Underwriting support from:
Sister Mary Navarre with one of the local Chimbote children. /Courtesy of Mary Navarre, OP
Map to DCM free parking on Lakeside, north off 2025 East Fulton.
Dominican Center at Marywood is pleased to show the work of several Dominican Sisters through August 27, 2012. The Marywood Gallery is a space reserved by Dominican Center for the purpose of exhibiting art created by West Michigan Artists and is located in the ground floor main lobby of the Dominican Center at Marywood. (see map)
One of the featured artists shares her thoughts
Pictured above is Dominican Sister Mary Navarre, OP in Chimbote, Peru. Sister Mary is a former Leadership Team member of the Grand Rapids religious community. Chimbote is the location of one of the community's missions and a place she grew to love from the moment of her first interaction with the local people. Some of her photographs are featured in our August exhibit. They are framed and available for purchase.
Of her visit to Chimbote in 2009, Sister Mary says, "My first impression was one of enormous poverty. But then the beauty and the resourcefulness of the people became more and more apparent. We could see with our own eyes the great benefit of the Maternity Hospital, Well Baby Clinic and Orphanage. We heard stories of the four decades of struggle to provide this superb resource for and with the people of Chimbote. Together the people of Chimbote and our Sisters have worked to improve the lives of the children through healthcare, education and catechesis.The beauty of the people is evident - beauty in both a physical and deep spiritual sense," Navarre recalls. "We returned feeling blessed to be a part of this amazing story."
The photos that she enlarged and framed for the August exhibit depict people who live in barrios (neighborhoods) with few modern amenities. Her trip to Chimbote in 2009, with its raw poverty and magnificent beauty, was one of the highlights of Sister Mary's six-year term on the Leadership Team.
August - a special time for the Dominican Sisters
Each year during the month of August, the Dominican Sisters have a week-long celebration when all members of the community return to Grand Rapids to gather and celebrate the feast of Saint Dominic, their beloved Sisters whose jubilees they celebrate, and a time when they welcome the new lay Dominican Associates into a relationship with their Dominican family. Dominican Days (also known as Gathering Days) is a time of remembering, prayer, and looking forward to a future filled with much joy and hope.
Many of the Sisters express their spirituality through works of art in various mediums. This year, during the month of August, many of the Sisters have their artwork on exhibit, some of which is available for purchase, in the Dominican Center Art Gallery. Come and browse through the gallery – all are welcome to this free exhibit.
The Marywood Gallery is open to the public daily:
- Monday-Thursday 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.
- Friday 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.
- Saturday and Sunday 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Sister Francetta McCann, OP, is the curator of the Marywood Art Gallery. She contacts selected artists and works with them to arrange the showing of work produced by Michigan artists. The show changes every month or two, giving several local artists a venue to display and sell their artwork each year.
For more information, call the DCM front desk at 616.454.1241 (Option 5)
submitted by: Rosemary Steers, DCM
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