HEREABOUTS DIANA BLOWERS
Gallery Saint John’s 2010-11 season opens with a very special exhibit — one celebrating the 100th anniversary of Mount St. John, home of the Bergamo Center conference facility.
The art gallery’s resident artists will be exhibiting two- and three-dimensional images from views and experiences around the 4400 Shakertown Road property in Beavercreek.
“Mount St. John: Artists’ Views,” will include more than 40 works, including paintings, photography, sculpture and ceramics, and will be on display at Gallery Saint John through Nov. 7.
“On Oct. 12, 1910, the Rev. Joseph Hiss purchased a farm from Mr. Orange A. Ozias that would become Mount Saint John,” said Brother Joseph Barrish, the manager of Gallery Saint John.
Mount St. John’s 140-acre campus includes not only the Marianist Novitiate, Gallery Saint John and Bergamo Center, but also the Marianist Environmental Education Center, The North American Center for Marianist Studies and the Queen of Apostles Church.
The artists will be “offering views and inspiration we have drawn from living and being educated on the property,” Barrish said.
In its early days, Mount St. John was known as the east campus of the University of Dayton and the Marianist brothers, who attended the university and lived at Mount St. John.
There was an active farm at the facility, including an award-winning dairy herd, Barrish said.
“The work on display presents images of many of the wild flowers that are part of the nature preserve,” said Barrish, noting that Brother Don Smith draws much of his inspiration for his raku pottery from the leaves of the more than 150 species of trees planted throughout the years.
Brother John Lemker’s photographs include close-ups of native wildflowers and panoramic views of seasonal changes found on the property while Brother Charles Wanda has used the trails and wooded area for inspiration for his drawings and paintings.
“I have used native flowers and stylized and abstracted their “personalities” in prints and paintings,” Barrish said.
Barrish, Smith and Lemker have studied and lived at Mount St. John for 35 years, 12 years and 10 years respectively. Wanda has studied and worked at Mount St. John for six years.
Six months ago, another Marianist brother and artist, Louis Fournier, began working out of Gallery St. John. Fournier, who is a sculptor and makes piñatas, does not have work in the current exhibit. However, his work is on display in other parts of the gallery.
The gallery is a not-for-profit endeavor of the Society of Mary or the Marianists. It was started in 1989 as an educational outreach for the Marianists.
An artists’ reception will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. on Nov. 7.
For more information, visit the gallery’s website at www.dayton-gallery-saintjohn.org.
Contact this columnist at dsb@donet.com.