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May 5, 2023, Adrian, Michigan – Seasons of Beauty, an art exhibit at the INAI Gallery, offers a springtime look at the brilliant digital paintings of Sister Kathleen Voss, OP, watercolor paintings by Sister Janet Wright, OP, and paper-cut silhouettes by Sister Mary Jean Dorcy, OP (1914-1988). Each artist shares her unique artwork and her unique way of seeing and creating.
The exhibit opens on Friday, May 26, 2023, and runs through Sunday, October 1, 2023. An artists’ reception is from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Sunday, June 4, 2023. Gallery hours are 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily, or by appointment by calling 517-266-4090.
Sister Kathleen creates electronic paintings using the Corel Painter and Corel Draw programs, and electronic brushes. She is motivated by her deep desire to express images from nature that call people to stop, look, and experience.
Through watercolor, Sister Janet invites viewers to share in her emotional response to the fleeting beauty of nature. In close-ups, she creates dramatic “nature portraits.” She has a keen sensitivity to the relationship between nature and healing and between painting and healing and holds deep concerns about the preservation of nature.
The late Sister Mary Jean – a member of the Edmonds Dominican Sisters, a congregation that merged with the Adrian Dominican Sisters in 2003 – created black, finely cut silhouettes from paper. She created many patterns and images, all intricately cut with a simple pair of scissors, and by the 1940s was recognized as one of the leading American paper-cut artists. Her work comes primarily from religious themes, such as tradition, saints, and feasts.
INAI (in-EYE), a Japanese word meaning within, is a place for quiet reflection and art and is open to the public. The INAI Gallery is adjacent to the north entrance of Weber Retreat and Conference Center on the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Motherhouse Campus.
Traveling east on Siena Heights Drive, pass the Adrian Rea Literacy Center and turn left just before the solar panel-covered parking lot. Follow the signs to Weber Center. For information, call the Weber Center at 517-266-4000 or check out the Weber Center website, https://webercenter.org/.
March 30, 2023, Adrian, Michigan – When people think of “carbon footprints,” they often think of the amount of fossil fuel energy they consume through travel or the use of electricity. But Brad Frank, Director of the Office of Sustainability for the Adrian Dominican Sisters, explained the carbon footprint of an activity that people are connected to daily: eating.
“One of the goals is just to promote awareness,” Brad said during a live streamed, February 28, 2023, presentation delivered at Weber Retreat and Conference Center. The food system in the United States accounts for about 30% of the greenhouse emissions that contribute to global warming, he said. Changing one’s diet to foods that produce less emission of carbon and methane gases would produce a more sustainable lifestyle – one encouraged through Pope Francis’ Laudato Sí Action Platform, he said. One of the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ 2022 General Chapter Enactments is on sustainability and becoming a Laudato Sí Action Platform Congregation.
Brad pointed to several factors that affect the carbon footprint of foods: • land use change, such as the deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil to create pastures for the nation’s 195 million cattle; • farm practices, such as the use of diesel tractors and fertilizer; and • transportation of food throughout the country, which consumes gasoline and other petroleum products.
Taking these factors into account, Brad reviewed typical menus from the Dominican Life Center for breakfast, dinner, and supper, noting foods with the highest carbon footprint – beef, cheese, and other animal products.
Finally, Brad offered suggestions on how to lower one’s carbon footprint through changes in diet: • eating items that are lower on the food chain by basing most meals on a plant-based diet; • consuming foods that are locally sourced and seasonal; • gardening; and • wasting less food.
Watch the entire presentation below (presentation starts at 5:50).
Feature photo at top: A graph from Brad Frank's presentation showing that corn used to feed cattle accounts for 95% of all grains grown, approximately 90 million acres.