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August 26, 2025, Adrian, Michigan – Dominican artists – sisters, friars, laity, and associates from diverse congregations and provinces – came together in late July for the annual Gathering of the Dominican Institute for Arts (DIA) at Weber Retreat and Conference Center in Adrian.

Under the theme, “Preaching for Times Such as These: Preach the Word of God through Your Art,” the Dominican artists gathered to listen to inspiring input, participate in art workshops, share their art and experiences, pray together, form community, and celebrate together.

DIA members include “painters, musicians, dancers, sculptors, film makers, potters, poets, actors, composers, writers, designers of sacred space, dramatists, and any other art form you can imagine,” as well as those who appreciate and support the arts, according to the DIA website.

Awards were presented on the first evening with Adrian Dominican Sister Rosemary Asaro, OP, receiving the 2025 Spirit Award. The award is given to a DIA member who has “enriched the organization by going the extra mile, who does the chore unbeknownst to many, who does the little, insignificant jobs that seem unimportant,” said Sister Elizabeth Slenker, OP, a Sparkill Dominican Sister and then President of the DIA. 

Sister Rosemary became involved in the DIA through photographer Adrian Dominican Sister Joella Miller, OP. She first attended a DIA gathering four years ago and served on the planning committee for the 2024 gathering in Adrian. An art supporter as well as a musician through her cantoring, Sister Rosemary said she was surprised to receive the award, which recognized her willing presence and ability respond when needed. “I’m grateful that I still have the time and energy to be able to be of service to others,” Sister Rosemary said. “I’ve learned that often it’s the small things that count more than the big things.”

During the opening session, Pat Daly, an Associate of the Dominican Sisters of Peace, received the Fra Angelico Award. Named for the great 15th-century Dominican Renaissance artist, the award is the highest bestowed on a DIA member. 

“This award is presented every year to an artist who has exemplified Fra Angelico’s dedication to preaching through the arts,” Sister Elizabeth said. “The artist exemplifies the ideals of the DIA.” She noted that Pat “always said yes to working hard and enabling the DIA to grow and flourish.” She added that Pat is a “phenomenal preacher, authentic, very inclusive, faithful to the Dominican pillars [of prayer, study, community, and ministry or preaching], and has worked to create art.” Pat is a Past President of the DIA and preaches through poetry and nature photography.

Pat learned that she had received the Fra Angelico Award while attending the gathering virtually and expressed her surprise and gratitude for the award.

The first full day of the gathering began with prayer and a keynote address by Sinsinawa Dominican Sister Joeann Daley, OP, whose artistic work includes etchings, monoprints, lithographs, mixed media, and photo collages. She focused her talk on thresholds and milestones, noting that her first thresholds were her youth, growing up on a far and “being close to earth,” her call to Sinsinawa, Wisconsin, and from there to her ministry in Anaconda, Montana. 

Sister Joeann recalled transforming Anaconda – a town where the principal work was smelting copper – into a place where art was created and treasured. During a nine-month strike in Anaconda, Sister Joeann organized an art center and encouraged the residents to become involved in art. 

Sister Joeann also organized a traveling exhibit of the art created by the people of Anaconda. This caught the attention of the State Art Council, which hired her to travel around Montana – driving 100,000 miles in six years – to discover or foster art in the small towns.  

“It was an exciting time, because there was so much in some of the farthest, out-of-the-way places,” Sister Joeann recalled. “I feel very privileged to go to towns that most people go through on their way to somewhere else. I’ve seen dreams actualized.”  

She encouraged the artists to use their artistic vision to make a difference. “The nature of the artist is to see things in a different way,” she said. “We have a role in the broader community because our eyes are important and we can see possibilities.”

In the afternoon, the Dominican artists took the opportunity to explore new forms of art. Workshops at Weber Center focused on sacred movement and receiving poetry, while the nearby Adrian Center for the Arts hosted workshops by DIA members on glass fusion, clay creation, and metal smithing. 

On the final day, DIA members elected a new Board for the coming year: Associate John Mascazine (Peace), President; Sister Nancy Murray, OP (Adrian), Vice President; Sister Elizabeth Slenker, OP (Sparkill), Treasurer and Membership; Sister Rosemary Asaro, OP (Adrian), Secretary; and Sister Xiomara Méndez-Hernández, OP (Adrian), Father Rudolf Lowenstein, OP (Province of England), and Associate Mark Hanes (Peace), members at large.

The event concluded with liturgy and an evening of celebration and karaoke. 

Membership to the DIA is open to Dominican sisters, friars, laity, and associates who are committed to preaching through the arts in any art form, or to those who are supportive of the arts. More information is available on the DIA’s membership page.
 

Caption for above feature photo: Participants in the 2025 Dominican Institute for the Arts Gathering.

August 13, 2024, Adrian, Michigan – Sister Jeanne Stickling, OP, (Adrian) received the Fra Angelico Award, the highest honor bestowed by the DIA, during the closing Liturgy of the Dominican Institute for the Arts (DIA) gathering, July 22-25, 2024, at Weber Retreat and Conference Center in Adrian. Named after the great Dominican artist, Fra Angelico (1395-1455), the award is given to a DIA member who “exemplifies Fra Angelico’s dedication to furthering the Holy Preaching through art.”

Sister Jeanne, a sculptor and potter, also taught pottery classes. Her sculptures can be found throughout the country. A long-time, active member of the DIA, she has served on the DIA Board and on planning committees.

“I believe that working with clay can bring you into contact with the sacred,” she wrote in her DIA profile. “Your hands touch and grasp all four of the essential elements of Creation: earth, water, air, fire. For a Dominican artist, working with clay becomes a tactile centering prayer.”

Sister Catherine Anderson, OP (Grand Rapids), received the 2024 Spirit Award in recognition of her many years of service to the DIA. Most recent of her many services was her leading a workshop on bookmarks. 

Sister Catherine uses her experience of painting as an opportunity for contemplation. “The last few years I have been more aware how art can influence people in our culture in reference to the needs of the times especially in the area of justice and healing,” she wrote in her profile on the DIA website. “I continue to learn daily.”

About 50 DIA members attended the annual gathering, under the theme, Artists for the Earth. 

Begun more than 25 years ago, the DIA is a grassroots organization of Friars, Sisters, 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.”  

Sister Joye, who spent 13 years in leadership positions for the Dominican Sisters of Kentucky, played a key role in the formation of the Dominican Sisters of Peace. She co-directed the Collaborative Dominican Novitiate (CDN) for eight years and now helps congregations of women religious as they plan for their future. 

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 have witnessed 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 in facing times of devastation and struggle. “You artists are part of the great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1),” she said. “We are surrounded by great company.” 

Throughout the afternoon of July 23, participants had the opportunity to attend workshops that helped them to experience other forms of art: from liturgical movement and watercolor painting to percussion and other musical instruments and the creation of bookmarks. In recognition of the conference theme, they were also invited to visit the Permaculture area of the Motherhouse of the Dominican Sisters of Adrian.

Activities on July 24 included a business meeting and a presentation by Sister Mary Navarre, OP (Grand Rapids), a writer, poet, and storyteller, on the archiving of works of art.

The closing Liturgy continued the participants’ celebration of the arts, with upbeat music and liturgical dance. Sister Nancyann Turner, OP (Adrian), a weaver, preached on the Gospel, focusing on the sower and the seeds. “Jesus invites us to plant seeds and to be very careful where we plant them,” Sister Nancyann said. “We do this by our preaching, our relationships, our shared values, and our ability to disagree without doing violence.”

As artists and sowers, Sister Nancyann said, “we must preach far and wide for the healthcare of our Mother Earth. Speaking out for creation will not just be an activity but a conversion.”

The celebration of the arts continued with dinner and a gala of art, music, and song.

The DIA is open to any Dominican who is dedicated to preaching through the arts or who appreciates the arts. For information on membership or on the organization, visit https://www.diartsop.org.