Lois. Understanding Art. California: Thompson Wadsworth.
2007.
Hatcher, Evelyn Payne. Art as Culture: An Introduction to the Anthropology of
Art. Lantham, Maryland: University Press of America. 1985.
Nanda, Serena & Richard L. Warms. Cultural Anthropology. California:
Thompson Wadsworth. 2007.
Walford, John. Great Themes in Art. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 2002.
About the author: Joan Lingen, BVM (Ramone Mary) is academic
dean and provost at Clarke College, Dubuque, Iowa. She holds her
PhD in art history, and chaired Clarke’s art department for many
years.
SUMMER TWO THOUSAND SEVEN
5
Art Becomes a Way of Life
for BVM Educator
by Mary Clare Sweeney, BVM
For Barbara Cerny, BVM, art is a way of life! It all began when
Barbara was three years old, and her mother saved her first pencil
drawing of a person. Barbara has been drawing ever since!
In seventh grade, Barbara received scholarships
to attend classes for three years at the Art Institute of
Chicago. Because her high school, St. Mary’s, had no
art classes, Barbara drew and painted on her own until
she entered the BVM congregation in September 1944.
After her profession of vows, Barbara studied at
Clarke College and took private lessons from BVM James
Ann Walsh. For two summers, Barbara studied at Catholic University, and then returned to Clarke College for
a BA degree in art. She confides that many additional
summers were happily spent at Chicago’s Art Institute.
Then Barbara went on to earn her master’s degree at the
University of Notre Dame in 1962.
Barbara’s career includes teaching art in Chicago,
Iowa and California. She spent 18 years at Dubuque’s
Wahlert High School.
Of those years, Barbara comments: “Wahlert enabled
me to experience teaching in a wonderfully equipped art
room, and to meet young people who went on to study
art in college and graduate school. Many students also
used their artistic talents to enrich their own lives and
those of their families.”
During this time, Barbara also served as Co-director of
Art for the Archdiocese of Dubuque by giving art workshops for teachers. In the 1980s, her creativity was engaged as a Regional Representative for BVMs. She served
simultaneously as Layout Editor of SALT magazine.
Before retiring in New Mexico, Barbara taught art to
primary and middle school youngsters at Our Lady of
Lourdes in Tujunga, and finally at St. Bernard’s Elementary School in Los Angeles.
Art and the Spiritual Life
Retirement finds Barbara living in Albuquerque,
N.M. …an artist’s paradise! “The Southwest culture has
always touched me spiritually, as well as artistically,”
she says. “At last, I get to have my longed for ‘desert experience.’”
Living in a place where many artists have found inspiration, e.g., Georgia O’Keeffe, Barbara thrives in the
atmosphere of simplicity and spirituality which permeates this part of the Southwest.
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Sr. Barbara has the ability to see the potential in her students, and she knows how to
nourish that potential.” Jack McCullough
For several years, Barbara and Sue
Wedekind, a BVM Associate, friend and
collaborator artist, ministered by giving monthly Art Retreats at the local
renewal center. They shared spirituality through creative expressions of
prayer, reflection and creative experiences with various art materials, which
flowed from their retreat themes.
Barbara continues to draw and do
watercolor paintings of New Mexico
sites. The churches of the area, as well
as historical landmarks, are usually the
subjects of her watercolors (right). Her
annual Christmas angel card delights
friends and relatives.
Recently for Mary Frances Clarke’s
200th birthday celebration, Barbara
painted “Coming in from the Fields”
(right), depicting our BVM founder
in a field harvesting wheat. Barbara
remarks, “Kathryn Lawlor, BVM (John
Laurian) had once called my attention
to a phrase in our history that speaks
of the sisters coming in from the fields,
and this inspired my painting.”
Art Matters
Barbara explains that the major
influences in her approach to teaching art are basically derived from BVM
James Ann, whose philosophy was
that young people need a place to
share who they are through art—without a lot of criticism, but with positive
encouragement.
Barbara says, “Sr. James Ann always taught that teachers should
compliment students’ work first, and
then give them ideas for improvement.
This has been a part of my teaching
throughout my career.” (See p. 14.)
Barbara adds, “Other teachers and
friends have also given me guidance.
At Wahlert, the discussions that I had
with Rosemary Coates, BVM (Walter)
about encouraging creativity in art and
literature also inspired me.”
Barbara states, “One of the styles
of my painting shows the influence of
Lyonel Feininger who is a favorite artist of mine. I have always liked his use
of line to break up the space. In my
egg tempera painting of the Holy Family (above, left), done as the final piece
for my Master of Arts degree, this style
is evident. I have also used this kind
of line work, an off-shoot of cubism, in
the painting of Mother Clarke and the
sisters, entitled ‘Coming in from the
Fields.’”
Art in Everyday Life
Many of Barbara’s former students
still keep in touch with her. Karen
Jackson Ruddy sent Barbara the entire show of her “Madonna and Child”
paintings to view over the Internet.
Jack McCullough remarks: “While
attending Wahlert, Sr. Barbara’s guidance when I was trying to decide
whether to go to an art school or enter
the automotive industry changed the
course of my life. I now own a creative
design firm and employ 28 people. I
feel forever indebted to her because I
was a mediocre student; but through
her inspiration, I excelled in her classroom, and now creative design is my
career.”
Jack adds, “Sr. Barbara has the ability to see the potential in her students,
and she knows how to nourish that potential. Everyone excelled in her classroom because she let us be ourselves,
but we also knew when we had crossed
the line!”
Barbara’s example and ministry
continue through the work of former
students. For example, Jim Welu, PhD,
says: “I am fortunate to have had Sr.
Barbara as my high-school art teacher.
She was extremely supportive of my
passion for art and also very instrumental in my pursuit of higher education. As director of the Worcester Art
Museum, I am constantly reminded of
how important it is for artists to have
such encouragement during their teenage years.
“One of the first programs we began when I became director is Art
All-State, an art institute designed to
encourage high-school artists from
across Massachusetts to pursue their
interest in art. This spring marks the
20th anniversary of Art All-State, the
first program of its kind in the nation.
Since it began, over 2800 students have
participated in Art All-State, many
of them, like myself, now enjoying
careers that benefit greatly from a passion for art.”
Barbara also fondly recalls her little
artists in elementary school. “Little
Ericka, a second grade artist, gave me
a note that I have always treasured:
‘Your heart has lots of love!’” Barbara
adds, “What more could any teacher
ask to be remembered for?”
About the author: Mary Clare Sweeney, BVM
(Clarita) teaches in Phoenix; she can be reached
at [email protected]. Barbara Cerny, BVM can be
contacted at [email protected].
SUMMER TWO THOUSAND SEVEN
7
‘Margaret of Winona’:
Artist, Sculptor, Professor
by Jean Byrne, BVM
Horses in portraits? Sculpted horses? Paper ones that folks eagerly buy? Reproductions faithful to a horse’s proportions and stylized ones that emphasize different
qualities of a horse’s nature? To many, this motif says “BVM Margaret Mear.” But Margaret’s art is certainly not limited to one theme and certainly not to one medium.
Her passion for art
seems to have come into the
world in 1945 when she did.
“My early life! We lived on
a farm and my grandfather
raised horses. I didn’t even
know that there was such
a thing as art but I did get
clay out of the creek and
made little dogs and cats
and chickens.
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“I even made chalk out of
the clay and drew on the side
of our white house. I used
crushed leaves for green and
crushed flower petals for the
colors. Grade school art was
a disappointment—you had
to stay in the lines and use
only certain colors, but I did
discover art supplies.
“An uncle gave me my
first set of real oil paints.
When moved to Pontiac,
Ill., I met the BVMs in the
7th grade at St. Mary’s and
met another phase of the art
world in a program called
something like ‘A Masterpiece a Month’ where we received a small reproduction
of a masterpiece to study.
“Our high school didn’t
have any art instruction at
all, but I did get encouragement from my friends and
the local art club, but I also
heard often, ‘Oh Margaret,
what will she ever do to earn
a living, all she can to is draw
horses!’”
This changed
when, as a
BVM scholastic and
junior at
Mundelein
College
in Chicago,
Margaret enrolled in her first
real art course.
Taught by BVM
Blanche Marie
Gallagher,
who “taught
me almost
everything I know” and has
been a powerful influence.
Margaret learned not only
the fundamentals, the procedures and the spirit of true
art, she also witnessed the
finesse required to gently
correct and guide students
to draw from themselves the
latent ability they may not
have realized they had.
Margaret has developed
her own methods for this
sensitive interaction; much
of this delicate balancing act
is her own wisdom as she
teaches Drawing, Design
and Sculpture at St. Mary’s
University in Winona, Minn.,
where she has been on the
faculty for 31 years, half her
life. Her career there has not
been exclusively teaching
but also using her talents to
enhance the campus, indoors
and out, with paintings and
sculptures.
One of these is an almost
life-sized equine sculpture
(above, left), constructed on
a heavy wire frame
base, with an outer
layer composed
of welded steel
plates that were
intended to rust
and did. Some
time later, two
women, both
artists, admired that horse
so much that they commissioned a similar sculpture, so
Margaret spent another 300
hours and made a similar
horse, in her studio no less.
She received a lot of free
advice about getting it out
through her average size
door, but she had measured
well and kept the dimensions
exactly, so when the men
came to move it, they were
skeptical and Margaret was
ready. “Set him on his tail.”
Frame and all squeezed
their way out the door,
through the narrow, twisting
corridor and into the trailer
to be towed to its new home
on a lawn in St. Paul, Minn.
Margaret learned welding as
part of her graduate studies
at the University of Idaho
and it certainly has served
her, and others, very well.
St. Mary’s campus is
also graced with some of
Margaret’s paintings in the
entrance of the Fine Arts
Building and two sculpted
busts on campus—one outside Hendrickson Hall is of
William G. Hendricksen,
a most generous donor to
the University over many
years. The other, in the administration building, of is
Christian Brother Charles
Severin (right) who was a
Professor of Biology at St.
Mary’s for decades.
Margaret created both
busts by modeling the clay
from life, then transporting it
most gingerly (one from Florida to Minnesota by air) to a
special foundry where it was
coated with a wax to create a
shell that then served as the
mold for the molten bronze.
She also designed a memorial to five students who
died in the Mississippi river
several years ago.
Looking forward to a summer of creating art—working
six hours or more a day—
Margaret will prepare for a
faculty art show in January
and a fall exhibit in Las Vegas, where a St. Mary’s graduate has opened an art gallery
and invited Margaret to
submit works for an autumn
showing. He will ship them
from Minnesota, arrange for
their display and return those
that didn’t sell, if any.
How does inspiration
come to an artist? Says Margaret, “It may come from
your subconscious into
your head or even come in
a dream. Some inspirations
work out, some seem worthy
of the discard pile, and others begin in one direction
and then the “idea light bulb”
will pop on and something
that seemed dull will be
transformed into something
far more satisfying. One psychological tactic Margaret
uses with herself is to quit
whatever she is doing “on a
high note” so that she will be
anxious to get back to it.
Enabling students to
develop their talents is a
combination of suggesting,
encouraging, coaxing and
nudging. Then often the light
bulb pops on, the students
see success and are thrilled
at what they have accomplished—all by themselves.
Some students long to
create works they can be
proud of but are very hesitant to try. This, Margaret
has discovered, is more likely
the case with girls than boys,
who sometimes think more
highly of their work than is
justified. One has
to be a psychologist to give the
right quantities
of praise tempered with reality to draw the
very best from
students.
Riding the
“real thing”—a
horse named
Moose—helps
Margaret relax
from the tensions that come with life
in a busy and sometimes
stressful university situation,
where she must balance her
own need to create with her
responsibilities as a teacher,
instructing and guiding students as they create.
About the author: Jean Byrne,
BVM (Jean Francis) is a writer and
researcher in the BVM Archives.
Name
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SS
PE
UR
ING the WAT
S
ER
Jubilee Calendar Order Form
O
C
November 1, 2007 will initiate the 175th birthday year of the Sisters
of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
To help celebrate our 175 years of BVM Life, a calendar has been designed for the entire birthday year from November 1, 2007 – December
31, 2008.
Focusing on the theme Crossing the Waters, Currents of Hope, this 14
month calendar features various themes of BVM presence and partnership. It is a beautiful and tangible way of keeping this year-long celebration daily in our consciousness.
The calendar will be available and shipped in October, in time for
great Christmas presents!
Please complete and send in the order form and payment today.
Deadline: Aug. 15.
CR
Order a BVM Jubilee Calendar!
REN
O
T S of H
Sisters of Charity, BVM
1833~2008
Celebrating 175 Years of
BVM Presence & Partnership
Number of calendars:
$10 ea. for 1-2; $8 ea. for 3 or more
__________
Total amount enclosed $
__________
Mail completed form and payment by August 15 to:
Jubilee Calendar
Office of Communications
BVM Center
1100 Carmel Dr.
Dubuque, IA 52003
SUMMER TWO THOUSAND SEVEN
9
Louise Kames
Artists C
at Clark
by Pat Nolan, BVM
What nourishes your soul? What
in the world creates for you even a
moment of inner delight? Perhaps
it’s a stroll down a boulevard of
flowering trees in early spring, a
finely crafted poem, a winter sunset, a sweet cello concerto, or the
agile movements of a beautifully
marked animal.
Whatever its cause, the result often surprises and
disarms, leaving you breathless. Sometimes, the artist, in providing soul-nourishing experiences for others, recognizes that making art similarly benefits the
artist as well as the viewer.
In my conversations recently with four Clarke
College artists, I discovered that, for them, soul-nourishing is an individual business, as varied as the materials and subjects with which they work.
Unearthed roots, decaying leaves and compost
provide attractive subjects for Louise Kames’s
print making.
Helen Kerrigan (Paulita) finds solace in working with oils and acrylics to produce portraits of
family and friends, while
Joan Lingen (Ramone Mary) participates in archeological digs and travels to sites where knowledge of art history sets hearts afire.
Carmelle Zserdin is passionate about rocks, specifically the earthiness, crust and colors of clay.
For each of them, slowing down and paying attention, crucial elements in both making and viewing
art, provide soul-stirring experiences.
Slowing Down to See
“So much of my work comes from the daily things
of life—the everyday things. I need to pay attention...,” says Louise Kames, professor of art and chair
of Clarke’s art department. “For example, my installation entitled ‘Dear Mother’ began with my sitting at
the funeral of a BVM friend and staring at the worn
letters on the Sacramentary...”
In creating a piece of art, she continues, “every
decision I make can be a carrier of meaning; there
are so many opportunities. I have to slow down and
think about it.”
Louise, who says that she experiences a sense of
awe in unexpected places, states that in the act of
making art those experiences are translated to “formal arrangements that draw the viewer into an act of
attention…. This…transformative process yields form
that is beautiful to the attentive eye.”
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S A L T MAGAZINE
Create, Flourish
ke College
Louise will spend a portion of the
summer in Frans Masereel Centrum,
Belgium, where she will continue work
begun there in 2005 on a series of
prints related to the writings and community life of the Beguines, a group of
12th Century mystics.
Joan Lingen, BVM
Paying Attention
Discussing the pleasure of creating
an abstract painting, BVM Helen Kerrigan agrees that paying attention is a
significant part of the process. “You sit
down and look and don’t know what to
do next, always keeping at it…” There
is an inner connection with the workin-process.
Helen, Clarke’s Professor Emerita
of Art and artist-in-residence at the
college, continues, “The fun of doing
abstracts is that you don’t always know
what they’re going to be! I like to dive
right in and not know at the outset
how it will turn out.”
With quiet enthusiasm, Helen muses, “Abstracts have a lot of motion, big
gestures, beautiful paint.” We can learn
to look for this, she says.
Digging In
“Just ask me
to go on a trip
and talk about
the art of the
place or be a
part of a team
doing an archeological
dig, and I’m
gone!”
Joan Lingen, BVM
Helen Kerrigan, BVM
Before Joan Lingen, BVM became
Clarke’s Provost and Vice President for
Academic Affairs, she taught art history
at Clarke, and she remains passionate
about the importance of experiencing works of art. So important is it to
her that she still leads alumni tours to
Italy, Paris, Vienna and Greece, places
historically known for preserving ancient art.
We learn from the past about the
past, but it’s necessary to ask the right
questions. “The art historian asks about
the background of the piece, where it
was done and why,” Joan says.
“So much of art is about global issues,” she continues, “rather than about
one time and one place; and often the
visual is only one part of the art. Sometimes, the piece was created as part of
another action such as dance, music,
ritual.”
To the art historian’s eye, so much
is revealed about the people, the civilization, the culture. Joan recalls that
when she took part in archeological
SUMMER TWO THOUSAND SEVEN
11
a brakeman for the Milwaukee
Railroad. The life-size painting
stands along one wall of Kerrigan’s Clarke studio. She painted it
from a 1918 photo of her father
in his brakeman’s uniform.
“And then I want to paint my
sister Alice,” Helen says. Alice,
a BVM (Lois Ann), the youngest of the Kerrigans, died just
months ago. Helen notes that it
is important for her to create a
portrait of Alice, even if no one
ever sees it.
If making art is, as Carmelle
Zserdin insists, “a personal
event, a dialogue between the
artist and her or his materials”
then it becomes unspeakably
a soul-nourishing experience.
Likewise, for the viewer or the
spectator, the work of art, be it
in a museum, an ancient site,
an art gallery or an art class, can
indeed create that moment of
inner delight.
digs in both Arizona and Virginia, she thought always of
the people from whom and
about whom the artifacts related. “Who were they? What
did they do? What did they
think about?”
As she speaks, Joan’s eyes
light up; she can barely wait
for the next tour or, perhaps,
the next dig. “I have my suitcase always packed,” she says;
“Just ask me to go on a trip
and talk about the art of the
place or be a part of a team
doing an archeological dig,
and I’m gone!”
Rock Bottom
Places of ancient art and
ruins feed BVM Carmelle
Zserdin’s soul as well. “I love
clay. I love rocks,” she admits.
“Some of the most awesome
experiences of my life have
been around rocks in places
like Mexico, Japan, the Machu
Carmelle Zserdin, BVM
Picchu in Peru and Stonehenge in England. Nobody can
stand in such places without
feeling a power, an essence or
tive teachers of art,
a spirit. Something here is more than
teaching itself can
anything else you know. Often it’s so
be a soul-nourishing
beautiful it makes me cry,” Carmelle
experience. “My art
confesses.
informs my teachRocks take on huge significance for
ing and my teaching
this lover of clay. “I call myself a potinforms my art” aster,” says Carmelle, BVM and Associate
serts Carmelle. “They
Professor of Art at Clarke. “However,
are one; they are my
she continues, “usually my art is not
heart and soul.”
made for any particular purpose. It
And Louise states
would not be considered functional.”
simply, “I love teachIn fact, she adds that sometimes her
ing; for me, it’s choosart might be considered by some as ugly ing to be generative,
and useless; “my favorite pots would not to pass on life.” Ceralways be considered beautiful.”
tainly, teaching takes
On the other hand, Carmelle contime away from makfides, making pots is a soul-stirring
ing art, but it is clear
experience, tactile and sensual; with a
that for these two arttwinkling eye, she divulges, “Throwing
ist-teachers the lines
a bowl is the comfort food of working
of distinction between
with clay.”
the two, more often
than not, blur and
blend.
Joy of Teaching
When Helen KerWhile the tension between doing
rigan finds the time,
or making art and teaching art will
she plans to finish
probably exist as long as there are artthe painting of her
ists who also teach, it is clear that for
father, J.P. Kerrigan,
Carmelle and Louise, currently ac-
12
S A L T MAGAZINE
About the author: Pat Nolan, BVM
(Frederick Mary) is on the faculty at
Clarke College, Dubuque, Iowa.
“One must not
love oneself so
much as to avoid
getting involved in
the risks of life
that history
demands of us...”
–Archbishop
Oscar Romero
TAKE THE RISK TO
Be on the cutting edge
Change unjust systems
Pursue peace
JOURNEY INTO
The heart of God
In the company of Gospel women
Committed to an inclusive
church and world
Sharing prayer and community
Turn
into
Dubuque, Iowa
DREAMS
DEEDS
phone 312.243.6125
www.bvmcong.org
For BVM Eustella Fau,
Early Talent Blooms Late in Life
by Mary A. Healey, BVM
Margaret Mary Fau loved art class
at Sacred Heart School in Chicago,
but even more she enjoyed the
nights when her father brought work
home from the Dennison Paper
Company and let her help make
table decorations.
At St. Mary High School, she would
have liked to take art from Sister Mary
Ernestine Henthorne (see page 15),
herself a talented painter, but art was
an extra fee, and in the depth of the
Depression she could not have gone
to St. Mary at all without her four year
scholarship. This was the Mother Mary
Isabella Kane Scholarship granted
yearly in the home parish of Mother
Isabella, an art teacher herself. After
graduating in 1934, Margaret worked to
help her family and save money.
Feb. 2, 1937, Margaret entered the
BVMs and received the name Sister
Mary Eustella in August. As an elementary and then high school teacher, she
had the most beautiful bulletin boards
in school. When BVM Cecil Kelly was
assigned to open Carmel High School
and convent, she called on Eustella to
choose paint and furnishings because
she recognized her talent.
However, Eustella was not assigned to study art but got degrees in
Spanish and in Library Science. In the
summer of 1970 she went to the University of Illinois for some hours in
counseling. Her convent was short on
funds for summer classes, so Eustella
applied for a summer job at UI and was
placed in the library.
The University offered her a fellowship toward a Ph.D. in Library
Science. The next summer, she began
work on her program, and became assistant to the librarian who catalogued
books in Romance languages. When she
had almost finished her studies, he became ill and she took over his work. He
died and Eustella was hired to replace
him. She remained at UI 20 years.
Once settled, Eustella began using her faculty privilege of auditing
courses. She took art for 12 years,
whatever was offered evenings or on
weekends. The year of her golden jubilee, Eustella retired.
She considered moving close to
her family, but she thought at Mount
Carmel she could teach art in the Roberta Kuhn Center. BVM Margaret Zimmermann (Jamesella), the Wright Hall
administrator then, said she would be
delighted to have art classes there, so
Eustella returned to Chicago.
The tenth floor of Wright Hall has
a large room at the west end lined with
windows on the north and some on
the west. It proved almost ideal for art
classes. She decided to concentrate on
watercolors; they wash out of clothes.
Among the retired sisters who registered
for class were many with artistic talent.
Two outstanding painters were
BVMs Mary Maurine Gearen and Mary
Thomassia Newton, both math teachers who never had painted before but
had an excellent eye for perspective. In
time their paintings sold well at St.
Mary and Immaculata alumnae luncheons and among visitors to Wright
Hall. Of course Eustella’s own paintings were popular, too.
When Vivian Wilson, BVM (Lauren) retired, she brought considerable
experience. Elementary teachers all
taught art, decorated classrooms, and
designed bulletin boards, but Vivian
had taken other art classes.
In Eustella’s water color class Vivian became a prize pupil and semiassistant. When Caritas Center opened
in 1999, she and Eustella packed
enough so each of the 53 new rooms
had an original painting. Eustella
moved to Dubuque herself in 2002 and
died three years later. Vivian took over
teaching the weekly class.
As the seasons change, Vivian
changes the paintings around the dining room at Wright Hall. Other original paintings hang in corridors and
community rooms, and always there
is work in progress to be seen on the
tenth floor. In my room I have one
BVM Alice Connell (Cyrilina) gave me
that never fails to elicit admiration.
Margaret Mary Fau’s love for art
flourished a little late in life. Flourish
it did.
About the author: Mary A. Healey, BVM (Michael
Edward) is a researcher; she lives at Wright Hall,
Chicago.
SUMMER TWO THOUSAND SEVEN
13
Legacy
Abstracts, Oils, Sculptures...
BVM Artists Leave Striking
Legacy
Some Sisters of Charity, BVM,
had artistic talent that was not
fully developed because their education often was geared toward
academic areas other than the
arts. Fortunately many Sisters
with special talents developed
them through their educations
and were able to use, to a greater
or lesser extent, their considerable abilities to enrich the lives of
others.
Three of these, BVMs Ernes-
tine Henthorne, Gabriel
O’Neill and James Ann
Walsh did much to bring beauty
into the lives of BVMs and others
fortunate enough to discover and
display their works.
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S A L T MAGAZINE
by Jean Byrne, BVM
Portraying BVM Foundress
Ernestine, born
in 1889 and baptized
Genevieve, has an
impressive college
transcript. In addition to Art and ordinary requirements
she has 14 music
courses, among
them, Vocal, Band, Harmony, Violin
and Piano and Organ. Her place in the
BVM memory, however, comes chiefly
from the portrait of Mother Mary Frances Clarke that graced most, if not all,
BVM convents from the 1930s (below).
Since Ernestine entered the BVMs
after Mary Frances’s death, she had
no memory of her own to draw upon.
There was only a deathbed photograph
of Mother Clarke, and the lower jaw
had changed, so Ernestine used “the
fine forehead, the heavy eyebrows and
the short, straight nose.”
Then she called upon those sisters
who had known Mother Clarke. “What
I was trying to do was to form a mental
picture and a character study of a great
woman from what I was told, and then
express those qualities admired and
loved by all who knew her.”
Ernestine said that although Mother
Clarke was short she never appeared
weak in any way. “She had good shoulders, always walking erect, with the
alertness of youth. Her eyes were very
dark, and under her heavy black eyebrows, could be piercing and penetrating in spite of the kindness in their
depths.”
Mother Isabella, who had commissioned the portrait, and others who
had met Mother Clarke were very
impressed with the results. On one occasion Ernestine put her “masterpiece”
with other portraits and asked the Sisters to identify those they could. To a
person they immediately recognized
the woman they so revered and were
very pleased.
Fascination with Angels
Gabriel O’Neill,
BVM, was born in
Battle Creek, Neb.,
baptized Catherine
Francis and entered
the BVMs from Milwaukee in 1909. Always teaching and
producing in some area of art, she was
missioned in eight different places; her
longest was at Clarke College, 19151952.
Her works are many, but perhaps
she would prefer that we read the summary of her life that she printed on a
gold-edged note card in a very unsteady
hand:
The sculptures of angels, commissioned by Mother Isabella Kane, are,
Jophiel, “the beauty of God” and “Uriel,
the light of God” (left).
Pillars and statues adorning temples of ancient Greece inspired her
Gabriel’s designs; she then created the
figures. The statues were next cast in
plaster and sent to Italy where they
were rendered in concrete. They are
about two stories high and stand on
either side of the main doors of Mundelein College (now part of Loyola
University).
Linking Art
and Philosophy
Obituary
“Born Dec. 26, 1885—93 yrs old
(Beside the ‘93’ is penned in a
much shakier hand ‘98.’)
Education:
Grades Public School.
High School—St. Francis Academy;
Co. Bluffs, Iowa—BVMs
B.A. Lib Arts Clarke College,
Dubuque
BFA Art. Inst, Chicago
M.A. Catholic U School of Architecture
= 4 Sheepskins
3 summers Columbia University,
NY”
On the inside of the card, she
listed three, of the many, works
she wanted to be remembered as
hers:
“2 Angels at entrance to Mundelein
College
Communications medal in honor of
St. Gabriel and St. Clare
Copies of a Dissertation on ‘The
Blessed Virgin Mary in Sculpture,
Stained Glass and Ivories of France
in the 13th Century.’ 3 copies in
the Catholic University Library
– Washington, D.C.”
BVM Mary James
Ann Walsh was born
in 1912 and baptized
Seraphia Angela. After high school she
entered the BVM
congregation and
gained a BA from
Clarke, where she
began her teaching
and creative endeavors in 1933 and
continued as instructor or department
chair until 1967. During this time she
exhibited many works in varied media
like “oils,” “lacquers and oils,” “caseins,” “drawings,” “water colors” and
“mosaics.”
In 1960 James Ann made a tour
of European countries beginning in
West Berlin and continuing through
France, The Netherlands, Switzerland,
Italy and others, capturing magnificent
scenes from each. Some titles from
this journey are “Night—West Berlin,”
(ink and casein) showing the almost
frantic gaiety of this “island city in an
ocean of joyless Marxist socialism”;
“Mont St. Michel” an oil of this dour
monastic fortress in grays and umbers
and another oil “Candles of Chartes,” “a
symbolic commentary on the fervor of
thousands of pilgrims who keep alight
a forest of flame before the Virgin of
Chartres.”1
One of her paintings “Pioneer Angelus” commemorated the first Angelus
rung in Dubuque and it was prominently displayed at Clarke College for
many years.
As a teacher James Ann believed
that art students needed a strong background in the works of Plato, Aristotle
and Jacques Maritain “if they are to
relate what they are doing with the
past and present” and arranged their
courses of study to include these philosophers.
Also, she was quite open to changes
in the art world and produced a number of abstract paintings, some of
which are displayed near the Clarke
College library.
Mary James Ann left Clarke in 1967
to teach in California; while there, she
developed cancer. Its rapid advance
made necessary her return to Mt. Carmel in April of 1980 and by the end of
May she was gone.
Few of her works are in BVM hands,
but, as she would have wanted, they
are gracing collections and museums
where they continue to give pleasure
to many.
Footnote:
1 Material taken from an article in The Clarke
College Courier, February 18, 1960
About the author: Jean Byrne, BVM (Jean
Francis) is a researcher and writer in the BVM
Archives.
“Belmont Harbor,” by James Ann Walsh, BVM
SUMMER TWO THOUSAND SEVEN
15
Linda Parsons Plamondon, an artist engaged in
art therapy, has BVM roots
that go back to her acquaintance with our late Barbara
Kutchera, BVM (George
Mary), and Linda’s undergraduate work at Clarke
College in Dubuque. Linda
graduated from Clarke in
1969, married, and had two
children.
Linda Plamandon (fourth from left) works with students at the World of Opportunity at St. John Bosco
Parish, Chicago. Student artwork lines the walls.
BVM Mentor, Scholarship Aid
Journey of an Artistic Spirit
by Anne Buckley, BVM
As the adult tapestry of her life
began its weave, her circumstances
brought her to eastern Nebraska
where she attended Bellevue University, receiving a Bachelor of Fine
Art, Studio Art and later a Bachelor
of Art, Art History, summa cum laude
in 1994.
As Linda pointed out, in the study
of art history, one learns about the
artist’s personal background and all
that is actually incorporated into the
artist’s work, in order to better understand the whole. This awakened
her own spiritual search and the way
she might use her art ability and
background in a more profound way.
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S A L T MAGAZINE
Deeper Level
In 1999 Linda was studying at
Catholic Theological Union in Chicago,
but also needed courses available at
Loyola. As a result, she began her
studies at the Institute of Pastoral Studies, her dream becoming increasingly
clear. It was here she took courses that
centered on healing, spirituality and
psychology.
Again, a BVM entered Linda’s life.
BVM Blanche Marie Gallagher was a professor in the IPS program at Loyola and
one of Linda’s teachers. As Linda was
completing her masters, working with
Blanche on the integration of her course
work, Blanche suggested that Linda next
consider work in art therapy. She was
closing in on her goals. Blanche knew
a faculty member at the Adler School
of Professional Psychology, introduced
Linda, and a new mile of the spiritual
and practical journey began.
In order to take this journey, Linda
needed assistance. She received this
help in the form of a Mary Griffin
Scholarship (see sidebar) for two consecutive years. Linda has frequently
expressed her profound gratitude for
this scholarship and it would seem that
it might appear in the tapestry of her
life as a long, brightly colored thread
and more.
Helping Children
Ready now at Adler to complete her
degree, Master of Art, Counseling Psychology, she did her practicum in art
therapy working in the public school
system with inner city children “who
are referred to us because of behavioral problems.” In her own words:
“Many of the children have either
been abused or have lost a parent
to a violent and unexpected death;
it is little wonder that the children
are acting out.
“In art therapy we gather as a small
group and draw about things that
are often too painful to talk about
or that we simply do not have the
vocabulary with which to describe
what we are going through and yet,
which needs to be expressed in a
positive and safe way.
“Last week one of my young fourth
graders drew a picture of his
mother lying in a casket with the
words written above it, ‘I miss you,
Mommy.’ Later we discovered that
his mother had died this past year
of alcoholism.”
So often it seems that as we move
along in life, so many of its threads
seem disconnected and even unruly,
but as time goes on and we have
enough perspective to see our lives
from the front of the tapestry, it is
amazing, often, how well the threads
have woven together to clearly produce
a work of art. That is how Linda’s life
sounded as we chatted.
Expanded Ministry
It was the Mary Griffin Scholarship
that was the bridge to Linda’s dream
of using her talent and skills for a
deeper purpose. Since her graduation
from Adler, she has been involved with
women and children who are in pain
and in need of healing.
Linda has also completed a certificate at Adler in Drug and Alcohol Addiction Counseling. She has counseled
people who are “looking for a better
way of life through the Twelve Step Recovery Program.”
Linda continues to work at the
homeless shelter and senior center. She
“In art therapy we
gather as a small
group and draw
about things that are
often too painful to
talk about...”
also recently started an after-school
art program for the neighborhood children. This, she explains, is
“really more about forming community between myself representing
the ‘white folks’ and the children
representing the ‘black people.’
Because of the trust developing
among us, I am finding that my
students feel comfortable about
asking questions pertaining to my
white culture; I am also discovering
the children’s misperceptions about
white people are being re-evaluated
while I am learning further truth
about myself as a white woman.”
As Linda has gracefully woven her
tapestry thus far, she remains open
to the choice of what will be the next
thread. Her tapestry is not finished yet;
nor is ours.
Linda, however, concludes this particular story in her words:
“I continue to visit with Sr. Blanche
Gallagher on a regular basis. Without her mentoring and encouragement, I would not have discovered
the Adler School; she has truly
been an angel to me.
“Last fall I attended my 35th reunion at Clarke and was very fortunate to have a wonderful visit
with my former English professor,
Sr. Sara McAlpin (Philip Mary).
The Sisters of Charity have played
an important role in my life since
those early days at Clarke College.
I send all of you my blessings and
my heartfelt gratitude.”
About the author: Anne Buckley, BVM (St.
Edwin) is coordinator of transportation and
housekeeping at Wright Hall, Chicago.
Mary Griffin Scholarship Fund
This scholarship, funded from the estate of Mary Griffin, honors an educator who
completed her elementary, high school and undergraduate studies with the BVMs
and pursued her masters and doctoral studies as a member of the BVM congregation. For many years she was a faculty member in the English department of
Mundelein College in Chicago, where she also served as Academic Dean, founder
of the Weekend College, and Director of the Master of Liberal Studies Program.
The scholarship of $2,500 is given to women 18 years of age or older and with
limited financial resources to obtain an advanced degree, enhance current employments paths, personal enrichment in the areas of women’s studies or peace studies.
Briefs
BVM Ellen Therese Barrett was one
of 28 women honored for “Putting
Their Stamp on Metro Milwaukee”
by the U.S. Postal Service. She has
ministered in the city for more than
40 years as an educator and parish
minister, most recently with persons
hospitalized and homebound. She
recently retired.
Anne Carr, BVM (Anne David) has
been honored by the Catholic Theological Society of America with the
Ann O’Hara Graff award for feminist
studies. Anne is Professor Emerita of
Theology at the University of Chicago
and author of several books and numerous articles.
Gwen Farry, BVM (Leontia) has been
elected to the Board of Directors of
the Interfaith Center for Corporate
Responsibility. Gwen is the BVM representative on the staff of the 8th Day
Center for Justice in Chicago.
Jean Dolores Schmidt, BVM and the
Chicago Loyola men’s basketball team
were featured in a cover photo and article in the spring issue of Loyola Magazine. It profiles her work as chaplain to
the squad and avid basketball fan.
Three BVMs are speaking at the triennial Conference on the History of Women Religious this
summer. Mary Christine Athans, BVM will chair
“Catholic Women in the Antebellum and Civil
War Era South,”; Ann Harrington, BVM (St.
Remi) will chair “Catholic Sisters at the United
Nations…a Collaborative Cross-Cultural Global
Ministry”; and Mary Ann Hoope, BVM will give
a paper on “The Call to Ministry in Ghana.” Ann
Harrington is also on the program committee.
Theme of the Conference is “Local Cultures/
Global Church: Challenge and Mission in the
History of Women Religious.”
BVM Associate Oweene Stone has
been honored by her alma mater,
Xavier College in Phoenix, with the
Dynamic Woman of Tradition award.
The award is based on service to
family, community and Xavier, faith,
leadership and a distinguished career.
She has taught the poorest of the poor,
is involved in outreach to the sick in her parish,
and reads and grades essays from Xavier.
SUMMER TWO THOUSAND SEVEN
17
Wright Hall
are Mosaic Gems
by Sara McAlpin, BVM
For centuries, the prayer environment in places of worship
has been enhanced by notable art
works. One such setting, familiar to
and beloved by BVMs, their families
and friends, is the small chapel at
Wright Hall in Chicago.
Originally opened in 1959 as the
BVM Scholasticate to house young
sisters studying for degrees at Mundelein College, the building (renamed
Wright Hall in 1970 in honor of former mother general Helen Wright
BVM) is now a residence for retired
sisters.
Since the beginning, the chapel has
been home to mosaic Stations of the
Cross designed and created by Edmund
Demers, art professor, 1954-1966, at
Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa.
Urged by art department chair,
James Ann Walsh BVM, whom he describes as “a wonderful friend,” and
encouraged by other BVMs familiar
with his impressive liturgical art, Ed
accepted the challenge of creating in
an art form which has existed for thousands of years.
Though the complexity and rich history of mosaics are fascinating to study,
presently the focus is the remarkable
mosaics which Ed worked on for over a
year while also teaching full time.
Complex Process
For the project, Ed ordered tesserae,
small pieces of opaque glass which
he notes were “very expensive,” from
a “color chart sent by a firm in New
York”; the vibrant colors of the completed stations attest to the artistically
effective choices Ed made.
As current Wright Hall resident
Peggy Devereux, BVM (Williamette)
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S A L T MAGAZINE
commented recently, the stations “are
so alive” and “still look brand new.” Because the tesserae all came in the same
size, Ed had to cut each one whenever
he “needed a piece a little bit narrower” which, judging from the finished
works, was quite often.
The process involved first, imagining the design for a station; Helen
Kerrigan BVM (Paulita,) a colleague of
Ed at Clarke, stresses the crucial importance here: “If it’s designed well, it will
hang together…. Ed Demers was a good
designer.”
He then drew a sketch and reproduced it on a panel, before setting individual glass pieces into an adhesive
and filling the interstices with grout. “I
struggled a lot with the designs,” says
Ed. “There were, of course, centuries of
tradition of Stations of the Cross,” and
“I was trying to approach the work a
little differently.”
Mary in Station 4. Station 6 features
a white cloth bearing an image of the
deeply pained Jesus; holding the cloth
is Veronica whose profound sorrow is
fully conveyed even though only a portion of her face is visible.
With equal concentration in the
11th station, rather than portray an
entire body being crucified, Ed depicts just one of Christ’s hands nailed
to the cross, an image which carries
singular power for the viewer. Expressive hands, in fact, provide a unifying
thread through many of the stations.
Similarly striking is the final station
with Jesus wrapped in white swaddling
clothes in the tomb. “I liked that one,”
says Ed; “I did a good job on that.”
Viewed from a distance, the stations
appear very smooth on the surface, “almost like a painting” as one BVM relative noted; this comment is affirmed
by Helen Kerrigan, who emphasizes
that the way Ed captures light and dark
in faces, for example, is “the way you
would paint a face, partly in shadow.”
When one views a station up close,
though, one sees the somewhat rough
texture of the surface, the variety of sizes of tesserae, the tiny spaces between
them and the exacting placement of
each small piece.
One can only marvel at the enormous patience required for executing
work like this and the extraordinary
artistic gifts needed to envision a total
image to be created out of countless
pieces of colored glass. Words alone
cannot begin to convey the intricacy of
the process and the power of the finished art.
Key Images
Confined to a specific size of 36 by
22 inches, he decided to limit each station either to a single figure or to two
or three at most. He concentrated, for
example, on a pair of grief-stricken
women in Station 8, and primarily on
the African Simon in Station 5 and on
Circuitous Journey
Once the project was completed, Ed
faced the challenge of “how to get these
to Chicago.” Fortunately, the father
of a Clarke student was able to fit “the
heavy load” into his large station wagon
for the trip. Ed entrusted the results of
Station 2
Station 4
months of work to the driver and said
farewell to his huge project. “I never
saw them installed,” he says.
Before the stations were moved,
however, various people were able to
see them. Peggy Devereux for example,
remembers that periodically during
summer school a sign was posted inviting students to view a finished station.
Not only was Peggy struck by the
beauty of each piece but also, she says,
“I was impressed that we were invited
to go and have a preview showing of
what was going to be in the new Scholasticate. The stations were so beautiful
then and they still are.”
Also before leaving Dubuque, the
stations were on display in the Roshek
building in downtown Dubuque in an
exhibit arranged by James Ann Walsh.
Carol Spiegel, BVM (Ann Carla) from
nearby Farley, recalls seeing this exhibit before she entered the community.
Station 8
Station 11
Station 5
Other Works of Art
Dubuque residents are also familiar
with the 43 x 32 foot mosaic which covers the entire south wall of St. Peter
Lutheran church, and features a large
figure of Christ flanked by two panels
on either side depicting eight significant experiences in Peter’s life.
In addition to these liturgical works
Ed created a variety of others before
going to Ohio University in Athens,
where he concentrated on teaching art
history rather than studio art.
Familiar to many BVMs and their
colleagues, for example, are his
egg tempera Stations of the Cross in
the convent chapel in the Immaculata High School in Chicago, and
the large crucifix installed in the
student dining room at Clarke as
well as other works on the Clarke
campus.
Station 12
Station 6
After years as a university art professor, Ed has frequently worked with wood
in his retirement in New Hampshire.
Among other things, he has created “a
great number over the years” of musical
instruments, including dulcimers, banjos, ukuleles and mandolins. All of these
are created from “original designs.”
Given the fact that in a long life
dedicated to art, Ed worked primarily
in liturgical art for only about ten years
of his total career, BVMs are especially
fortunate to have such impressive
works as the Stations of the Cross at
Wright Hall as daily reminders of his
extraordinary artistic gifts. Providing a
home to such treasures in this sacred
space is a unique privilege.
About the author: Sara McAlpin, BVM (Philip
Mary) is archivist at Clarke College, Dubuque,
and a member of the Communications Advisory
Committee. She is especially grateful to Helen
Kerrigan, BVM for her assistance.
Station 14
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BVM Professes Perpetual Vows
Ann Therese Chaput, BVM
professed final vows in a joyful Easter liturgy at Marian Hall, Dubuque.
“I was attracted to a life of prayer
and to missionary work while still
in elementary school. While I responded to that call in a variety of
ministries, it has been with the BVMs
that I have found community and
ministry in the charism to ‘be free
and help others to be free in God’s
steadfast love,’” says Ann Therese.
For the past three years, she has
been Director of the good Shepherd
Catholic Center in Lowndes County,
Ala. Ann Therese shares community
with retired BVM Frances Schaeffer
(Louis) in Mosses, a small town in
rural, south central Alabama where
the Center is located.
A Chicago native, Ann Therese
was an elementary school principal
in the Chicago area for 20 years,
taught high school theology, and has
done mission work in the Caribbean.
“In the charism of Mary Frances
Clarke, there is a way of living as
well as ministering that reaches out
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to those who are marginalized, even
forgotten,” she adds. “I rejoice that I
profess my vows forever to be Sister
to those we are called to serve in the
Gospel: the poor, the homeless, the
uneducated, the sick, the elderly, the
hungry, and especially as a BVM,
women and children.”
Ann Therese Chaput, BVM
(right) signs the official
documents of her profession.
Witnesses are (l.) regional
representative Mary Nolan,
BVM and president Joellen
McCarthy, BVM.