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Art and the Religious Imagination
March 29, 2009
MOCRA assembles a panel of distinguished museum directors and theologians to discuss the roles that secular and religious art museums can play in the presentation of art with spiritual and religious content. Panelists will also explore how spiritual and religious art has the potential to invite viewers into a deeper interior journey.
Participants:
Pamela Ambrose (Director, Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago) will speak on “The Spiritual in Art and the Public Response”
Gerald D. Bolas (former Director, Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill) will speak on “Sacred Objects in the Secular Art Museum”
Charles Bouchard, O.P. (Vice President for Theological Education, Ascension Health, St. Louis) will speak on “Suffering and the Presence of God in Good Friday”
Kevin Burke, S.J. (Acting President, Jesuit School of Theology, Berkeley, CA) will speak on “Recapitulation: Georges Rouault's Miserere et Guerre Series and the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius”
Fr. Burke was not able to participate due to unforeseen circumstances
The panel will be introduced and moderated by MOCRA Director Terrence E. Dempsey, S.J., who will also speak on “The Museum of Contemporary Religious Art: Reflecting on Fifteen Years of the Pursuit of the Spirit.” A panel discussion and time for audience questions will follow the individual presentations.
above, from left:
Charles Bouchard, Pamela Ambrose, and Gerald Bolas. Photo by Jeffrey Vaughn.
Watch and on the MOCRA Voices Vimeo channel
Listen to interviews with Pamela Ambrose on Episode 5: Pamela Ambrose and Ena Heller and Episode 20: Pamela Ambrose
| Exhibition | |
|---|---|
| 2018-10-07 to 2018-10-14 | 
Walking in Hope: A Weeklong Celebration of the Canonization of Archbishop Oscar Romero |
| 2017-04-20 | 
“The Hand Acts Out a Joyous Dance”: Celebrating the Art of Bernard Maisner |
| 2016-09-25 | 
Erika Diettes: “Stories Told from the Threshold” |
| 2015-12-06 | 
So That You Know Each Other: Intercultural Reflections on Art, Beauty, and Islam |
| 2014-11-15 | 
John Handley: “The Religious Art of Pablo Picasso” |
| 2018-09-28 to 2018-09-29 | 
Fleur-de-Lis Floral Art Walk |
| 2014-02-23 | 
“The Economy of Gift” in Socially Engaged Art Practices: A Public Deliberation |
| 2013-10-02 | 
Art21: The Spiritual Light screening at CAM |
| 2013-03-02 | 
Rituals and Spirituality in the Performative Photographic Work of Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons |
| 2012-11-11 | 
Breaking Boundaries: A Conversation about the Art of Patrick Graham |
| 2012-05-20 | 
Stephen P. Durchslag: “The Jewish Experience and the Haggadah” |
| 2012-03-27 |
2012 Loyola Chair Lecture: “The Image of the Wounded Body of Christ and the Modern Social Consciousness” |
| 2011-10-06 |
2011 Loyola Chair Lecture: “The Pursuit of the Spirit: The Renewed Interest in the Spiritual and Religious Dimensions in Contemporary Art” |
| 2011-05-01 | 
Terrence Dempsey, S.J.: “Georges Rouault and the Art of Sacred Engagement” |
| 2010-11-15 |
Terrence Demspey, S.J.: “Creating a Religious Environment through Contemporary Art and Architecture” |
| 2010-03-28 |
Terrence Dempsey, S.J.: “The Wounded Body of Christ and the Modern Social Conscience” |
| 2009-12-01 | 
Day With(out) Art |
| 2009-11-15 | 
Michael Byron: “Cosmic Tears: Word and Image” |
| 2009-03-29 |
Art and the Religious Imagination |
| 2008-04-15 | 
Wu Hung: “What Is Contemporary Chinese Art?” |
| 2007-10-07 | 
Celluloid Bible Classics: The Ten Commandments |
| 2007-11-04 | 
Celluloid Bible Classics: Ben-Hur |
| 2007-09-16 | 
Michael Morris, O.P.: “Moving Pictures: The Bible and Beyond” |
| 2007-03-30 | 
Peter Frank: “An Oskar Fischinger Tribute” |
| 2006-12-01 | 
Day With(out) Art |
| 2005-12-04 | 
Robert Rosenblum: “DoDo Jin Ming: An Art Historian's View” |
| 2003-09-07 | 
To Make Extraordinary: The Role of Sacred Objects in Life and Worship |
| 2002-05-04 | 
The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment: A University Response |
| 2002-04-30 | 
Fred D. Gray: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment: A Study That Should Never Have Occurred |
| 2002-01-31 | 
Cloudlanders |
| 2002-01-26 | 
Thomas Sokolowski: “The Last Temptation: Andy Warhols Art as Belief” |
| 2000-11-30 | 
Day With(out) Art |
| 2001-04-06 | 
Bare Naked Statues in concert |
| 1999-04-15 | 
Two Lectures: Ellen Dissanayake and Jack Renard |
| 1999-03-27 | 
Bernard Maisner: “The Art of the Illuminator” |
| 1998-03-22 | 
Renaissance and Modern |
| 1997-11-15 | 
The Role of the Computer in Contemporary Art |
| 1997-07-24 | 
Jennifer Biddle: Body, Country, Canvas: Meaning and Identity in Central Desert Aboriginal Women’s Art |
| 1997-06-07 |
Creativity as Ancestral Mind: Living with the Ancestors |
| 1997-02-27 | 
The Artist and the Theologian Dialogue: The Body of Christ as Veiling and Unveiling the Invisible God |
| 1996-12-01 | 
Day Without Art |
| 1996-05-19 | 
The Artist as Poet: Readings by Edward Boccia |
| 1995-05-20 | 
Ian Friend: “The Edge of Belief” |
| 1995-05-04 | 
Peter Selz: “Degenerate Art” |
| 1995-02-05 | 
Lynn Hague in recital |
| 1994-11-13 |
Terrence Dempsey, S.J.: “The Spiritual in Art in the Time of AIDS” |
| 1994-12-01 |
Day Without Art |
| 1994-11-05 |
Thomas Sokolowski: “The Changing Face of AIDS” |
| 1994-11-01 |
The Amici String Quartet in recital |
| 1994-10-15 | 
Consecrations: The Spiritual in Art in the TIme of AIDS dance program and opening reception |
| 1993-10-29 | 
I Remember Alvin |
| 1993-11-05 | 
An Evening with Katherine Dunham |
| 1992-11-07 | 
The Artist and Sacred Space |