Join us for the public opening of the 8th Catholic Arts Biennial on Sunday, September 12! Beginning at 1:00 p.m., Mr. David Brinker will offer a lecture investigating the work of contemporary artists who engage Christian themes. As part of the program, prizes will be awarded to artists. A reception at the Center from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. will immediately follow the program, where guests will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite work.

The lecture and reception are free and open to the public, but guests must register. In accordance with Saint Vincent College’s Forward Together Guidelines, all are required to wear a mask while indoors regardless of vaccination status.
Juror’s Lecture & Artist Award Ceremony
1:00 p.m. - Fred M. Rogers Center
300 Fraser Purchase Road | Latrobe, Pennsylvania 15650

Opening Reception 
2:00 - 4:00 p.m. - Verostko Center for the Arts
located inside the Dale P. Latimer Library, 2nd floor
Jon Henry, Untitled, #33, Jersey City, NJ, digital archival print, 30" x 24". 
The 8th Catholic Arts Biennial features the work of forty-nine contemporary artists, working across media to visualize the stories, beliefs, and rituals of Christianity in new and arresting ways. Mr. David Brinker, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art at Saint Louis University served as this year's juror. Of the 396 works submitted on behalf of 159 artists working across the United States as well as internationally, 52 pieces were chosen.
Salvador Oregel, Juan Diego Being Watched by Our Lady of Guadalupe, acrylic, ink, and gouache, 10" x 5".
The 2021 Biennial encouraged submissions executed by women and persons of color. It has been the expressed intent of the Biennial’s organizers to amplify artists whose work has been overwhelmingly absent from America’s churches and largely omitted from Western art historical surveys. It is towards this aim that the 2021 exhibition seeks to deepen our collective understanding and appreciation of the diversity of Catholic art being made today.
Artists represented in the Biennial have utilized modern methods as well as traditional techniques in the creation of images of Christ, the Virgin Mary, the saints, biblical narratives, and the sacraments, along with works that encourage reflection surrounding the cosmos, the interconnectivity of human and ecological life, racial injustice, civil conflict, and the sanctity of human life. These works entreat contemplation while challenging us to respond to the needs and anxieties of our communities with prayer, compassion, and creativity.
​​Margaret Adams Parker, American Diptych (Study) – The Burning Bush & The Robe of Mercy, acrylic and gold paint on paper, 27" x 32". 
Left: Diane Paroda, Mary (White Pine Range), paper mounted on panel, 10" x 8".