Cincinnati, Ohio, April 1, 2020– A painting created by Saint Ursula Academy students will soon hang in a local charity, the Mater Filius Queen City home.
Each year, Saint Ursula art students learn about an area non-profit that helps individuals overcome adversity through education and empowerment. Once they learn about the agency’s mission and work, they plan a painting that has a personal connection and will be donated to the organization. The project is led by SUA Art Instructor Kurt Nicaise, with help from SUA Community Service Learning coordinator Peggy Platz ’84.
This year, the students chose Mater Filius Queen City, a new non-profit in Cincinnati. Following Catholic social teaching, Mater Filius supports pregnant women who find themselves without the support of family or who are experiencing financial difficulties. It provides a home and education on life and relationship skills to help safeguard the life of the unborn child and to help the mother develop skills to care for her new child and herself for a lifetime.
First learning about Mater Filius, the students were able to incorporate symbolism and meaning into the piece they created.
“We incorporated the vines, which have the look of ropes, and intertwined them together throughout the piece, which is symbolic of the connected lives of mother and baby,” said Audrey Kirwin ’22.
The 14 students each created a piece, which was painstakingly assembled into two canvas panels. They used the knotted vine and flower images. The stems are purple, a color of faith and loyalty. The other colors were added to provide contrast and a feeling that is bright and happy.
Moira Seger ’22 led the color selection process. “We spent a great deal of time choosing the colors,” said Moira. “We wanted to choose a color scheme that was not necessarily realistic, but was fun, happy, and vibrant and also complimented each other.”
The Art 2 students who worked together to create the art piece are Bridget Brus, Lenna Couch, Aubrey Englert, Anna Ganim, Audrey Kirwin, Mercedes Lagdameo, Gloria Mangold, Elizabeth Pendergast, Avery Reid, Emma Reider, Ellen Scott, Moira Seger, Clara Stehlin, and Emma Thomas.
Photo Caption: Saint Ursula Academy art students Moira Seger and Audrey Kirwin with the art piece their class created for Mater Filius Queen City.
Saint Ursula Academy is a Catholic, college-preparatory, secondary school for young women known for academic excellence and rich tradition. Saint Ursula welcomes students from more than 80 grade schools in the Greater Cincinnati area. The Class of 2020 reported earning college scholarship offers averaging $169,375 per student. The Academy is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a Blue Ribbon School. The campus, located at 1339 E. McMillan Street in East Walnut Hills has been the home of Saint Ursula Academy and Convent since 1910.