What's Happening

May 31, 2019, Milwaukee, Wisconsin – The artwork of two Adrian Dominican Sisters will be on exhibit at the Alfons Gallery in Milwaukee Sunday, June 16, 2019, through Wednesday, July 28, 2019. 

Sister Suzanne Schreiber’s photography exhibit, “Quiet Spaces,” will be exhibited in the gallery with a reception from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Sunday, June 16. A display of 160 of 1,000 small paintings of origami cranes by Sister Barbara Cervenka, OP, will be on exhibit during the same dates at St. Joseph Hall, adjacent to the art gallery.

In “Quiet Spaces,” Sister Suzanne’s tinted black and white photographs invite viewers to see beyond the surface of the ordinary. She will speak about her photography at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, June 16, 2019, during the artist’s reception.

A musician and writer as well as a photographer, Sister Suzanne is the Coordinator of INAI: A Space Apart, an art gallery, quiet space for contemplation, and reading room adjacent to Weber Retreat and Conference Center on the Motherhouse Campus of the Adrian Dominican Sisters. 

Sister Barbara, an art professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Siena Heights University in Adrian, Michigan, drew inspiration for her 1,000 Cranes for Iraq project from the famous story of Sadako Sasaki, a Japanese girl exposed to radiation from the bombing of Hiroshima who sought to fold 1,000 paper cranes to bring about her wish to be healed from leukemia.

Sister Barbara created 1,000 paintings of origami cranes and continues to invite people to adopt one of the cranes in exchange for a donation of $100 to help the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena in Iraq for their ministry. The Sisters and hundreds of thousands of Christians and other minorities were expelled from their homes on the Nineveh Plains on August 6, 2014, with the arrival of ISIS. For years, the Sisters ministered to those who lived with them in internal displacement in the Kurdish areas of northern Iraq. Many have since returned home, to find their homes and churches devastated. Visitors to the exhibit will have the opportunity to adopt one of the cranes for a donation to help the Sisters in their ministry.

Alfons Gallery, located at St. Joseph Center, 1501 S. Layton Blvd. in Milwaukee, is a ministry of the School Sisters of St. Francis of Milwaukee. The gallery is open from noon to 3:00 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday.

July 2, 2018, Adrian, Michigan – The work of two distinctive Adrian Dominican artists – Sister Aneesah McNamee, OP, and Sister Alyce Van Acker, OP,– will be showcased in an exhibit, “Soliloquies: Two Voices,” beginning Saturday, July 14, 2018. The exhibit at INAI Gallery runs through Sunday, October 28, 2018, with an artists’ reception from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturday, September 8, 2018.

Sister Aneesah, a freelance graphic designer, traces her longtime interest in art to her early habit of drawing on the walls of her childhood homes. A calligrapher as well as a graphic designer, she counts among her most significant works the design of the book Drawn by Love: A History of the Dominican Sisters of Iraq. In her current work, Sister Aneesah continues to use images and words to convey clients’ messages. “I turn those words, images, and ideas into beautifully created pages that tell a story,” she said.

Sister Aneesah holds a Master’s of Fine Arts Degree in Graphic Design from the Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, Georgia.

As a math and science teacher, Sister Alyce never lost her earliest interest in art. She nurtured it during art classes and workshops she attended after teaching and on the weekends. She even transformed her father’s garage into an art studio. Sister Alyce and her sister opened an art gallery in Geneva, Illinois, to showcase their own artwork and that of other artists. Later, she joined Fine Line Creative Arts Center in St. Charles, Illinois, where she has taught art and has exhibited artwork for years.

“Color captivates me,” Sister Alyce said. “I’m continually learning more about it because each painting is a journey, an inspiration.”

Sister Alyce earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from Siena Heights University in Adrian and a Master of Arts Degree in Painting from Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois.

INAI Gallery is adjacent to Weber Retreat and Conference Center, on the campus of the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Motherhouse, 1257 E. Siena Heights Drive, Adrian. Enter the Eastern-most driveway of the complex and follow the signs to Weber Center.

INAI Gallery is open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Thursdays. 

For information, call Weber Center at 517-266-4000.

Feature photo: Sister Alyce, left, and Sister Aneesah, right