11/06/2012
The Good Samaritan Places First In Fourth Nationwide Catholic Arts Exhibition
The opening reception and lecture for the exhibition was held on Friday, November 3. Juror John T. Spike provided an insightful lecture on the history of Christian art. He obviously had great wisdom on the subject. The kind that you can tell only comes from years of intensive study, experience, and faith. He showed many breathtaking examples of masterful Christian works, ranging from extreme minimalist expressions of faith to the complex meditative works of Fra Angelico. Dr. Spike explains, “Christian art offers us a feast. A Christian work can be narration, a meditation, abstract (a simple circle of porphyry), and miraculous”.
At the end of the lecture, Dr. Spike showed my piece,
The Good Samaritan, as the winning image and also displayed several examples of the story portrayed by many great artists throughout history. I was very honored to have Dr. Spike choose my image and even discuss my work after the lecture in the gallery. What an amazing experience to have someone with such knowledge on the subject analyze my work. It gave me an indescribable feeling of relief and pride to have a faculty member from the Vatican and experienced art historian give my work a seal of approval.
My wife, Stefanie and I had a great time making many new friends and viewing unbelievable works by some of the most skilled artists we have observed in one exhibition. Brother Nathan Cochran (Curator at St. Vincent Gallery) and Jordan Hainsey (Graphic Designer at the gallery and artist) made us feel very welcome. It was also very nice to meet Mary Thomas of The Post Gazette. The show is running until December 9, 2012.
* Please click the link to explore the winning image in detail.
http://www.christopherruane.com/Set/Religion/The-Good-Samaritan*
Photos of the exhibition courtesy of Stefanie Ruane and Jordan Hainsey
* Please click for more information on the event at St. Vincent College.
http://www.stvincent.edu/newsDetail.aspx?id=2147486910*
