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Environmental threats and climate change are urgent matters of concern at Jesuit universities, where conversations on this topic often take place in reference to two documents by Pope Francis: Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home (2015) and the 2023 update Laudate Deum. Artists play an indispensable role in our collective response to climate change. To See This Place, curated by Al Miner and David Brinker, will present work by Athena LaTocha, Mary Mattingly, and Tyler Rai, three contemporary artists whose outlook resonates with the themes of Laudato Si’ and Laudate Deum. Embodying a breadth of personal, geographic, and cultural backgrounds, the three artists create works strongly associated with a sense of place, whether specific or imaginary. They employ media as diverse as photography, sculpture, video, and painting, and often incorporate materials sourced from particular locales. Yet the artists draw forth broader themes from this particularity, critiquing political and economic systems that perpetuate destructive self-interest and drawing attention to people who have been marginalized and historically excluded or harmed. The works are artistically compelling yet can inspire us to creativity and boldness in our efforts to address climate change.
This exhibition will open at Saint Louis University's Museum of Contemporary Religious Art in Fall 2025.
Faculty Liaison: Nancy Dallavalle, Professor of Religious Studies
Image: Mary Mattingly, Saltwater, 2022, chromogenic dye coupler print. Courtesy of the artist © Mary Mattingly and Robert Mann Gallery
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Opening Night Lecture: To See This Place: Awakening to Our Common Home
Thursday, January 23, 5:30 p.m.
Al Miner, Independent Curator and Deputy Director, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and David Brinker, Director, Saint Louis University Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, Co-curators of the exhibition.
Part of the Edwin L. Weisl, Jr. Lectureships in Art History, funded by the Robert Lehman Foundation
Quick Center for the Arts, Kelley Theatre and streaming on thequicklive.com
Opening Reception: To See This Place: Awakening to Our Common Home
Thursday, January 23, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Quick Center for the Arts, Walsh Gallery and Lobby
Gallery Talk: Artist Mary Mattingly
Wednesday, March 5, 12:30 p.m.
Quick Center for the Arts, Walsh Gallery
The 18th Annual Commonweal Lecture: “Beyond Climate Doom: Hope as Honest, Vulnerable and Fierce”
Wednesday April 9, 7 p.m.
Vincent Miller, PhD, Professor of Religious Studies, University of Dayton
Bellarmine Hall, Diffley Board Room and streaming
Presented by the Fairfield University Center for Catholic Studies
Note: this event takes place after To See This Place: Awakening to Our Common Home has concluded its run, but its themes are closely tied to those presented in the exhibition.
Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. (Thursday until 8 p.m.) - We are closed for national and university holidays and during inclement weather.
Location:
For GPS please use the following address: 200 Barlow Road, Fairfield, CT, 06824, or click on the map image at right for directions.
Parking:
Free parking available at the lot in front of the Quick Center, including handicap parking.
Admission:
The museum is open to the public and admission is free.
Tours:
Private tours with a curator are available for a fee; please contact museum@fairfield.edu or 203-254-4046.
Reach Us By train:
Take Metro-North, New Haven Line, to Fairfield Station (approximately 70 minutes from Grand Central Station).
www.mta.info/mnr
800-638-7646
For further information or to schedule a visit or tour, please contact
Fairfield University Art Museum
1073 North Benson Road
Fairfield, CT 06824
(203) 254-4046
museum@fairfield.edu
