Art and the Truing of Vision

Christ the Light Giver Icon
Sister Paula Howard, OSB

On Saturday, October 7, the topic of Oblate Renewal Day at the Mount was “Artisans of the Monastery.” Dr. Dennis Dunleavy led the group in an exploration of how symbols are part of our daily lives, and many oblates displayed original photographs, paintings, and crafts, while others led workshops that enabled participants to engage in hands-on art projects.

It’s not surprising that St. Benedict includes a section on artisans in his rule. As the poet Jane Hirshfield notes, “Good art is a truing of vision…. The desire of monks and mystics is not unlike that of artists: to perceive the extraordinary within the ordinary by changing not the world but the eyes that look.” In St. Benedict’s time, as in ours, anyone who can pick up a pen, a needle, a penny whistle, a lump of clay, a paintbrush, carving tools, a spatula, or a garden spade can enter into the creative process, enabling us to participate in God’s life of continual newness and transformation. Anyone who has lost track of time while immersed in writing, drawing, making music, or any other creative endeavor knows what it means to die to self and see with the eyes of God.

Persons who think art is dispensable typically are resistant to change. Hirshfield goes on to ask, “Why ask art into a life at all, if not to be transformed and enlarged by its presence and mysterious means? … And by changing selves, one by one, art changes also the outer world that selves create and share.” Art thus helps us transform the world into the kingdom of God, so we should actually be picking up our paintbrushes, musical instruments, writing tools, and other implements of creativity at every opportunity!