ABOUT ABBEY ART WORKS

A colorful part of the Saint Joseph Abbey campus celebrates 15 years of art, community involvement, and fellowship in 2024.

Benedictine monks have a history of dedication to learning and the arts, and the monks of Saint Joseph Abbey are no exception. Because of this, in 2009, former Abbot Justin Brown, O.S.B., and Fr. Augustine Foley, O.S.B., met with artist and educator Lyn Hill Taylor to begin establishing Abbey Art Works (AAW).

From the start, this endeavor was different from any seen before. With the motto, “We paint to let our souls know that we are listening,” the contemplative life of the artist was explored, and scholarship and research resulted in a unique program using the teaching of Leonardo da Vinci juxtaposed with modern neuroscience to prove that anyone can learn to paint. This course forms the bedrock all classes are built on at AAW.

Camp Abbey hosted the first Art Works classes, and then, thanks to generosity of former Saint Joseph Seminary College President-Rector Fr. Gregory Boquet, O.S.B., classes moved on campus and into Vianney Hall. Finally, in 2016, Abbey Art Works found its home in the Abbey’s renovated chicken coop.

Inspired by the example of Dom Gregory DeWit, O.S.B., several experienced and talented artist-teachers now offer group and individualized instruction for students to learn and participate in drawing, printmaking, landscape, portraits, and still-life painting. Classes are open to adults from the local community, to SJSC seminarians in their free time, to the monks and to students from the New Orleans area, the Gulf Coast region and beyond.

Abbey Art Works has also hosted many workshops, seminars, lectures and book signings through the years. There have also been demonstrations on printmaking, painting in pastel, watercolor, acrylic, oil, tempera, and en plein air, and on illuminated manuscripts. Each student brings his or her individual perspective to an activity with others, which creates a unique experience for all.

AAW’s instructors are ever aware of the excellence in the diverse arts found in the Abbey’s history, including the monks’ dedication to architectural purity in the design of the Abbey Church; the famous Dom Gregory de Wit murals in the church and the monks’ refectory; the internationally recognized music of Fr. Sean Duggan, O.S.B.; the influential scholarship on sacred art by the late Abbot Patrick Regan, O.S.B.; and the collection of portraits of the Abbots. In addition, Walker Percy, considered one of the foremost 20th century novelists, was a Benedictine oblate of Saint Joseph Abbey and rests in peace in the Abbey Cemetery.

THE FIRST FIVE YEARS 2009 TO 2014

Many of the founders continue to volunteer, participate and share memories of establishing AAW, finding and readying the studio space that was flooded just before opening, and of all the volunteers’ efforts that inspired everyone to persevere with renewed faith and hope.

Volunteers express so well the sentiments of so many during that time and now:

• “Thank you for making Abbey Art Works more than just classes, but a creative haven.”

• “The spiritual environment alone is mesmerizing, and the art school is like no other.”

• “When I cross that bridge I am mentally filled with peace and light.”

THE NEXT FIVE YEARS 2015-2019

During this time the Guild of St. Luke was formed as part of AAW’s response to the challenges posed by the damages to the Abbey caused by the great flood of 2016.

Also:

• de Wit’s original oil painting of St. Luke (the patron saint of artists) was donated to the Abbey by the family of Dr. Joseph Perret of New Orleans and remains on display in the Saint Luke Gallery at Abbey Art Works.

• Building improvements continued with the installation of a printmaking studio with a donated intaglio press, new counters and cabinets, overhead lighting, audio-visual equipment for 12 students, a lobby gallery with library space and donated books, the director’s office, and areas for still-life, portraits and more.

THE NEXT FIVE YEARS 2020 – 2024

AAW had a growing enrollment in 2020 and was working with the Council On Aging Saint Tammany (COAST) to provide watercolor instruction for seniors in the community. Articles featuring AAW appeared in New Orleans Magazine, The Times Picayune, The Clarion Herald, The Edge Magazine and other publications. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic.

 AAW leaders responded to the extended closure of the Abbey campus with the “Thoughtful Isolation” project. Although separated by the lockdown, the AAW community held together online, and more than 70 people participated in the project by creating their own vision of the Abbey Church and pond. Following the COVID shutdown, AAW hosted the “Thoughtful Isolation Art Fest,” and the artists’ pieces hung in the inaugural exhibit of the Saint Luke Gallery. This special event was very well attended and highly praised.

Following that exhibition, the work of two students trained at AAW have been exhibited in the gallery. Shows featured Nancy Tigert’s oil paintings, “Glimpses of Fontainebleau Park,” and Marta Ittenbach’s etchings in “Just Scratching the Surface.”