Past MOCRA Events

Browse the chronological list of events at the Saint Louis University Museum of Contemporary Religious Art (MOCRA), or search for a specific event. Click “View” for more information about an event. If you need further information about an event, please contact us.

Name

Art and the Religious Imagination

Dates

March 29, 2009

Description

MOCRA assembles a panel of distinguished museum directors and theologians to discuss the roles that secular and religious art museums can play in the presentation of art with spiritual and religious content. Panelists will also explore how spiritual and religious art has the potential to invite viewers into a deeper interior journey.

Participants:

Pamela Ambrose (Director, Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago) will speak on “The Spiritual in Art and the Public Response”

Gerald D. Bolas (former Director, Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill) will speak on “Sacred Objects in the Secular Art Museum”

Charles Bouchard, O.P. (Vice President for Theological Education, Ascension Health, St. Louis) will speak on “Suffering and the Presence of God in Good Friday”

Kevin Burke, S.J. (Acting President, Jesuit School of Theology, Berkeley, CA) will speak on “Recapitulation: Georges Rouault's Miserere et Guerre Series and the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius”
Fr. Burke was not able to participate due to unforeseen circumstances

The panel will be introduced and moderated by MOCRA Director Terrence E. Dempsey, S.J., who will also speak on “The Museum of Contemporary Religious Art: Reflecting on Fifteen Years of the Pursuit of the Spirit.” A panel discussion and time for audience questions will follow the individual presentations.

above, from left:
Charles Bouchard, Pamela Ambrose, and Gerald Bolas. Photo by Jeffrey Vaughn.

Related MOCRA Voices episodes

Watch Art and the Religious Imagination, Part One and Part Two on the MOCRA Voices Vimeo channel

Listen to interviews with Pamela Ambrose on Episode 5: Pamela Ambrose and Ena Heller and Episode 20: Pamela Ambrose

Dates	Exhibition
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2009-11-15	Michael Byron: “Cosmic Tears: Word and Image” November 15, 2009 Artist Michael Byron will discuss the development of his Cosmic ...
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2007-09-16	Michael Morris, O.P.: “Moving Pictures: The Bible and Beyond” September 16, 2007 Professor and Dominican priest Rev. Michael Morris, O.P., gives a wry and highly informed survey of Hollywood's relationship with Judeo-Christian scripture (in fact, the motion picture's interest ...
2007-03-30	Peter Frank: “An Oskar Fischinger Tribute” March 30, 2007 Peter Frank, curator of the MOCRA exhibition Oskar Fischinger: Movem...
2006-12-01	Day With(out) Art December 1, 2006 MOCRA observes Day With(out) Art, a national day of action and mourning in response to...
2005-12-04	Robert Rosenblum: “DoDo Jin Ming: An Art Historian's View” December 4, 2005 Renowned art historian Robert Rosenblum places the work of photographer DoDo Jin Ming
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2002-05-04	The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment: A University Response May 4, 2002 With this panel discussion about the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, approached from diverse disciplines and personal backgrounds, we seek to encourage the St. Louis community to assess the ramificat...
2002-04-30	Fred D. Gray: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment: A Study That Should Never Have Occurred April 30, 2002 Fred D. Gray is a civil rights attorney whose career spans...
2002-01-31	Cloudlanders January 31, 2002 MOCRA presents several of St. Louis' finest dancers performing two evenings of improvisatory dance with and amidst Pop artist Andy Warhol's Silver Clouds. The dancers respond to the mutable,...
2002-01-26	Thomas Sokolowski: “The Last Temptation: Andy Warhols Art as Belief” January 26, 2002 Thomas Sokolowski examines Pop artist Andy Warhol’s outlook on art and aesthetics as t...
2000-11-30	Day With(out) Art November 30, 2000 MOCRA observes Day With(out) Art, a national day of action and mourning in response to...
2001-04-06	Bare Naked Statues in concert April 6, 2001 The Bare Naked Statues, Saint Louis University’s premier all-male a capella ensemble, present their debu...
1999-04-15	Two Lectures: Ellen Dissanayake and Jack Renard April 15, 1999 MOCRA presents lectures by two distinguished scholars. Ellen Dissanayake “In the Beginning, Art” An innovative scholar makes a case for an innate hu...
1999-03-27	Bernard Maisner: “The Art of the Illuminator” March 27, 1999 Bernard Maisner, considered one of today's foremost practitione...
1998-03-22	Renaissance and Modern March 22, 1998 MOCRA presents a lecture and a public conversation. Dr. Carolyn Valone “Matrons and Motives: Why Women Built in 16th-century Rome” Carolyn Valone is Pr...
1997-11-15	The Role of the Computer in Contemporary Art November 15, 1997 Join artist Manfred Stumpf and members of the St. Louis arts community in an exploration of the role of the computer in contemporary art, examined from the perspectives of the artist, the art histo...
1997-07-24	Jennifer Biddle: Body, Country, Canvas: Meaning and Identity in Central Desert Aboriginal Women’s Art July 24, 1997 Dr. Jennifer Biddle, of the department of Anthropology, Macquar...
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1996-12-01	Day Without Art December 1, 1996 MOCRA observes Day With(out) Art, a national day of action and mourning in response to...
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1995-05-20	Ian Friend: “The Edge of Belief” May 20, 1995 Artist Ian Friend delivers a lecture focusing on his series of paintings ...
1995-05-04	Peter Selz: “Degenerate Art” May 4, 1995 In this lecture, renowned art historian, author and curator Peter Selz examines the 1937 Nazi-organized Entartete Kunst (“Degenerate Art”) exhibition, the most virulent campaign ever org...
1995-02-05	Lynn Hague in recital February 5, 1995 MOCRA welcomes Lynn Hague of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra in a solo violin recital. The program includes works by Bach and Paganini, as well as original improvisations that take advantage of ...
1994-11-13	Terrence Dempsey, S.J.: “The Spiritual in Art in the Time of AIDS” November 13, 1994 MOCRA’s exhibition Consecrations: The Spiritual ...
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1994-11-05	Thomas Sokolowski: “The Changing Face of AIDS” November 5, 1994 Thomas Sokolowski is the Director of the Grey Art Gallery and Study Center of New York University. He is also a co-founder of Day Without Art, an annual observance by galleries and...
1994-11-01	The Amici String Quartet in recital November 1, 1994 The Amici Quartet performs an evening recital in the elegant setting of Historic Samuel Cupples House. This pe...
1994-10-15	Consecrations: The Spiritual in Art in the TIme of AIDS dance program and opening reception October 15, 1994 MOCRA marks the opening of the first national group e...
1993-10-29	I Remember Alvin October 29, 1993 Three people closely connected with Alvin Ailey reminisce about their experiences with t...
1993-11-05	An Evening with Katherine Dunham November 5, 1993 Living legend Katherine Dunham discusses the famous “Dunham Technique” and provides valuable in...
1992-11-07	The Artist and Sacred Space November 7, 1992 This symposium held in conjunction with the Fall 1992 meeting of The Society for the Arts, Religion, and Contemporary Culture ...
2019-04-14	A Conversation with Gary Logan April 14, 2019 Trinidadian-American artist Gary Logan uses the visual language of abstraction to convey encounters with the sublime and explore challenging dimensions of the human experience. In this conversation...
2019-11-10	Pursuing the Spirit in Contemporary Art: A Celebration of Terrence Dempsey, S.J. November 10, 2019 On June 30, 2019, MOCRA Founding Director Terrence Dempsey, S.J., retired from Saint Louis University after nearly three decades of teaching and museum leadership. Fr. Dempsey jokes that he may be ...
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2022-09-29	Artist, Poet, Curator: A Conversation with Lesley Dill, Tom Sleigh and Rene Paul Barilleaux September 29, 2022 On September 29, 2022, MOCRA welcomed acclaimed visual artist Lesley Dill for a virtual, Zoom-based presentation. Dill was joined by poet Tom Sleigh and Rene Paul Barilleaux, head of curatorial aff...
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2024-04-14	René Paul Barilleaux: Crafting a Curatorial Practice April 14, 2024 René Paul Barilleaux, Chief of Curatorial Affairs at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, TX, traces the evolution of his curatorial practice over a forty-year period, including a sustained intere...

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