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Sisters of St. Joseph bring art opportunities to historic neighborhood |
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By Laura Dodson - Catholic News Service
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Friday, 06 August 2010 |
When Sister Diane Couture was called on after Hurricane Katrina to help repair the stained-glass windows at seven churches along the Gulf Coast, she discovered that "we weren't out there to repair windows, we were there to repair lives."
Sister Diane Couture, a Sister of St. Joseph, is pictured in 2007 near stained-glass windows she restored inside the Cathedral of St. Augustine in St. Augustine, Fla. CNS photo/Daryl LaBello
Now she is leading her fellow Sisters of St. Joseph into St. Augustine's historic Lincolnville neighborhood to offer enrichment opportunities to the residents.
"The 'Art House of Dreams' is everyone's dream," she said. "It allows
everyone in the community -- especially the children -- to have faith
and hope for the future."
Lincolnville was established in 1866 by former slaves. When the first
Sisters of St. Joseph arrived from France to teach the children, they
were prohibited from doing so. The nuns opened St. Joseph Academy in
downtown St. Augustine, where they taught white children by day and sold
French lace to buy teaching materials for the black children they
taught at night.
Now the religious congregation has joined with two Lincolnville churches
-- St. Cyprian's Episcopal and St. Benedict the Moor Catholic -- to
provide creative art and music classes as well as social services.
"People really liked my picture," said Daniel Carter, a 13-year-old
Lincolnville resident. "They didn't think it was ugly, and I felt proud
that I sold it."
Carter had photographed and painted a picture of his grandmother's house
for one of the first art classes, then sold both at an Art House of
Dreams fundraiser.
"I love to take pictures, I love to paint, I love to read, and I hope to
become a pediatrician and give back to kids someday," Carter said. When
asked about the future of his artwork, he replied, "It will hang in the
waiting room of my office."
This process of rebirth began two years ago when Sister Couture, who has
directed the Sisters of St. Joseph stained-glass studio since 1992, was
commissioned to restore the stained-glass windows in St. Benedict the
Moor Church, a mission of the Cathedral of St. Augustine since 1899.
It served St. Benedict the Moor Catholic School, which was opened in
1898 through the generosity of St. Katherine Drexel. Today, 70 percent
of the parishioners are former students of the school.
"Our dream is to restore the school to its original and have the Sisters
of St. Joseph back where they belong," said Rai Schwecke, who married
into an established Lincolnville family in 1970. "They came to educate
black students. They started in that school and our dream is to have
them back again."
The rectory is now being renovated and will be open for classes in
September. The old school building is being completely restored and is
destined to become a center for cultural enrichment.
Sister Couture envisions cottage industries to help provide support for the adults and scholarships for the children.
Participants couldn't have a more accomplished teacher and advocate.
Sister Couture's work is recognized internationally with several
inclusions in "Who's Who in the World," among others.
Her most recent and noteworthy achievements include the memorial
stained-glass window that was commissioned by St. Francis of Assisi
Parish in New York, home of Franciscan Father Mychal F. Judge, the New
York City fire department chaplain who was the first volunteer casualty
of the Sept.11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. The
window was dedicated at the first anniversary commemoration of the
tragedy.
"The spirit of God's love, the breath of God's love and life were
present," said Franciscan Father Christopher Keenan, who replaced Father
Judge and was present with those at ground zero.
"The death of all those people has given us life and the spirit of the
Creator's presence in them is now always with us and that is reflected
in the stained glass that Sister Diane has brought forth," he added.
"The window that she created reflects something that can only be
experienced and not explained."
Sister Couture was called in by the National Guard immediately after
Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 to salvage any windows or parts of
windows she could from the churches that had been affected, as well as
to secure those that had not been destroyed. The work of restoring the
windows of seven churches took until early 2010 to complete.
"There was nothing," said Sister Couture, "only rubble 14 feet in the air."
Katrina sent a 30-foot wave through the front doors of Our Lady of the
Gulf Church in Bay St. Louis, Miss., and sucked everything out as it
receded.
"The stained-glass windows were very special -- they had been in the
church for almost 100 years," said Father Michael Tracey, pastor. "We
lost all our records and photos, but Sister Diane was able to replicate
the windows from the Internet and the people are very happy."
"The task of the artist is to discover the spirit that lies within the
heart of an event," Sister Couture said, "and thus the great gift and
call of the artist begins to take flesh."
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