Can nuns be visual artists?

Among my Sisters of Christian Charity, I can think of quite a few Sisters who are very talented and much appreciated artists — in addition to our many talented musical artists, we have Sisters who are gifted painters, talented photographers, and even one (although I am not sure she considers herself an artist) who is a gifted videographer. Included among the Sister painters is one Sister who had an exhibit of her recent work and “sold” every single piece in the show as I understand (that series of work reflected her experiences of grief and healing following the death of her mother). We have Sisters who are gifted calligraphers, banner makers, decorators, and floral arrangers. And among our newest additions, we have a candidate who is a talented ballerina. We also have Sisters who are talented display makers, card makers, collage makers, and picture framers.

Stepping outside “my” community, I have Sister friends who are professional sculptors who even do commissioned pieces. The Daughters of Saint Paul, whom I also know, have many Sisters with artistic talents including music, writing, and visual arts. Some are photographers; some are illustrators.

Whether lived in consecrated life, married life, or single life, the relationship between one’s personal life journey, and art, and theology, and the encounter with the sacred is an amazing treasure. Enjoy the wonders God has in store for you!

I was both a visual artist and a graphic designer before entering my community. My sisters have been very supportive of my continuing pursuit of images that reflect our walk with God, as well as supporting my recent cartoon books that reflect our laughs with God. Time is always the constraint, here, but that is true in every walk of life.

Sister Julie –

Thank you for your site and, first, Sister mine, why are certain nuns “your” nuns? What gives, Jules?

And, second, thank you for this thread about nuns who are artists.
I have not had a chance to look at all of the postings or links but could not wait to say that Sister Brancato’s “Last Supper” took my breath away. As a newly returned white Catholic who has found her home in a Josephite Church in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, “Catholic” images of darker and black peoples – that just location of the Church and her people in the faces of the people who accompanied Jesus – thrill me. Years ago, I spent time in Bucharest, Romania and found my way to and fell in love with a small Orthodox community (The Stavropoleos Church was built in 1722- 1724 by the Greek hieromonk Ioanichie. The church is a UNESCO protected monument. This Orthodox Church combines late-Renaissance and Byzantine styles with elements of the Romanian folk-art style. Inside are superb wood and stone carvings and a richly ornamented iconostasis). Each time I visited the church, I then went to the Romanian Peasant Museum, which had won international awards. The most beautiful exhibit I saw at the Pesant Museum was this: the museum had gone through its collection and taken black and white photographs of all images of Mary, Joseph and Jesus. Separated by subject, every image was printed in the exact size and were laid on in grids on long rectangular tables. Finally, I saw hundreds of images of the Jesus, Joseph and Mary who reflected the people, cultures, histories of the Bible. And in that honesty, I saw Jesus, not myself. Sister Brancato, your work – The Last Supper – is gorgeous. Thank you, Sister Julie, for sharing it.

Jean

Sister Julie – Thanks for that explanation (and for clearly being willing to play). I love that explanation. I am starting discernment about religious life and your site, with its humor, pleases me to no end. You have a new nunfan.

Check out Ministry of the Arts – http://www.ministryofthearts.org
This is the ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph in LaGrange Park, Il. These sisters are musicians, painters, sculptors and writers. We get our Christmas cards from them each year – they are beautiful.