News

Students mix art, religion, create prayer chairs

By Sam Lucero
Compass Staff

ST. NAZIANZ -- Art Deco meets Catholic doctrine. That's one way to describe the project seventh and eighth graders at St. Gregory School are currently completing.

Under the guidance of religion instructor Patty Wilhelm and art instructor Kathleen Dineen-Grube, the 15 students are transforming nine wooden chairs into what they call "prayer chairs."

The unique works of art are giving students an opportunity to apply their artistic talents while learning about the Nicene Creed. Their final creations will be the featured items at the school's second annual St. Gregory School Art Auction Jan. 26.

The auction, along with afternoon Mass, spaghetti dinner and book fair, are part of the school's kick-off activities for Catholic Schools Week.

The prayer chair project started last fall, said Wilhelm, when students began discussing the Nicene Creed in religion class.

"We tried to take it in concepts, such as God the Father, then God the Son," she said.

Students were then divided into pairs and given a specific part of the creed to study. In November, they began working on their prayer chairs.

"We just told them that they really had to study that section of the creed, (using) the catechism, or any other reference books we have here, and see what they could come up with," said Wilhelm.

The students were required to read their part of the Creed and understand it. They were also required to look up Scripture references, research the Internet and textbooks to see what church teachings say about their topic and then prepare a half-hour lesson on their section for the class.

In addition, they were required to prepare a Power Point classroom presentation and create a worksheet that would help other students understand their section of the Creed.

"When they were handed their papers with their part of the creed on it, they had to get a vision of what their final project was going to be," added Dineen-Grube.

Wilhelm said she was impressed with the students' creativity and their understanding of the Creed.

For example, she said, one group is working on "One holy and apostolic church."

"They are putting stained glass windows in there. At first I was really worried and thought, 'Oh, no. That building idea again,'" said Wilhelm.

But students proved they understood the concept of the church as the people of God when they incorporated people into their design, symbolically holding the chair.

Students used a variety of paint colors, ornamental objects and props to effectively interpret the Creed in their prayer chairs.

"Our part of the creeds is, 'On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures,' and that has to do with the resurrection," said Danielle Schmidt, 14, "so we drew Jesus coming out of the tomb on the third day and then the words up there." Schmidt teamed up with Marty O'Neil, 13, for their prayer chair.

Alex Grube, 13, and Dana Emme, 12, who created a chair based on the section, "I believe in the Holy Spirit," chose to decorate their chair with miniature creatures.

"The Holy Spirit is like life, so we put wildlife in there and then we're going to add some miniature trees," said Alex. "We have symbols of the Holy Spirit, which are flames and the dove."

"Sometimes on a test you think, OK, I think they've got it," said Wilhelm. "When they started doing this project, it's like, yes, they really do get it."