Canticle Art

The Canticle
841 13TH AVE N
CLINTON, IOWA 52732-5162
563-242-7903 FAX 563-242-8024

Since it's opening, The Canticle has attracted gifts that have permitted the commissioning of new art to grace its rooms. The blessing of these gifts is on-going and often unexpected. Artists help us define who we are and where we are going. The artists who shaped the new pieces of visual art for The Canticle have done this for us.

Simplicity. Balance. Gratitude. Hospitality. Oneness with God and all creation. Right relationships. These are some of the enduring truths of who we are. These are the truths embodied in the art commissioned for our home. Linda Willaredt, William Hannan and Bob O'Hare of the Quad Cities, Larraine Lauter OSU of Owensboro, Kentucky, and Jerzy Kenar of Chicago enhance our ways of seeing and believing through their artistic expression.

The stained glass windows and doors of The Canticle chapel were designed and constructed after much lengthy counsel and deliberation by the artist, Linda Willaredt, who spent entire days in retreat in the chapel. They represent the deepest meaning of "The Canticle of Creation," the essence of simplicity and gratitude.

Bill Hannan's cruciform reminds us of the continuity of God's promise in the image of fire.

In "Kentucky Windows," artist Larraine Anne Lauter OSU has created "a lush, sacred garden, a peaceable kingdom, a locus for the reign of God," - her vision of the birthplace of the congregation, a place of right relationships.

Fabric/mixed media on denim, painted/fused/sewn

by Larraine Anne Lauter OSU, artist

Singing Moon Studio, Owensboro, Kentucky

I have pictured Mount Olivet in an idealized state, as it might have appeared in the dreams of one of those who left it behind; as a lush, sacred garden, a peaceable kingdom, a locus for the reign of God. Its inhabitants have created a circle of protection and care for those they serve and for one another, within the circle of the hills and fields of their land. It is an insubstantial vision, for the Spirit blows in the spring winds and leaves the insecure and unsettled in spite of their dream. They will be called away, through trial and storm, to a new land and a new life....

The window depicts the Kentucky knobs region in April, a month when the knobs are painted with redbud and dogwood. April is the tornado month - often high and gusty winds will signal an approaching change of threatening weather....

The landscape is an actual portrayal of the view from the hill on which Mount Olivet was built. The viewer looks on the scene from the unique perspective of the dreamer - as if able to fly with the birds....

Gethsemani lies just out of sight and over the hills to the viewer's left.

Mount Olivet in Gethsemani, Kentucky, was the first home of the Sisters of St. Francis, now of Clinton, Iowa.

The convent-school was built by the Trappist monks of Gethsemani in repayment to their neighbors for helping them build their abbey and church.

Forbidden by church law to teach girls, they found a lay woman - Caroline Warren - willing to take on the task. She was joined by her 20 year-old niece, Sally Walker, who did domestic work, and by Lizzie Lillis, a 19 year-old girl from Ireland who would conduct classes for the girls.

The three women began to live a communal life of prayer and work. Not long thereafter, the Abbot, Benedict Berger, encouraged the three to be received into the Third Order of St. Francis. This took place on January 21, 1866.

A cruciform reminiscent of the crucifixes of Cimabue, a contemporary of Giotta whose works adorn the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, now hangs in The Canticle Gathering Area outside the Chapel.

The work was commissioned last year and hung in the summer of 2001. The artist is William Hannan of Moline, Illinois

Hannan was asked to produce a contemporary work reflecting Franciscan spirituality. He chose the symbol of fire and the cruciform shape and muted colors to achieve that goal.

"The muted colors are in homage to Tuscany, the area of Italy in which Assisi lies," said Hannan, who has studied the artists of the period and locale for many years and incorporated that research in other projects including a series of stained glass windows for a church in Davenport.

"Nothing could be more symbolic of Francis, bearer of the stigmata, than the cross," the artist continued. "Therefore, the total work is the cross."

"The first time God was present to human beings and talked directly to them was in the form of fire," said Hannan, recalling the Old testament story.

The right panel, the blazing loaf, recalls the story of Francis and Clare's final meeting. It was reported by observers that when the Saints talked in the woods below Assisi, the fervor of their discussion about the love of God caused the whole neighborhood to appear to be aflame.

"The entirety of the work takes on that one sign of the presence of God as fire," said Hannan. "Fire is prominent in the Old and New Testaments as a sign of the cleansing and healing power of God," he said. "Today we perpetuate that symbol in our sanctuary lamps and paschal candles."

The three paintings are of polymer acrylic on birch-faced plywood, "a smooth and receptive" surface, Hannan explained.

On Saturday, September 8, 2001, a long wait was ended with the blessing of the rose window in the wall high above the altar in The Canticle chapel.

Special guests were Linda Willaredt of Iowa Art Glass, Davenport, and woodworker Bob O'Hare. Linda created the window and the chapel doors in partnership with O'Hare, who also collaborated in the painting and installation of the window. Ms. Willaredt's remarks follow.

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by Linda Willaredt, artist

The imagery in The Canticle's rose window is taken from St. Francis' "Canticle of Creation." The sun, moon and stars, the arch of sky: water, rain, wind and cloud; fire, smoke, energy and transformation; flowers, fruit, trees, the nest of life and nurtured growth: these are the elements that are harvested from the creation canticle and represented visually in the window. These comprise the traditional four elements of creation: the earth, the air, the fire, the water.

In the way that our earth environment is a symbiotic, interactive, interdependent system, so too are these images. On one level, many of the elements in the window represent traditional religious iconography. For example, the rainbow symbolizes resurrection and eternal life, and water is a symbol for baptism. On another level, all of the images represented in the window represent one concept, our environmental system, our world, God's gift to all of us. In other words, while the window is composed of multiple symbols, it also represents one inclusive idea or image.

The concept of the world represented as a system seemed to me to be relevant to your Franciscan community for several reasons. First of all, as a system, it is reflective of your own interactive, interdependent community here at The Canticle. Also, it seemed to me to reflect the dynamic relationship between the sisters and the world. Your commitment to peace and social justice, reducing human suffering and promoting respect for all life involves the community very actively in the world. You have not isolated yourselves from the world. You are very much a part of it, and the effect your community has had on the world has made the system a better place as a whole. Whatever affects one part of our system affects all parts of it. Your community seems to reflect this understanding, and the window reflects this also.