The Alva de Mars Megan Chapel Art Center, located in the south wing of Alumni Hall, is Saint Anselm College’s gallery for the exhibition of fine art. Founded in 1967, the Chapel Art Center provides the Saint Anselm community with a beautiful space to admire rotating exhibitions as well as a permanent collection of artworks. This fall, students may find serenity in Passion for Progress, the Chapel Art Center’s latest exhibition, amidst a hectic semester.
Once the college’s chapel, the Chapel Art Center features a beautifully adorned vaulted ceiling with allegorical lunettes painted by Father Raphael Pfisterer, O.S.B. (1877-1942). The space also features stained glass windows and occasional stone carved in high and low relief. The Chapel Art Center’s historical background works alongside the variety of works to provide students with a space to admire art that compliments the college’s values. This semester, the space makes a perfect home for religiously themed pop art by nun and educator, Corita Kent.
Corita Kent (1918-1986) was an artist, educator, and social justice activist. At just 18, Corita entered the religious order Immaculate Heart of Mary, where she took her religious name “Sister Mary Corita,” and began her career in education. She later advanced to the art department at Immaculate Heart College, where she was known for her tedious and time consuming assignments.
Over the course of her career, Corita’s work transformed from figurative and religious themes to incorporating advertising images, lyrics from popular songs, biblical verses, and literature. Throughout the 1960s, her work took an increasingly political tone, highlighting issues such as poverty, racism, and social injustice.
The Chapel Art Center’s current exhibition, Passion for Progress, is a culmination of serigraph prints by Corita Kent and other works from the college’s permanent collection. This exhibition, which will remain in the Chapel Art Center until December 5, continues to circulate Kent’s blended messages of religion and modern-day revolutionary social charge and also speaks for the graphic effectiveness of screen print.
The exhibition centers around the works of Pop artist and Catholic sister Corita Kent, whose bold and colorful screen prints speak for the intertwinement of catholic values and social consciousness; two values many Anselmians may resonate with.
Alongside Kent’s pieces, a selection of complimentary artworks further enhance the thematic depth of the exhibition, creating a space where art, faith, and social charge intersect. Through this carefully curated collection, Passion for Progress provides a space for students to slow down and admire small details; a form of leisure often lost in the busy schedules of college students. The themes of community and compassion strongly resonate with Saint Anselm’s mission, making Passion for Progress not just an art exhibition but also a reflection of the institution’s intellectual and spiritual identity.
Passion for Progress will remain in the Chapel Art Center until December 5, 2025. In the weeks leading up to final exams, students should utilize the exhibition as not only a space to admire art, but a quiet place to unwind and regroup after hours of studying and hard work. Gallery hours are 10am – 4pm Tuesday – Friday, and Thursday evenings from 4-7pm. For further questions, students and staff can contact Fr. Ian MacLellan, director of the Chapel Art Center, or Tara Nichols, gallery assistant.