What's Happening

February 14, 2020, Adrian, Michigan – An exhibit of photography and poetry opens Friday, March 6, 2020, at INAI: A Space Apart, an art gallery and meditation space adjacent to Weber Retreat and Conference Center. An artists’ reception is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Sunday, March 15, 2020. The exhibit, featuring the works of two artists, runs through Sunday, June 21, 2020.

Quiet Places, Sacred Spaces, an exhibit by Sister Suzanne Schreiber, OP, Coordinator of INAI, is a retrospective of black-and-white photos originally made from film, then digitalized and softly brown-toned. “Removing the distraction of color enhances aspects of the photo that may not be noticed,” Sister Suzanne said.

The power of place has shaped Sister Suzanne’s photography through the years. Each image invites the viewer to step into a quiet place where the subject may be stillness, light, shadow, openings, textures, or movement. “In one place or one view I see the inner light or essence,” she said. “I see the unity of all things. 

Also on exhibit is Glimpses of Grace: Reflections on our Shared Life, featuring the photography and poetry of Rev. Cathy Johnson, an Adrian Dominican Associate and a Chaplain and Pastoral Minister at the Dominican Life Center in Adrian. Each picture is accompanied by thoughts or words, often in the form of a Japanese haiku. 

The process evolved from the course, “Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Contemplative Practice,” in which Cathy accepted the invitation to shift from “taking photos” to “receiving an image.” She began combining the images with thoughtful words. Cathy’s Glimpses have evolved in response to morning worship services and special events. She has also created a Glimpse for every Sister who died during her years of service at the Dominican Life Center – more than 180 Sisters in four-and-a-half years. 

INAI (pronounced in-EYE, meaning “within” in Japanese) is a contemplative space and art gallery that resonates with the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Vision: to seek truth, make peace, and reverence life. It houses an art gallery, a quiet space for personal reflection and meditation, and an art room. INAI: A Space Apart is open every day from 8:00 a.m. 
to 8:00 p.m.

All are invited free of charge to visit INAI: A Space Apart and to enjoy the art exhibits.

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

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.