Connections Between Art and Faith Abound at the University of St. Thomas
by Terence G. Langan
Terence G. Langan is Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of St. Thomas.
In the context of our longstanding commitment to the fine arts, the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of St. Thomas is delighted to become a co-publisher of ARTS. Just as this journal does, the College and its faculty and students explore the many dimensions in which the arts allow people to express spiritual values. In their research and learning, our faculty and students regularly pursue connections between the visual, liturgical, and written arts and religious faith, with an ultimate goal of helping each of us understand what it means to be fully human. In fact, every educational effort at the University of St. Thomas is undergirded by the University’s fundamental commitment as a Catholic institution to the unity and dignity of the human person. We believe it is our purpose to help students connect the knowledge they gain across disciplines and use it to become people of integrity who work together to serve the common good.
In the College of Arts and Sciences, that commitment to the common good is built through coursework that helps students understand the insights and values of people who at first might seem strikingly different from themselves, and an important way in which we promote that human understanding is through study of the fine arts. At the graduate level, the College of Arts and Sciences offers four master’s degree programs, each of which involves significant connection to the fine arts. Students pursuing graduate work in Art History, Catholic Studies, English, and Music routinely probe the many ways in which the human experience is expressed through artistic effort.
At the undergraduate level, whether they become theologians, engineers, marketers, economists, historians, or philosophers, all of our students are required to complete a fine arts course that provides an understanding of the role the arts play in expressing and maintaining, discovering and questioning a culture’s dominant beliefs and ideals. Each fine arts course, which is typically offered by our art history or music, theater or film programs, includes six perspectives: 1) a historical perspective that helps students understand how artistic expression in a particular cultural context has changed over time; 2) a theoretical perspective that asks students to examine how the basic elements of an artistic work are composed; 3) an analytical perspective that requires students to analyze an art form orally and in writing; 4) a contextual perspective that insists students examine works of art in appropriate religious, cultural, social, and political contexts, and compare them across cultures and ethnic groups; 5) a stylistic perspective that helps students consider the effects of style in a time period and culture on an artwork and its audience; and 6) an experiential perspective that takes students out of classrooms and into theaters, concert halls, art galleries, museums, or studios to create and/or encounter artistic expression.
Terence G. Langan is Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of St. Thomas.
In the context of our longstanding commitment to the fine arts, the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of St. Thomas is delighted to become a co-publisher of ARTS. Just as this journal does, the College and its faculty and students explore the many dimensions in which the arts allow people to express spiritual values. In their research and learning, our faculty and students regularly pursue connections between the visual, liturgical, and written arts and religious faith, with an ultimate goal of helping each of us understand what it means to be fully human. In fact, every educational effort at the University of St. Thomas is undergirded by the University’s fundamental commitment as a Catholic institution to the unity and dignity of the human person. We believe it is our purpose to help students connect the knowledge they gain across disciplines and use it to become people of integrity who work together to serve the common good.
In the College of Arts and Sciences, that commitment to the common good is built through coursework that helps students understand the insights and values of people who at first might seem strikingly different from themselves, and an important way in which we promote that human understanding is through study of the fine arts. At the graduate level, the College of Arts and Sciences offers four master’s degree programs, each of which involves significant connection to the fine arts. Students pursuing graduate work in Art History, Catholic Studies, English, and Music routinely probe the many ways in which the human experience is expressed through artistic effort.
At the undergraduate level, whether they become theologians, engineers, marketers, economists, historians, or philosophers, all of our students are required to complete a fine arts course that provides an understanding of the role the arts play in expressing and maintaining, discovering and questioning a culture’s dominant beliefs and ideals. Each fine arts course, which is typically offered by our art history or music, theater or film programs, includes six perspectives: 1) a historical perspective that helps students understand how artistic expression in a particular cultural context has changed over time; 2) a theoretical perspective that asks students to examine how the basic elements of an artistic work are composed; 3) an analytical perspective that requires students to analyze an art form orally and in writing; 4) a contextual perspective that insists students examine works of art in appropriate religious, cultural, social, and political contexts, and compare them across cultures and ethnic groups; 5) a stylistic perspective that helps students consider the effects of style in a time period and culture on an artwork and its audience; and 6) an experiential perspective that takes students out of classrooms and into theaters, concert halls, art galleries, museums, or studios to create and/or encounter artistic expression.
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Music student Megan Pleviak receives an organ lesson from Director of Liturgical Music David Jenkins in the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas on Wednesday, November 11, 2009. Photo reproduced with the permission of the University of St. Thomas.
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Beyond the required fine arts courses, a wide variety of elective courses allow students to explore the sacred aspects of artistic expression. Among them are courses anyone would expect a Catholic university to offer, such as the theology department courses “Sacred Music of the Catholic Heritage,” which examines the ways in which music-making shapes and expresses religious experience, and “Music and the Bible,” which examines the social, cultural and religious contexts of music-making among early Christian communities.
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The University of St. Thomas Liturgical Choir performs during the University of St. Thomas Commencement Mass at the Saint Paul Cathedral in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Friday, May 22, 2009. Photo reproduced with the permission of the University of St. Thomas.
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In the English department, faculty have connected religion and spirituality to the artistic expression of written literature by creating such courses as “Saints and Miracles,” “Faith, Hope and Love,” “Today’s Literature Looks at Faith,” and “The Catholic Literary Tradition.”
In the music department, students can further explore connections between musical expression and worship in courses such as “Introduction to Liturgical Music,” and they may pursue the bachelor of arts degree in liturgical music, which requires them to complete a specialty in voice, keyboard, or guitar performance, a core of courses in music history, theory, and literature, as well as courses in theology on topics such as worship and sacramentality.
Our art history department provides a particularly rich array of courses that probe connections between the visual arts and religious beliefs and expression beyond the Christian traditions. Among the department’s survey courses that look at the spiritual and cultural meanings of art are these: “Art of Mesoamerica,” which considers pre-Colombian art and architecture, including religious iconography in Mesoamerica; “Pacific Art,” which includes a consideration of artistic expression of the religious values of people in Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia; and “Buddhist Art,” which examines monuments and art objects associated with Buddhism as it is practiced in China and Japan.
In each of these art history courses—“Sacred Architecture and Space,” “Churches and Mosques in the First Millennium,” and “Cathedrals, Monasteries, and Caliphates”—professors ask students to consider how the design and embellishment of spaces that are sacred to Christian and non-Christian faiths help form and develop the practice of those faiths.
As well, a number of art history faculty develop seminars that relate to artistic and spiritual subjects they are studying. Dr. William Barnes, whose academic specialty is the art of ancient Mexico, developed a graduate seminar titled “Blood, Sacrifice, and Spectacle in Aztec Mexico,” and guided students in exploring the role that religious rites and ritual violence played in that society and how they were depicted by its artists.
Dr. Elizabeth Kindall used her expertise in Asian art to offer a graduate seminar on “Religious Tourism in Chinese Art.” In the seminar, students examined the new anthropological field of religious tourism and asked about the degree of religiosity associated with trips to specific sacred sites, the impact of tourism on these sites, and the perceived roles of religious travelers during and after such trips. Dr. Kindall is writing a book that analyzes the ways in which early religious travelers made pilgrimages to the Yandang Mountains in an attempt to understand the Chan Buddhist values expressed in 14th century Chinese paintings of monasteries and mountains.
Dr. Victoria Young, who brings to the classroom her expertise in interpreting the meaning of Western religious architecture, is currently completing a book for the University of Minnesota Press on the vision of mid-20th century liturgical architecture expressed by the designer of the Saint John’s Abbey Church in Collegeville, Minnesota. Previously, she studied the meaning of monastic design expressed by Mount Saint Bernard Abbey in Leicestershire, England.
Dr. Heather Shirey is a specialist in the African-Brazilian religion Candomblé, which became known to the world through photos published beginning in the late 1940s. Dr. Shirey’s work has examined traditional means of artistic expression, such as sculpture, photography and watercolors, that present to the world the previously invisible religious practices of Candomblé, which had been repressed by mainstream powers in Brazil. She has also examined less traditional expressions of art, such as rituals, costumes and beading, which have been used to express the identity and spiritual values of people of the African diaspora in Brazil.
In the music department, students can further explore connections between musical expression and worship in courses such as “Introduction to Liturgical Music,” and they may pursue the bachelor of arts degree in liturgical music, which requires them to complete a specialty in voice, keyboard, or guitar performance, a core of courses in music history, theory, and literature, as well as courses in theology on topics such as worship and sacramentality.
Our art history department provides a particularly rich array of courses that probe connections between the visual arts and religious beliefs and expression beyond the Christian traditions. Among the department’s survey courses that look at the spiritual and cultural meanings of art are these: “Art of Mesoamerica,” which considers pre-Colombian art and architecture, including religious iconography in Mesoamerica; “Pacific Art,” which includes a consideration of artistic expression of the religious values of people in Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia; and “Buddhist Art,” which examines monuments and art objects associated with Buddhism as it is practiced in China and Japan.
In each of these art history courses—“Sacred Architecture and Space,” “Churches and Mosques in the First Millennium,” and “Cathedrals, Monasteries, and Caliphates”—professors ask students to consider how the design and embellishment of spaces that are sacred to Christian and non-Christian faiths help form and develop the practice of those faiths.
As well, a number of art history faculty develop seminars that relate to artistic and spiritual subjects they are studying. Dr. William Barnes, whose academic specialty is the art of ancient Mexico, developed a graduate seminar titled “Blood, Sacrifice, and Spectacle in Aztec Mexico,” and guided students in exploring the role that religious rites and ritual violence played in that society and how they were depicted by its artists.
Dr. Elizabeth Kindall used her expertise in Asian art to offer a graduate seminar on “Religious Tourism in Chinese Art.” In the seminar, students examined the new anthropological field of religious tourism and asked about the degree of religiosity associated with trips to specific sacred sites, the impact of tourism on these sites, and the perceived roles of religious travelers during and after such trips. Dr. Kindall is writing a book that analyzes the ways in which early religious travelers made pilgrimages to the Yandang Mountains in an attempt to understand the Chan Buddhist values expressed in 14th century Chinese paintings of monasteries and mountains.
Dr. Victoria Young, who brings to the classroom her expertise in interpreting the meaning of Western religious architecture, is currently completing a book for the University of Minnesota Press on the vision of mid-20th century liturgical architecture expressed by the designer of the Saint John’s Abbey Church in Collegeville, Minnesota. Previously, she studied the meaning of monastic design expressed by Mount Saint Bernard Abbey in Leicestershire, England.
Dr. Heather Shirey is a specialist in the African-Brazilian religion Candomblé, which became known to the world through photos published beginning in the late 1940s. Dr. Shirey’s work has examined traditional means of artistic expression, such as sculpture, photography and watercolors, that present to the world the previously invisible religious practices of Candomblé, which had been repressed by mainstream powers in Brazil. She has also examined less traditional expressions of art, such as rituals, costumes and beading, which have been used to express the identity and spiritual values of people of the African diaspora in Brazil.
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People fill the stage during the 24th annual St. Thomas Christmas Concert at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis on Sunday, December 4, 2011. Photo reproduced with the permission of the University of St. Thomas.
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Our musical ensembles also encounter other cultures when they travel and perform abroad. About every third year, our Liturgical Choir makes a January pilgrimage. That pilgrimage has taken students to Rome, where they performed at the Vatican, and this year, they provided music for religious services on a trip to Spain. Too, our Concert Choir and Symphonic Wind Ensemble have performed for religious services or given concerts of sacred music in such countries as Greece, Ireland, Italy, Australia, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Cuba. In January 2012, the Symphonic Wind Ensemble made a 12-day concert tour to India, where the students performed in five locations and encountered such important religious sites as the Taj Mahal, the Lotus Temple, Huyumayun’s Tomb, and the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial.
With support from pediatrician, artist, and Holocaust survivor Robert Fisch, the Symphonic Wind Ensemble in 2011 performed the world premiere of Israeli composer and concentration camp survivor Boris Pigovat’s “Light from the Yellow Star: Art, Faith, Humanity,” a five-movement work combining music, art, narrative, and dance. The performance at the Ordway Center in St. Paul was intended to explore how people find it possible to believe in the good of humanity in the face of horror.
For more than twenty years, members of our community have organized and presented the St. Thomas Sacred Arts Festival, which focuses on artistic traditions that articulate the ways in which people express the divine. The art forms presented during the festival include music, poetry, dance, film, theater, and painting, and all the festival’s events are open to the public. In fall 2013, we exhibited “Faces of Faith,” which highlighted Christian sacred imagery from the art collections of the university. The exhibit included works in the Catholic tradition, as well as Greek and Russian Orthodox pieces. Some are instantly recognizable as traditional Catholic artworks, whereas others reflect a blending of Catholicism and indigenous art from Africa, Asia, and the Americas. A significant portion of the works in the exhibit were drawn from a recent donation of religious art from Father Dennis Dease, who retired this year after serving 22 years as our university president. This gift of art from his personal collection is an important addition to the university’s permanent collection and includes a large number of crucifixes. From traditional representations of the Passion of Christ to more highly abstracted metal wire or wooden mosaic works, many media and cultures from the 15th century to the present day are represented in his collection.
A major expansion of our commitment to the arts occurred in 2007, when the Crosier Catholic fathers and brothers who have been based in Minnesota since 1910 donated the collection of art they had assembled since they began working with Asmat people in Indonesia in 1958. The Asmat are a semi-nomadic people of the coastal rainforest of West Papua, Indonesia, and their art and artifacts, including shields, spears and masks, convey powerful messages about their religious and spiritual beliefs. Our American Museum of Asmat Art at the University of St. Thomas (AMAA@UST) uses those artworks to explain to students such beliefs as the Asmat peoples’ conviction that everything, whether humans, animals, plants, or inanimate objects, is imbued with spirit. This museum is located in a spacious new gallery in our Anderson Student Center, and is open to the public free of charge. Given our commitment to preserving and studying Asmat art, and to building visibility for art created by the peoples of the Pacific, the College of Arts and Sciences also serves as publisher of Pacific Arts, the academic journal of the Pacific Arts Association.
In all these endeavors, we are eager to continue our longstanding teaching and learning about relationships between the arts and religious faith, and we believe our new partnership with ARTS is just one of many ways in which that exploration will persist.
With support from pediatrician, artist, and Holocaust survivor Robert Fisch, the Symphonic Wind Ensemble in 2011 performed the world premiere of Israeli composer and concentration camp survivor Boris Pigovat’s “Light from the Yellow Star: Art, Faith, Humanity,” a five-movement work combining music, art, narrative, and dance. The performance at the Ordway Center in St. Paul was intended to explore how people find it possible to believe in the good of humanity in the face of horror.
For more than twenty years, members of our community have organized and presented the St. Thomas Sacred Arts Festival, which focuses on artistic traditions that articulate the ways in which people express the divine. The art forms presented during the festival include music, poetry, dance, film, theater, and painting, and all the festival’s events are open to the public. In fall 2013, we exhibited “Faces of Faith,” which highlighted Christian sacred imagery from the art collections of the university. The exhibit included works in the Catholic tradition, as well as Greek and Russian Orthodox pieces. Some are instantly recognizable as traditional Catholic artworks, whereas others reflect a blending of Catholicism and indigenous art from Africa, Asia, and the Americas. A significant portion of the works in the exhibit were drawn from a recent donation of religious art from Father Dennis Dease, who retired this year after serving 22 years as our university president. This gift of art from his personal collection is an important addition to the university’s permanent collection and includes a large number of crucifixes. From traditional representations of the Passion of Christ to more highly abstracted metal wire or wooden mosaic works, many media and cultures from the 15th century to the present day are represented in his collection.
A major expansion of our commitment to the arts occurred in 2007, when the Crosier Catholic fathers and brothers who have been based in Minnesota since 1910 donated the collection of art they had assembled since they began working with Asmat people in Indonesia in 1958. The Asmat are a semi-nomadic people of the coastal rainforest of West Papua, Indonesia, and their art and artifacts, including shields, spears and masks, convey powerful messages about their religious and spiritual beliefs. Our American Museum of Asmat Art at the University of St. Thomas (AMAA@UST) uses those artworks to explain to students such beliefs as the Asmat peoples’ conviction that everything, whether humans, animals, plants, or inanimate objects, is imbued with spirit. This museum is located in a spacious new gallery in our Anderson Student Center, and is open to the public free of charge. Given our commitment to preserving and studying Asmat art, and to building visibility for art created by the peoples of the Pacific, the College of Arts and Sciences also serves as publisher of Pacific Arts, the academic journal of the Pacific Arts Association.
In all these endeavors, we are eager to continue our longstanding teaching and learning about relationships between the arts and religious faith, and we believe our new partnership with ARTS is just one of many ways in which that exploration will persist.
