“A Jesuit Influence in the Fine and Performing Arts: Creighton Universityʼs Contribution to American Jesuit University Education Since 1964.”

“A Jesuit Influence in the Fine and Performing Arts: Creighton Universityʼs Contribution to American Jesuit University Education since 1964.”

A. Introductory Background

Particularly in the era of post-Vatican II Catholic Church renewal and aggiornamento since the mid-1960ʼs, Jesuit initiatives in university education reflected the Churchʼs rediscovery of its sacramental imagination and its connection with the fine and performing and literary arts. These movements included, to name a few:

a. the revision of the sacred liturgy to be more accessible and transparent to the worshipping community, b. prayer and music in the vernacular language, c. a revised theology of grace, creation, and Incarnation and the Holy Spirit at work in the body of the faithtul, d. metaphorical and analogical expression (music, drama, architecture, the visual and poetic language arts), e. inculturation of the gospel preaching and teaching, f. fresh approaches to Holy Scripture, g. the charismatic renewal h. expression of the sacred and mystical in creative literature and story i. and study of Ignatian sources, spirituality, and in particular The Spiritual Exercises.

To a certain extent, the rediscovery of the arts in Jesuit education was a return to the pre-eminence of Jesuit education in the arts before the Suppression of the Society of Jesus (1777-1814) when Jesuit colleges and universities were distinguished by their attention to the arts and architecture, painting, sculpture, music, theater, dance and poetry1 as methods for inculturation of the gospel in word and performance2.

The renewed awareness of the arts and education in the arts accompanied the dramatic changes in culture that occurred in the United States and worldwide during the 1960ʼs. Artistic expression in music and theater, the visual arts, creative writing, and the emergence of an energetic youth culture certainly gave energy to the growing awareness

1 O'Malley, John W. S.J. and Bailey, Gauvin Alexander, eds., The Jesuits and the Arts, 1540-1773. Philadelphia: Saint Joseph's University Press, 2005.

2 McNaspy, Clement J. SJ. “Art in Jesuit Life,” Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits V: 3 (April, 1973), 94-99.

of the importance of the arts in the development of the “whole” human person during the social and educational movements of the 60ʼs.3

An important historical event that highlighted the increasing awareness of Jesuits in the importance of the vocation of the artist in the worldwide Church and Society, as well as in the educational ministry of the Society, was the meeting of the Jesuit General Fr. Pedro Arrupe with a gathering of the Jesuit Institute for the Arts in Rome at Mondragone, Frascati, Italy on June 16, 1972. Often quoted words by Fr. Arrupe:

“You [Jesuit artists] are the fortunate ones. You speak and all listen, all understand. More than the preacherʼs word, it is the musicianʼs touch that is bringing the youth to God again. More than the politician, it is the folk singer who draws the races hand in hand. Heart speaks to heart in mysterious ways, and it is the artist who holds the key to the mystery. He can touch the wellsprings of the human heart, and release energies of the soul that the rest of the world does not suspect.”4

“In a 1973 [sic] talk given in Italy, Fr. Pedro Arrupe, SJ, former superior general of the Jesuits, said Ignatius believed artists had a great responsibility to direct the view of the average person and to speak for the average person. Arrupe went on to say that, according to Ignatius, Jesuit and Jesuit-related art has five goals:

•To illustrate Godʼs greater glory, elevating humans to the fullness of God •To teach, and thereby enrich humanity •To form and lead young people to a Christian life •To help other artists and lead them to Christ •To focus on Christ as the inspiration and goal for all art.”

From “Ignatian Imprints.” Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus, 2007.5

Fr. Arrupeʼs remarks to Jesuit artists have been interpreted as a commentary on Document 30 of the 31st General Congregation (1965-66) in which it was stated:

“…in our day especially works of art can exert a vast influence, whether it be with respect to the growth and unfolding of human personality, or to the development of civil society, or to the mutual union of men, a union that paves the way to union with God….The 31st General Congregation, taking into consideration both the tradition of the Society and the signs of the times, and aware of the importance of the arts for building up the kingdom of God, wishes to encourage the activity of its members who toil in this field [the arts] for the greater glory of God.”6

3 McNaspy. “The Culture Explosion.” America Magazine 104: 10 (3 Dec. 1960), 340-42. 4 3Arrupe. Pedro SJ. “Art and the Spirit of the Society of Jesus,” Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits”. V: 3 (April, 1973), 91. 5 Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus. “Ignatian Imprints,” 2007. 6 ”Cultivating the Arts in the Society”. Documents of the 31st and 32nd General Congregations of the Society of Jesus. St. Louis: The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1977; Document 30, 243-44.

B. The Early Contributions of Jesuit artists in Omaha and at Creighton University.

1. 1962: Fr. Leland Lubbers returned from finishing a doctoral degree in Aesthetics from the University of Paris to Creighton Prep in Omaha. He started a program in art and art history at Prep.

1964: Lubbers came to Creighton University as a professor of Fine Arts and began an academic program in Fine Arts within the College of Arts and Sciences. Lubbers became the first department Chair and recruited a number of Jesuits to become members of the faculty including Randall Hall SJ, and Don Doll SJ.

Lubbers recruited faculty members in Visual Arts and Dance, and he located the Art Department in the former Pharmacy School library near 15th and Chicago Sts.

2. 1970ʼs: The Fine Arts program expanded to include Theater courses, formerly offered within the department of Speech and Communications, directed by Tony Weber SJ.

3. 1970ʼs-present: Under the leadership of Lubbers, Frances Kraft, and Don Doll SJ as department Chairs, the Fine Arts program developed a curriculum in Visual Arts (Painting, Drawing, Sculpture, Photography, Ceramics, and Printmaking), Art History, Theater, Dance, Music History and Chorus.

4. Jesuit art faculty who served in the department from its foundation to the present were exceptional in number compared to any of the other 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States, particularly given the size of Creighton University and the comparatively small number of Jesuits who had been professionally trained in the arts during that period:

Jesuit Faculty: Creighton Fine and Performing Arts

Leland Lubbers, Sculpture, Art History, Aesthetics, Creativity 1964-1989 First Department Chair 1964-1972 Randall Hall, Printmaking -1972 Tony Weber, Theater 1967-1977 Don Doll, Photography, Journalism 1969-2002 Department Chair 1977-1990 Bernard Portz, Music and Choral Direction 1970-1985 Joseph Brown, Artist in Residence: Theater, Creative Writing 1975-1980 Jonathan Haschka, Artist in Residence: Sculpture 1977-1984 Michael Flecky: Photography 1981-present Gerald Walling: Theater Ted Bohr: Art History 1996-2009 Charles Jurgensmeyer: Music 1998-2008

C. The Academic Legacy of Creighton Universityʼs Fine and Performing Arts Department.

1. By 1976, the Department of Fine and Performing Arts had expanded to offer the Major in Visual Arts and Dance, as well as the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Visual Arts and Dance. Visual Arts studios offered the full range of traditional studio arts courses including Foundations, Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Photography, Ceramics, Sculpture, as well as Art History. Dance studios offered classical ballet and modern dance, as well as accreditation by the Royal Academy of Ballet.

2. By 1977, a Theater Major was developed with a full production schedule including main stage and studio performances and courses in Direction, Lighting, Set and Costume Design. Music Courses were offered in Appreciation and Choral Performance.

By 1977, Creighton University had the only Fine and Performing Arts Department among the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States with a full complement of Studio Arts Majors and BFA degrees offered in the Visual and Performing Arts. 3. The Jesuit Institute for the Arts: The story of American Jesuit artists in the last 45 years must acknowledge the contribution of the national Jesuit Institute for the Arts, inspired largely by Fr. Clement J. McNaspy. Under McNaspyʼs informal direction, artists from across the United States gathered formally during the summer of 1970 at Holy Cross College, in 1971 at Santa Clara University, and in Rome. The purpose of the Institute was to enable Jesuits professionally trained and engaged in the fine arts to gather for reflection, prayer, creative expression, and criticism. While American in origin and original membership, the Institute became increasingly international.7 Besides meeting in Rome and cultural centers such as Mexico, Greece, and the Holy Land, Jesuits of the Institute sponsored tours of art museums, musical performances, and exhibitions. It was during one such gathering in Rome on 16 June 1972 that Fr. Pedro Arrupe, the General Superior of the Society of Jesus, delivered his historic address to Jesuits regarding the central importance of the arts and artists in the Mission of the Society.8 4. The Jesuit Institute for the Arts at Creighton University:

7 Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits, editorʼs forward. v-vi. 8 Arrupe. Pedro. “Art and the Spirit of the Society of Jesus”, Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits”. 83-92 What began in 1970 as an informal and occasional gathering of Jesuit artists became institutional to Creighton University in the late 1970ʼs. In cooperation with the Creighton Summer School and the Department of Fine and Performing Arts, the JIA met in Omaha to celebrate the role of Jesuit artists in exhibitions, lectures, liturgy, and prayer. Credit courses taught by visiting Jesuit artists and regular Creighton faculty were offered in the traditional art studios, as well as special performances in music, theater, dance, and circus. Among the memorable and unique events from the JIA Summer sessions were the classes and performances of the Royal Lichtenstein Quarter Ring Circus with Nick Weber SJ as ringmaster and the Shakespeare in the Garden performances directed by Bill Cain SJ. The success of the Shakespeare in the Garden performances led to the formation of the annual Omaha Shakespeare on the Green productions which have been conducted in Omaha for many years with the original encouragement of Don Doll SJ as Creighotn Fine Arts Chair and Creighton Professor Alan Klem, Shakespeare on the Green co-founder. The visibility of Jesuits in the arts at Creighton University and Creighton among Jesuit institutions of higher learning was greatly enhanced by the presence of the national Jesuit Institute for the Arts on the Creighton campus during the summers of 1976-1980. The Jesuit Institute for the Arts attracted Jesuit artists, writers, teachers, directors, musicians, and performers from around the country, as well as young Jesuit students, to share not only their professional talents and training, but also their vision of the emerging role of art in service of the Church and in Jesuit university education. The JIA also attracted lay faculty colleagues to join in the work of professional art and education, as well as lay art students from Creighton and the surrounding Omaha community.

Among those visiting Jesuits from around the United States who participated in the JIA Summer Schools, some for several summers, were the following: Jesuit Institute for the Arts (1976-1983)

C.J. McNaspy, Loyola University New Orleans, Music and Art History Kevin Waters, Seattle University, Music Ernesto Ferlita, Loyola University New Orleans, Theater Nick Weber, Royal Lichtenstein Quarter Ring Circus Bill Cain, Boston Shakespeare Tom Cully, Loyola University New Orleans, Music Dennis McNally, St. Joseph University, Painting James Dockery, Loyola University Baltimore, Theater Bob Pospisil, Seattle University, Sculpture Jerome Pryor, Xavier University Cincinnati, Painting William Lynch, author Christ and Apollo Brad Reynolds, Oregon Province, Photography

5. The Jesuit Humanities Program at Creighton University:

An extremely important event in the educational history of this period was the foundation of the Jesuit Humanities Program at Camion House on the Creighton University campus. From 1979-2000, young Jesuits in their collegiate course of studies, came to Creighton University for courses in the Humanities with an emphasis on writing and speaking. Along with their courses in liberal arts, Jesuit students were encouraged to develop their interests and talents in music, acting, art appreciation, and the fine arts. Jesuit students and faculty in the community at Campion House of Studies also offered an outreach to talented lay students who enrolled in courses specially designed for a challenging encounter with the humanities in a contemporary Jesuit educational context.

Students who originally became exposed to the performing and fine arts at Creighton while participating in the Jesuit Humanities Program have gone on to pursue further studies and careers in the Fine and Performing Arts and some have become leaders in their artistic fields.

Jesuit Professional Training in the Fine and Performing Arts

The nexus of Creighton University Jesuits, members of the Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus, and national and international students in the Jesuit Humanities Program provides the following partial list of professionally trained Jesuit artists from the last 40 years:

Joseph Brown, Creative Writing, MFA Johns Hopkins University Jonathan Haschka, Sculpture, MFA University of Georgia Michael Flecky, Photography, Rochester Institute of Technology Donald Fehrenbach, Painting, MFA George Washington University George Drance, Theater, MFA Columbia University, Artist-in-residence at Fordham University, Lincoln Center Grant Garinger SJ, Theater, MFA California Institute for the Arts, professor of Theater Arts at Loyola Marymount University Uwem Akpan, Creative Writing, MFA University of Michigan David Smith, Sculpture, Art Education John Paul, Theater

D. The Liturgical Music of the St. Louis Jesuits and Creighton University

Another noteworthy connection between Creighton University and the Jesuit contribution to the arts in America is that of Creighton and “The St. Louis Jesuits” musical group. Although the name would suggest otherwise, two of the remaining four members of the highly influential musical group, Bob Dufford SJ and Roc OʼConnor SJ, are from Omaha and were educated at Creighton Preparatory School. Bob Dufford served a number of years in Campus Ministry and at St. Johnʼs Parish at Creighton University, and Roc OʼConnor is on the Theology faculty and currently serves as Rector of the Creighton Jesuit Community. The “St. Louis Jesuits” continue to write, record and perform their liturgical worship music and have had an extremely important impact on the development of post- Vatican Catholic parish liturgical reform. Recent concerts in Minneapolis and at the Holland Performing Art Center in Omaha have played to capacity houses.

E. Creightonʼs Fine and Performing Arts Alumni: Professional Artists and Educators

Perhaps the truest measure of the strength of an academic program is the success and influence of its graduates. In Fall 2004, Company Magazine, a quarterly publication of the Jesuits of the United States, published an issue devoted to the many graduates of Jesuit colleges and universities who have achieved noteworthy success in their fields. The article lists nearly 200 illustrious graduates of Jesuit high schools, colleges, and universities in fields as diverse as Acting, Business, Government, Law, Media, Music, Public Service, Religion, Sports, and Literature.9 The impressive credentials of the graduates of Jesuit institutions nationwide suggested a similar compilation and analysis of the graduates of the Creighton University Fine and Performing Arts Department, particularly with attention to their success in the fields of professional studio arts, performing arts and music, dance, arts education, and art history.

The following is an attempt to begin to list the activities, advanced degrees, and professional careers of Fine and Performing Arts graduates that I have kept in touch with personally. I intend to add information that can be supplied by my colleagues in the Fine and Performing Arts Department, as well as the Creighton alumni records. Given the tremendous energy that goes into attracting students to come to Creighton as beginning students, it seems equally and perhaps even more important to track the significant achievements in the careers of Creightonʼs Fine and Performing Arts graduates. In addition to an information bank that would be helpful in promoting the Arts at Creighton for prospective students and their parents, information about graduate success in the Arts would allow for alumni collaboration and networking and promotion of their work in the local and national communities that Creighton serves. And finally, an added area for assessment of the effect of their Creighton educational experience in the Arts would be the question of how the goals and specific inspiration of the Jesuit Mission in education has affected and enriched our graduates in their personal and professional lives as artists and human beings.

A Catalogue of Graduates from the Fine and Performing Arts in the Last 45 Years:

Margie Quinn BFA Art Chair, Omaha Central High School Tom Quinn BFA PhD, University of Nebraska Lincoln Professor of Anatomy and Surgery Creighton University Nancy Nye BFA

9 “Most Likely to Succeed”, Company Magazine (Fall 2004).

Susan Vecchio BFA Marcia Honz BFA Ron Geibert BFA, Photography Professor of Photography, Wayne State University Pat Sullivan BFA, Ceramics Tom Rossi BA, Ceramics Professional Potter, Omaha Studio and Kiln Jim Killian BFA, Theater Jim Butkus BFA, Photography MFA, Rochester Institute of Technology, Photography Professor of Photography, Metropolitan Community College, Omaha Tom Langdon BFA, Photography University of Iowa Jim Coenen BFA, Ceramics Mary Bednar BA Jewelry Studio, Des Moines Iowa John Lajba, Sculpture Professional Sculptor, Omaha Studio Peggy Reinke BFA, Painting Graduate Studies in Art Therapy Becky Herman BFA, Painting MFA, Cranbrook Academy of Art Professor of Imaging and Media Arts Metropolitan Community College, Omaha Liz Doherty (Mazzotta) BFA, Dance Mary Beth Quinn BFA, Dance Karen Zuegner, BA, Painting MFA, Queens College NY, Painting Cliff Dossel BFA, Photography MFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago Sculpture, Museum Studies Installations Manager/Registrar, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston- Salem NC Margaret Axiotes (Doan) BFA MFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Design Johnna Marcil (Eck) BFA, Painting MFA, University of Chicago, Painting Art Dept. Head, Omaha Skutt High School Alan Norris BFA, Photography Professional Photography Studio, Barcelona Spain Joe Townley BA, Photography M.D. Creighton University, Ophthalmology John Andrews BFA, Printmaking MFA, University of Iowa, Painting Ulla Gallagher BFA, Photography Kristen Pluhacek BFA, Painting Michael Montag BFA, Sculpture Kim Cominsky BFA, Sculpture Katie Pavlik (Holman) BA Yanna Raemakers BFA Sculpture MFA Rachel Schieffer BA MA, Art Therapy, Emporiav(KS) State University Jill Rizzo Joel Davies BFA MFA, Indiana State University Professor of Journalism, Creighton University Tim Guthrie BFA MFA, University of Idaho Tancy Jahn BFA, Printmaking Brandon McKenna BA, Photography Professional Photography Studio, Omaha Matt Dehaemers BFA, Sculpture MFA, University of Wisconsin, Sculpture Matias Bilbao BA, Photography MFA, University of Miami, Photography Shanna Crosby BFA, Printmaking Amy Nelson BFA, Ceramics MFA, East Carolina University, Ceramics Professor of Ceramics, Creighton University Aspen Hochhalter BFA, Photography MFA, East Carolina University, Photography Professor of Photography, UNC Charlotte Ben Isburg BFA, Painting MFA, East Carolina University, Photography Maggie Phelan Graduate Studies in Art History Nathan DePuydt BA MA, Creighton University, Art Education Magis Program Creative Services, ALPS Holdings Inc. George Martin BA Antonio Martinez BFA, Mixed Media MFA, East Carolina University Professor of Photography, SIU Carbondale Michael Cameron BFA, Photography Brian Flannery BA Michael Mayer BFA, MFA, Cranbrook Academy 2008 Photography and Design Photography and Video Chris Cloyd BFA, Theater MFA, University of Southern California, Cinematic Arts Carolyn Mullaney BA MFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago (in progress)

F. Annotated Bibliography

Arrupe, Pedro SJ. “Art and the Spirit of the Society of Jesus.” An address to the Jesuit Institute of the Arts: June 16, 1972. Frascati, Italy.

In a 1973 talk given in Italy, Fr. Pedro Arrupe, SJ, former superior general of the Jesuits, said Ignatius believed artists had a great responsibility to direct the view of the average person and to speak for the average person. Arrupe went on to say that, according to Ignatius, Jesuit and Jesuit-related art has five goals:

“Heart speaks to heart in mysterious ways, and it is the artist who holds the key to the mystery. He can touch the wellsprings of the human heart, and release energies of the soul that the rest of the world does not suspect.”

From “Ignatian Imprints.” Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus, 2007. (http://www.ignatianimprints.org/spring07/art.shtml)

Company Magazine, “Most Likely to Succeed”, (Fall 2004). (http://www.companymagazine.org/v221/likelytosucceed.htm)

Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education. “The Arts.” The National Seminar on Jesuit Higher Education: Fall, 1998: No.14.

Includes articles by J. Robert Barth SJ, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Boston College; Gerald T. Cobb SJ, Chair of the English Dept. at Seattle University; Cynthia Anne Caporella, Director of Music and Liturgy at John Carroll University; Sally Metzler, Director of the Martin DʼArcy Gallery of Art at Loyola University Chicago; Philip C. Rule SJ, Associate Professor of English at the College of the Holy Cross; Michael Flecky SJ, Professor of Fine and Performing Arts at Creighton University; Michael Tunney SJ, Chair of the Department of Fine Arts at Canisius University; Walter Ong SJ, University Professor Emeritus of Humanities at St. Louis University; Brennan OʼDonnell, Associate Professor of English at Loyola College in Maryland; and Judith Rock, Writer and Actress and Teacher in New York City.

Documents of the 31st and 32nd General Congregations of the Society of Jesus. St. Louis: The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1977.“Document 30”, 243-44.

Fontana, Tom. “Putting God in the Box,” Image: A Journal of the Arts and Religion. Summer, 1999: No. 23, 81-109.

Tom Fontana, screen writer and producer of numberous television dramatic series and specials, has received three Peabody Awards, three Emmy Awards, three Writers Guild Awards, four Television Critics Awards, and the Humanitas Prize for his work. In this article, he describes the influence of his Jesuit high school education at Canisius High School in Buffalo NY during the period of Vatican Council II upon his thinking and imagination as a screen writer.

Greeley, Andrew. The Catholic Imagination. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000.

Lynch, William F. SJ. Christ and Apollo. NY: Sheed and Ward, 1960.

. Christ and Prometheus. University of Notre Dame Press, 1970.

McNaspy, Clement J. SJ. “Art in Jesuit Life,” Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits: V: 3 (April, 1973), v-vi, 83-111.

McNaspy summarizes the change in Jesuit appropriation of Ignatian traditions in understanding the connections between religious experience, mysticism, and high art: “In attempting today [1973] to rediscover the full Ignatian tradition we have to be critical of the limitations of the rather recent (Roothaanian?) tradition in which many of us were initiated. That tradition, for a variety of questionable philosophical reasons, placed a high premium on the pure intellect abstracted from feeling and from the physical and symbolic embodiments of human experience. Indeed, these were commonly treated as suspect or somehow evil. Not so today. [p. 104]

. “The Culture Explosion,” America 104:10 (December 3, 1960), 340-42.

. “Jesuits and the Fine Arts,” Woodstock Letters 95: (Fall, 1966), 418-440.

Publication of a small symposium with edited statements by Jesuit artists concerning what their vocation entailed. All were full-time artists, mainly painters and sculptors, from three continents. Like many artistic manifestoes, their words express high aspiration. They expressed the need to be “present and active in artistic creation, to salvage the truncated imagination, to reflect the reality of the life and love of God penetrating all and summing all up in Christ, who is both spirit and flesh, through art giving people a feeling for God, offering a very, very special instance of the fusion of the supernatural and the natural creative power to be builders of a prophetic bridge between the world of art and man.”

Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus. “Ignatian Imprints.” Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus, 2007. (http://www.ignatianimprints.org/spring07/art.shtml)

O'Malley, John W. S.J. and Bailey, Gauvin Alexander, eds., The Jesuits and the Arts, 1540-1773. Philadelphia: Saint Joseph's University Press, 2005.

Rahner, Hugo. Man at Play. “Eutrapelia: A Forgotten Virtue.”

Rahner, Karl. Theological Investigations IV. Essays titled “The Theology of the Symbol,” “Poetry and the Christian,” “Theological Remarks on the Problem of Leisure.”

Tracy, David. Analogical Imagination. New York: Crossroads, 1981.

Prepared for the Jesuit Higher Education Seminar Creighton University December 2009

Michael Flecky SJ Fine and Performing Arts Department