Artistic Double Feature: Art for the Mission & CONSTRUCT/CONSTRUCT
By: Sinead Quinn
The Catherine G. Murphy Gallery is concluding the 2025-2026 school year with Art for the Mission: New Acquisitions from the St. Catherine University Fine Art Collection (2015-2025) in its West Gallery and Student Creative Showcase CONSTRUCT/CONSTRUCT in its East Gallery. The shows, which opened March 28, highlight two critical aspects of the Art and Art History department at St. Kate’s: the university’s growing collection of artworks – particularly those pertaining to its history – and the development and display of student work.
West: Art for the Mission
Art for the Mission gives insight into the goals of St. Kate’s Fine Art Collection and the university’s Visual Resources Library more broadly. Jennifer Adam, Visual Resources Curator in the Department of Art and Art History, explained that part of what prompted the show was a desire “to align in a much stronger way with the mission of St. Kate’s and the collection policy that we put together for the collection a few years back.” This updated policy recognized a desire and need for more works by women, BIPOC, and non-binary artists, as well as former St. Kate’s faculty, echoing the three central themes of the collection: commitment and re-commitment to the mission, St. Kate’s collective history, and Minnesota women artists.
One contributing factor to the major growth of the collection in the last ten years, Adam explained, is community donations and gifts. “A bunch of the works that we got, and that we picked from for the show, were from people in the community approaching us,” Adam said. “It could have been from an artist’s estate, or an artist, or a family member [...] We knew we were going to have a lot of good things to choose from, and a lot of varied types of artworks.”
The Fine Art Collection has also been actively collecting new work in the past decade. One example is the BIPOC art acquisition project, which arose in response to a $20,000 grant to the university by an anonymous donor, and an evaluation that only 5% of the works in the collection were by artists of color. It was a several-year-long project, explained Adam, involving a large amount of student participation and effort. “[The students] were helping to research artists, meet with artists, figure out what kind of artwork we wanted to purchase, and then pick out 22 [pieces] which were then purchased over time.” These 22 artworks have a permanent residence in the CdC. Several pieces, including a beadwork piece by Sofia Vanderlan (‘25) called Adik Odoodemokwewag and Tina Tavera’s The Connection screenprint, were temporarily moved to the gallery to feature in the show.
Works by former St. Kate’s faculty in the exhibit include drawings by beloved ceramics and sculpture professor and artist in residence Peter Lupori (1918-2014); images by professor and multimedia artist, St. Kate’s graduate, and Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet Magdalen Schimanski (1920-2009); and a landscape painting by art professor Celine Charpentier, one-time Sister of St. Joseph, and St. Kate’s graduate class of 1970. Adam added that former students have approached her to enthuse over artwork by their professors when it has been put on view. She explained, “They really feel this connection, and they feel that history [...] and want to keep that history alive.”
Acquiring a Charpentier painting was of great interest to Adam. “[She] was a professor here [...] when I was an undergrad at St. Kate’s, and I always thought she was an interesting person. Then I noticed that we didn’t have any work by her. You’d like to have that physical connection, if you can, and that representation.” Last year, Ann Jennings, a former printmaking professor, donated the painting to the collection on behalf of another beloved St. Kate’s faculty member, the late Carol Tauer, who taught in both Mathematics and Philosophy.
Those familiar with the campus are also bound to recognize the characteristic style of Bettye Olson, one of Minnesota’s most notable female artists. Many works by her have been acquired in the last decade, and dozens hang in Whitby, Derham, and other locations across campus.
As to the future of the collection, Adam explains that the BIPOC art acquisition program was popular with students, faculty, staff, and visitors. She has received “multiple requests from internal departments [...] and student representatives” asking for more. Adam hopes that other departments will be interested in purchasing artwork aligning with the mission statement. “I can just tell that project is going to continue and expand.”
East: Construct/Construct
CONSTRUCT/CONSTRUCT, this year’s senior student exhibition, features the work of five St. Kate’s Visual Art students: Brooke Dierkhising, Kathryn Lewis, Amara Moss, Quinn Schuetzle, and Laney Schwartz. The exhibition’s title leads viewers to think about the relationship between process and product.
The exhibition, which features 49 works by the artists, is greatly diverse in artistic mediums. Ceramics by Lewis and Schwartz mesh with Moss’s photography, Schuetzle’s prints, and Dierkhising’s textile designs. Many of the artists’ works are also available for purchase. The students will give Artist Talks about their work on April 29, from 12-1:15 pm in the East Gallery.
The shows will be on view until May 9. The Catherine G. Murphy Gallery is open to the public by appointment from Tuesday-Friday 12-5 pm, and members of the St. Kate’s community T/Th 12-7:30 pm and W/F/Sat from 12-5 pm with keycard access.
