|
Historical exhibit comes to life through student work
UW-FDL student Kyle Gorenschek prepares one
of the pieces for display in the exhibit. Photo
courtesy of Windhover Center for the Arts. |
UW-Fond du Lac students and art
Professor John Scotello
spent the summer of 2008 scouring the archives of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Agnes (CSA) in preparation for an exhibit of more than 1,000 items at the Windhover Center for the Arts.
Stained glass windows, sacred relics and a physician’s office from decades ago are all part of the exhibit “A Celebration of Spirit, Service-150 Years of the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes” scheduled to run through March 2009.
The show was directed, designed, curated and installed by Scotello with the help of many art students.
It all began with an ART 175 service-learning project and grew to involve members of the Art Students League of UW-Fond du Lac.
“We crafted a space and placed art, artifacts, sacred relics, photographs, and digital media within that space in a way that shows the sheer magnitude of items while conveying who these women (a cloister of nuns) are, as independent, strong, pioneering, religious, living their lives in a very humble manner while serving others,” Scotello said.
Many lost and forgotten items were discovered in the process as students re-created an art deco doctor’s office, restored several early European paintings and created eight individual alcoves/galleries to showcase different aspects of the sisters’ lives and history.
“The sheer magnitude of items to choose from was daunting,” Scotello noted.
There were nearly 200 photographs, art made by the nuns themselves over the past 150 years and much more including a reliquary crucifix (with parts of a saint inside) to be sorted through.
“The students are really proud of what they accomplished,” Scotello added. “They were asked to put up a show, instead they created a museum.”
« BACK NEXT PAGE »
|
 |
