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The mission of the Saint Michael Institute of Sacred Art is to keep the old world arts based in the Catholic Christian theological tradition alive.
Click on the Specific Sacred Art Programs Below:
The institute welcomes artists to experience an intensive week-long workshop taught by nationally and internationally recognized masters in different media. Each workshop is geared toward expanding the creativity of students and enriching their skill and knowledge. By the end of each workshop, students will have engaged in informative discussions, shared insight and experience with fellow participants and completed a project tailored to their own tastes, interests and abilities.
Sacred art has always played a special role among the followers of Jesus Christ. From the paintings in the catacombs of the first century martyrs, through the liturgical chants and great cathedral structures of the middle ages, to the paintings, polyphony and sculpture of the renaissance, and the devotional art and hymnody of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, artists have sought to express their faith and communicate the beauty of God's redeeming love revealed in the humanity of Our Lord.
Each and every generation has sought to give visible, tangible and audible manners of appreciating and coming into contact with the Person of Jesus Christ. It is no wonder, then, that in this generation and at this time in the history of God's People, the Saint Michael Institute of Sacred Art was established to help the women and men of today continue this legacy of faith.
In his 1999 "Letter to Artists," our Holy Father Pope John Paul II explained why the Church needs art.
"Art must make perceptible, and as far as possible attractive, the world of the spirit, of the invisible, of God ... Art has a unique capacity to take one or another facet of Christ's message and translate it into colors, shapes and sounds which nourish the intuition of those who look or listen."
For Christians, art has a special significance, because women and men respond more readily to God through images, sounds and colors that appeal to their human senses. As our Holy Father states in his Apostolic Letter "The Rosary of the Virgin Mary," this
"corresponds to the inner logic of the Incarnation: in Jesus ... [and] through his bodily reality ... we are led into contact with the mystery of his divinity."
Rather than hinder our contact with the living God, good and beautiful art leads us into contact with our loving God who is Good and Beauty, and who reveals his love for us by taking our own visible, tangible and audible human nature to Himself. It is the mission of the Saint Michael Institute of Sacred Art to preserve and promote the highest standard of excellence in the sacred arts for the service of Christ and His Church.
Responding to the needs so clearly outlined by our Holy Father, the Institute is a means for fostering the creative genius of artists that brings hope, inspiration, furthers the devotion of believers, and encourages all who search for the truth who is Christ. Each week-long workshop takes place on Enders Island and provides participants with full use of the Institute facilities, overnight accommodations, and quality and delicious meals. Mass is offered daily in the beautiful Chapel of Our Lady of the Assumption, which features the sacred work of several of the masters who teach in the Institute.