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Carlos Tobar stands with one of his many paintings

January 8, 2024, Adrian, Michigan – Beginning in early February, visitors to INAI: A Space Apart will have the opportunity to view artwork that ranges from intense commentary on current events or ordinary daily life to colorful depictions of life in Ecuador or in a land of fantasy.

Works by Carlos Tobar will open on Friday, February 2, 2024, and close on Sunday, April 21, 2024, at INAI, an art gallery adjacent to Weber Retreat and Conference Center. An opportunity to meet the artist is offered from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Saturday, February 3, 2024. The Artist’s Reception is from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 10, 2024.

A native of Ecuador, Carlos and his wife Rachel have been residents of Adrian since 1985. A retired graphic artist and commercial offset printer, Carlos has lived out his passion throughout his life: depicting world events, ordinary events, and the joy of life through painting and other media, including stone, wood, block printing, and mosaics.

“I always say I paint the truth,” Carlos said. “I want people to see what is going on in the world.” For Carlos, truth includes commentary on the difficult situations of life and current events. “One painting shows what a mother is feeling in Israel, the pain at the moment,” he said. Moved by the war in Iraq, he painted When Men Become Animals. “The feelings of my heart I put into that painting,” he said, adding that he used exaggeration in the faces, hands, and arms to depict his feelings toward the war.

But Carlos also sees the truth in people’s everyday lives – and his hometown in Ecuador. In one painting, Moments of Happiness, he used bright colors to depict people dancing for joy. He also painted scenes from Ecuador, such as the jungle surrounding the town where he was raised, an open-air fruit market, and the chickens raised on his family farm. “For me, it’s to have a good time remembering,” he said. He often uses his paintings from Ecuador to share his memories with his four children and eight grandchildren. At the same time, he also likes to introduce an element of fantasy into his colorful paintings. “In my paintings, everything is possible,” he said.

Despite his desire to depict the truth, Carlos never tells his viewers how to interpret his paintings. “I like it when the viewers interpret it themselves,” he said. “The paintings speak for themselves.”

Along with the paintings, Carlos will exhibit some of the many drawings that are often the basis for his paintings. “My mind is working, working, working,” he explained. “During the pandemic, I was very busy, using the time, and I produced many drawings. Some I will turn into a work on canvas, and some I will call a drawing.”

Visitors are welcome to come to INAI anytime to view exhibits or find a quiet place for reflection. INAI is open daily from 9:00 a.m. through 6:00 p.m. For other hours, call 517-266-4090 to make an appointment.

Weber Center is on the campus of the Adrian Dominican Sisters Motherhouse, Adrian, Michigan. Traveling east on Siena Heights Drive, pass the Adrian Rea Literacy Center and turn left just before the solar panel-covered parking lot. Follow the signs to Weber Center. For information, call the Weber Center at 517-266-4000.


January 2, 2024, Seattle, Washington – Sister Judy Byron, OP, long-time Board member, was the first recipient of the Mercy Housing Northwest (MHNW) Founding Communities Award presented during the organization’s Gala, Power of Home, held in Seattle.

The gala raised nearly $400,000 to support its Mercy Scholars Program to expand education to families in the affordable housing properties in the Seattle area. The event included a panel of people impacted by MHNW’s programs, including a recent college graduate who had lived in an MHNW home since age 2.

Recently, Sister Judy explained in an interview, MHNW had been “very cognizant” of the five local communities of Sisters who founded the organization in the 1990s: the Edmonds Dominican Sisters (who merged with the Adrian Dominican Sisters in 2003), the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, the Sisters of Providence, the Tacoma Dominican Sisters, and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace.

Mercy Housing Northwest “decided to give annually a founder’s award to someone or to a group that’s been involved with it,” Sister Judy explained. “They decided to begin with me. I was honored and humbled.” Besides serving on the board, Sister Judy has helped facilitate grants to the organization. The grants include the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Resilient Communities Initiative, which focuses on at-home, after-school programs for school-age children living in the housing units.

In her brief acceptance speech, Sister Judy said, she spoke of the history of MHNW. “The five communities, when we looked at the needs of our day in the early 1990s, were concerned about the families that were homeless, so we decided to develop affordable housing for families with small children. That was very ambitious for communities whose main ministries were healthcare and education.”

The Sisters in the five communities looked for organizations already involved in affordable housing and discovered Mercy Housing, Inc., founded in 1982 by Sister Timothy O’Roark, a Sister of Mercy of Omaha. “We affiliated with them and became one of their centers.” The other centers are Mercy Housing California, Lakefront, Mountain Plains, and Southeast.

In its 32 years, MHNW has established 55 housing properties throughout Washington and Idaho, providing homes for 5,000 families. However, the efforts of MHNW go beyond affordable housing. “We aren’t just giving people an apartment to live in,” Sister Judy said. “We’re giving them a home and helping them build a community where they can thrive.”

MHNW offers optional residential services to families who want to participate in them: onsite educational programs and after-school programs for children, financial literacy programs, healthy food and exercise programs, job training, and help with citizenship and English language skills for immigrants.

The 32 years of MHNW affordable housing and resident services have produced stories of thousands of positively affected people. Sister Judy said one of her favorite stories is of a young woman who left a domestic violence shelter with her two children. She attended classes at a junior college and had a part-time job. “She said how important the after-school program was to her,” Sister Judy recalled. “When she got home, she knew that the kids had done their homework and had had a snack. She could focus on fixing dinner.” The woman eventually graduated, got a job, and moved out of the property – and then served as a member of the MHNW Board.

The work of MHNW has affected not only the families living in the housing community, but also people involved in its ministry. “Over the years, the people we’ve been able to attract to work with us have made it the success it is,” Sister Judy said. “The people who work with us share the mission as much as we do. They are really committed.” Many groups and individuals deserve the award, she said. “I’m happy to be the beginning, but there are many who will follow me.”


 

 

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