www.diartsop.org
Gathering News
DOMINICAN INSTITUTE
FOR THE ARTS
2024 DIA Virtual Gallery
Go to photo page to see photos of the gathering online.
Hall of Fame- Fra Angelico Winners from the beginning
Presentation of Pin to members who have been part of DIA for 25 years
Dominican Artists Gather to Celebrate Their Role as ‘Artists for the Earth’ By Sr. Barbara Kelly, OP
About 50 members of the Dominican Institute for the Arts (DIA) met July 22-25,
2024, at Weber Retreat Center in Adrian Michigan, for their annual gathering,
under the theme, Artists for the Earth.
Begun more than 25 years ago, the DIA is a grassroots organization of Sisters, Friars,Nuns, Laity, and Associates who preach through the arts. Members range from painters,sculptors, and photographers to musicians, poets, dancers, filmmakers, dramatists, and appreciators of the arts.
Sister Joye Gros, OP (Peace) began her keynote address on the morning of July 23 by affirming the gifts that artists bring to the world. Their gift of seeing and feeling requires attention and intention, she said. “As an artist, your gift is to help others see. You see things others don’t see, and that’s what Jesus did … We are given gifts that we might share them.”
She spent much of her talk on the theme of the conference, drawing from Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ prophetic encyclical on the environment. “This conference calls you not only to respect Earth, but to praise and honor God through your art.”Sister Joye challenged the artists to connect to Laudato Si’ through their artistic gifts. “As artists of the Earth, you stay close to the Earth,” she said. “Your eyes and ears, your nose, all your senses can bring you close to the Earth.” She encouraged them to “stay close to the ground to hear the cry of humanity and the cry of Earth.” While artists focus much of their work on beauty,
Sister Joye said, they also need to be connected to the suffering of the world. “The cry of the Earth is the cry of beauty and joy, but it’s also a cry of devastation and pain,” she said. She made reference to Hildegard of Bingen’s image of the need to fly with two wings: joy and suffering. “Trying to fly with
one wing will leave us Earthbound and unfulfilled,” Sister Joye noted. She gave specific examples of artists who were transformed by suffering and pain and who used their new gifts to reach out to others in pain.
Finally, Sister Joye spoke of the need for artists to find healing and comfort from the devastation that they saw and experienced. She held up gratitude as one way to find grace. “Gratefulness allows us to nurture a keen eye that no longer passes the small moments that make up the greater part of our lives,” she said. Members of the DIA can also bring encouragement and support to one another
