New Sacred Art program at a small Catholic college

There has been a lot of happy reporting on Thomas More College's new sacred art program. I am of two minds here. On the one hand I applaud the effort to bring this to students - the world needs beauty. On the other hand iconography is not something one "picks up." One must pray, one must seek guidance from one's spiritual father, one must write icons in prayer with understanding of the theology that shapes it.

No one on the planet that takes iconography seriously would say, "Sure. Put a sacred heart in there." You can't mix and match cafeteria-fashion the theology and practices of the West with the East. That's a hackneyed thing to say; let me put it more specifically and with applicability to this situation. You want to express Christ's love for us. In iconography you have preexisting ways of doing this. You can show the Divine Light, write icons depicting the acts of Christ, or even the simple physical representation of Christ incarnate in the arms of the Theotokos should be sufficient as it has been since it was written by the hand of St. Luke.

But, for the sake of argument, let us remove that impediment. Iconography has canons (see Seventh Ecumenical Council) that have been developed and that iconographers are bound to obey. There should be worry about innovation. There should also be worry about simple copying. My son can copy what I write, but understand none of it. Without understanding he can make accidental additions or subtractions and not comprehend the weight of his errors. Icons teach the faithful - worry about errors borne of ignorance.

In an Orthodox or Eastern Catholic church the iconographer knows that the parish council and the Church hierarchs are watching him. To what authority is an iconographer at a Latin Catholic college accountable? Iconography is not a novelty and it should not be treated as such.

Dr. Nelson invited David to become the College’s first Artist-In-Residence. This winter, the Thomas More College witnessed Clayton’s official arrival from Great Britain to launch the Way of Beauty Art Program.

This program is designed to develop a new generation of Catholic artists and to reinvigorate in both the Catholic and secular cultures an appreciation of sacred art and its role in developing human spirituality.

As part of the Way of Beauty Art Program, David will provide aspiring artists with practical art skills, the talent to apprehend beauty, and the ability to open up to inspiration from God. The College hopes this program will encourage aspiring artists to enroll in its four-year undergraduate program so they can receive the formation in the Catholic liberal arts tradition necessary for the production of sacred art.

Through internships and other direct experiences, David will inspire young people to incorporate perennial Catholic art principles in the wide range of traditional and emerging media. Therefore, the program will provide one more way that Thomas More College graduates can contribute positively to the renewal of culture.

In addition to a series of courses he will teach as part of the College’s core curriculum, David will establish an art studio on campus where our students and artists can receive one-on-one mentorship in areas such as naturalistic art, iconography, abstract art and art theory. The Way of Beauty Art Program will also include a series of public lectures throughout the country that will renew in the general public an appreciation of the fundamental principles of great Catholic art, its role in cultural formation, and how Gothic art and architecture reveals divine natural order.

Through the Way of Beauty Art Program, David will be showing others how God is present in art, so that his pupils can draw divine inspiration from their Creator, much as he did several years ago.