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Home | Lifestyle | Faith + Values

Faith+Values: 'Splendors' includes efforts of local group

By JEFF STRICKLER, Star Tribune

Last update: November 28, 2008 - 2:42 PM

There are 63 Minnesotans with a personal stake in the "Vatican Splendors" show now at the Minnesota History Center. They are those responsible for the restoration of four of the items on display.

These people belong to the local chapter of the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museum, a group that raises money for "the preservation and perpetuation of the vast and unique collection of art contained in the Vatican Museum." The worldwide organization has only about 1,000 members, so the local chapter is among the more active ones.

This is the first time that local members have not had to go to Rome to see the results of their work.

"The support of the arts in this community is outstanding," said Johan van Parys, director of liturgy and sacred arts at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis and the person who oversees the local patrons organization. "But try asking people for money for a museum on the other side of the world. That's why this exhibit in St. Paul is so important to us."

Patrons were surprised to find that one of the items they were responsible for restoring was featured on billboards promoting the exhibit. So was the History Center.

"We were not unaware of the local connection, but that wasn't the reason we picked it," said Jessica Kohen, marketing and communications specialist for the History Center, of the item, a statue of St. Peter made of wood and gilded in gold. "It's one of the most exquisite items in the collection."

Although Van Parys is on the staff of the basilica and all the patrons' artwork comes from the Vatican museum, the organization has no direct Roman Catholic affiliation.

"We're an interfaith group with several Jewish members as well as other Christian religions," he said. "It's a very eclectic group, with many of them more interested in art history than theology."

Van Parys also lends himself out to other churches to lead group tours of the exhibit. "In addition to groups from the basilica, I've led tours for Plymouth Congregational, Hennepin Avenue Methodist and Westminster Presbyterian," he said. "I'm glad to do it."

He's also glad about the enthusiastic response to the exhibit, which runs through Jan. 11. Interest has been so high that starting this weekend, the History Center is expanding viewing hours. The exhibit will be open until 8 p.m. today. The new hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays through Saturdays.

New holiday songs

The local chorus VocalEssence has again joined forces with the American Composers Forum to sponsor a Christmas carol-writing contest. This is the 11th year of the "Welcome Christmas!" competition, which drew 62 entries from 25 states.

This year's winners are "A Mother's Carol" by Scott Ethier, a Virginia pianist who put music to a poem about a painting of Mary and the baby Jesus, and "Christ's Nativity" by Peter Hilliard, who lives in Pennsylvania and based his piece on a 17th-century Welsh poem.

In addition to a $1,000 prize, the winners also get to hear their works performed as part of VocalEssence concerts at Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis (Dec. 7 and 14), Trinity Lutheran Church in Stillwater (Dec. 12) and Normandale Lutheran Church in Edina (Dec. 13). Tickets to all shows are available at www.vocalessence.org or by calling 612-371-5656.

Jeff Strickler • 612-673-7392

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