What's Happening

February 9, 2026, Adrian, Michigan – Engage: The Art of Women, the first exhibit of the new INAI at Madden Art Gallery, will open on Sunday, April 12, 2026, with an artists’ reception from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

The new gallery moved to Madden Hall from its original home on the Adrian Dominican Sisters Campus. The original INAI, founded by the late Sisters Barbara Chenicek, OP, and Rita Schiltz, OP, offered exhibits for more than 40 years. The INAI at Madden Gallery has space near Holy Rosary Chapel and is accessible from Weber Retreat and Conference Center at the Motherhouse Campus. 

Sister Sue Schreiber, OP, who coordinated INAI from 2018 to 2024, is working with others to bring about a new feel. “We cannot reproduce the physical ambiance of INAI, but in Madden, we have developed a quiet room, a meditation area, and a small gallery,” she said.

Engage: The Art of Women was chosen as the first exhibit to focus on the Adrian Dominican Congregation’s Enactment on Women, approved by the Sisters in 2022. The Enactment reads, in part, “Valuing human dignity and aware of the injustice of patriarchy … we strive to attain gender equity and women’s full and equal participation and decision making in Church and society.”

Exhibiting artists include Amy Philp, Kris Schmidt, Doris De Nudt, Pi Benio, and Amy Anderson; Adrian Dominican Associates Laura Law and Judi Engel; Sisters Janet Wright, OP, Kathleen Voss, OP, Alice Van Acker, Nancyann Turner, OP, Sue Schreiber, OP, Barbara Quincey, OP, Aneesah McNamee, OP, Cheryl Liske, OP, Janice Holkup, OP, and Carol Fleming, OP; and deceased Adrian Dominican Sisters Mary Irene Walker, OP, Sarajane Seaver, OP, Rita Schiltz, OP, Ursula Ording, OP, Pauline Opliger, OP, Virginia Hafey- Wells, OP, Barbara Chenicek, OP,  Barbara Cervenka, OP, and Celeste Bourke, OP. 

INAI (pronounced in-EYE and meaning “within” in Japanese) is a contemplative space 
and art gallery on the campus of the Adrian Dominican Sisters. Offering the beauty and thoughtfulness of artistic expression in its art exhibitions, as well as a peaceful space for 
personal reflection, INAI supports the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Vision to seek truth, make peace, and reverence life. 

Caption for above feature photo: Danish Circles, a quilt created by Sister Barbara Quincey, OP, is one of the many artworks on display in the opening exhibit of INAI at Madden.

October 16, 2025, Adrian, Michigan – Every day is a gift from God and an opportunity to find new, creative ways to reach out to God in prayer.

That is the message that Sister Maryetta Churches, OP, hopes the users of her 2026 calendar take with them every day of the approaching year.

“The message for people who use this calendar would be to try to find the Lord in new ways this year – through art, through prayer, through journaling, through expanding your horizons – and find a new relationship with the Lord,” Sister Maryetta said.

Sister Maryetta ministered for 25 years at St. Mary Magdalen Parish in Brighton, Michigan, teaching groups to pray with art and creating All Souls Day posters featuring photos of parishioners who had died in the past year. When she left the parish in 2020 and moved to the Motherhouse in Adrian, she created a calendar based on her artwork to help parishioners remember her. She continues to create calendars, now reaching a wider audience. 

She hopes members of her larger audience will draw inspiration from the calendar – featuring artwork she created during her own journaling and prayer time in recent months. Each month also includes prompts to help people deepen their prayer life and their relationship with God.

Sister Maryetta hopes that the calendar will help people find new ways to pray. “Do whatever fits your style,” such as journaling or drawing, she said. “I’m trying to get people to do something different and make it a prayer. Communicate with God – speak and listen and use different techniques that speak to you.” 
Sister Maryetta herself is responding to a new call in her life. “It’s a call to the newness of me,” she said. “But I have no idea where it’s leading me. The call is exciting and unnerving, and I want to focus on becoming more.”

She encourages others to experience God’s call in their own lives. “He’s calling you,” she said. “You are precious in his eyes and he loves you, and I hope you can say back, ‘You are precious in my life, Lord, and I love you.’”

The calendars sell for $15 and will be available at the Weber Center Shop on the Adrian Dominican Sisters Motherhouse Campus. The Shop is open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Wednesday to Friday and 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday; it is closed for lunch from noon to 12:45 p.m. Visit the Weber Center Shop in person or reserve a copy by calling 517-266-4035.

Sister Maryetta also hopes to receive feedback from those who purchase and use her calendar. She can be reached at [email protected]. 
 

Caption for above feature photo: Sister Maryetta Churches, OP, displays a painting of the Holy Spirit, one of her works of art featured in her 2026 calendar.