St. Bernadette Institute was established in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A., in 1993, out of an ever-growing need to encourage artists to carry on the centuries-old tradition of creating sacred imageries. In this world, encompassed in secularism, it is the aspiration of the Institute to promote, encourage, and one day, financially support religious art and artists, all for the glory of God.
For centuries the Roman Catholic Church financially supported artists who followed the calling, the vocation to draw, paint, sculpt the spiritual - the unseen. This vocation was considered one of the highest forms of "priesthood", and the chosen flourished - especially during the Renaissance.
Pope John Paul II recently stated: "Artists have indeed a very noble contribution to make in building the civilization of man and in promoting the Kingdom of God on earth." God's Kingdom has many paths; it is the duty and privilege of the Church's artists to design the maps which will direct the Faithful to the Almighty.
Today there are too few artists who would be so daring as to create strictly sacred art. Commercial galleries simply refuse to handle the art of spirituality, swearing that such art is not marketable. Still, the United States is extremely blessed with a healthy number of artists who are braving the tides of secularism, hoping to produce an entirely new wave of sacred imageries for today's people and world. If we are not careful to encourage our religious artists to maintain reverence in their work, we place contemporary, spiritual art at risk. We cannot afford to allow our traditional artforms to become strictly decorative.
The life of an artist, secular or religious, is not a happy, easy, or stable existence. On the contrary, an artist's life is all too often tumultuous due to the lack of patrons and art buyers. Sadly, realistically speaking, most artists of the holy world are forced to work two and even three secular jobs in order to suffice. Still, they find the spiritual and physical stamina to create works of power and beauty - even through times of mental exhaustion. This is where secular artists can be separated from sacred artists. This is where the graces of the "vocation" enter in.
A vocation to the profession of sacred artistry is a direct invitation, a calling: one hears the voice of God beckoning to serve. This summons is an endowment from the Almighty. The artists' "Fiat" is a lasting gift to and for the world's populace. Not all who are called endure the demanding trials. The artists who do succeed, and devote themselves to the execution of holy art, tend to share in the good fortune of living in resemblance of the revered contemplatives of the Church. For it is only through silence that artists can create that which is inspired. Only through silence can the artist hear, feel, breath the Word of God - and illuminate it.
The French author, Father Andre Doze, who also happens to be one of the chaplains in Lourdes, France, has utmost respect for artists who are able to translate the unseen. "They obviously do not seek the 'next' world, but rather, the 'other' world." He goes on to say that the "other" world is right here in our midst. "It can be found," he says, "only through silence. When the artist runs out of words to say, when they run out of ideas to paint, they should remain quiet! They should not allow themselves to make decisions on what to say, what to paint. This is God's work."
St. Bernadette Institute is important to today's Church because of the vocations it will foster. It is the Institute's obligation, then, to offer these artists spontaneous contemplation, which will allow their spirits to sore high above the level of every day worries, temptations, and aggravations - pointing them in the direction of the true values of their important calling.
Artists who deal with "the sacred" realize, early on, that their responsibilities are not always easy. They are called upon to be leaders and peacemakers, often being forced to take on the role of teacher. The documents of the Vatican Council II puts it well: "Very rightly, the fine arts are considered to rank among the noblest expressions of human genius. This judgment applies especially to religious art and to its highest achievement, which is sacred art. To their very nature both of the latter are related to God's boundless beauty, for this is the reality which these human efforts are trying to express in some way. To the extent that these works aim exclusively at turning men's thoughts to God, persuasively and devoutly, they are dedicated to God and to the cause of his greater honor and glory."
Dan Paulos
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