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Recent Acquisitions Releases Press Release Archive |
Tyler Museum of Art Announces Major Exhibition: The Saint John's Bible for Summer '06 Tyler, TX—The Tyler Museum of Art today officially announced it will host the national touring exhibition of The Saint John’s Bible June 9 through September 3. Illuminating the Word: The Saint John’s Bible exhibition presents the very rare and most significant handwritten and illuminated Bible commissioned since the advent of the printing press more than 500 years ago. The Saint John’s Bible, a richly ornamented masterwork hand-illustrated with gold leaf on oversized vellum, is an unprecedented undertaking in contemporary book arts and a major cultural and interfaith endeavor. Commissioned by Saint John’s Abbey and Saint John’s University in Collegeville, MN, The Saint John’s Bible is a contemporary work created in the tradition of handwritten medieval manuscripts. The artistic director of the project, Donald Jackson, is one of the world’s foremost calligraphers and scribe to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s Crown Office at the House of Lords. During the past five years, Jackson has worked in rural Wales, United Kingdom, with scribes and artists to write and illuminate The Saint John’s Bible entirely by hand, using quills and paints hand-ground from precious minerals and stones such as lapis lazuli, vermilion, malachite, silver, copper, and 24-karat gold. The Illuminating the Word exhibition features pages from the first three completed volumes of The Saint John’s Bible: the Pentateuch (the first five books of Jewish and Christian scripture), Gospels and Acts, and Psalms. Among the pages on view are The Seven Days of Creation, Genesis, The Garden of Eden, Jacob’s Ladder, The Ten Commandments, The Parable of the Loaves and Fishes, The Sermon on the Mount, The Parable of the Sower and the Seed, The Birth of Christ, Dinner at the Pharisee’s House, The Woman Accused of Adultery, The Raising of Lazarus, The Death of Moses, The Crucifixion, the frontispieces for the four Gospels, and images of flora and fauna indigenous to Minnesota. Original artist sketches are on view, as is a worktable from the scriptorium where the artists work, displaying materials such as quills, hand-ground pigments, gold leaf, calfskin vellum, and ancient inks from China. The exhibition also includes examples of sacred texts from non-Christian religions and artwork from the special collections of Saint John’s University. “We are very fortunate to be one of the first museums selected to show this incredible manuscript,” said Kimberley Tomio, Tyler Museum of Art director. “In this region and throughout the world today, there is a great deal of interest in religious artwork. We feel this Bible will be recognized by many as a major contribution in that field. It is a showcase for both the finest calligraphy and contemporary illuminations of a sacred text.” Theologians from Saint John’s Abbey and University and the College of Saint Benedict, together with consultants from other faiths, have worked with Jackson, providing theological briefs that direct the interpretation of scripture in the illustrations. Based on these briefs, Jackson and his team of scribes and artists have created illuminations reflecting a multicultural world and humanity’s enormous strides in science, technology, and space travel. Because the project is an interfaith undertaking, Jackson has incorporated imagery from Eastern and Western religious traditions, as well as influences from Native American cultures. For example, an illumination in Gospels and Acts depicts the Earth as seen from space, a contemporary interpretation of the planet’s place in the universe. Illuminations throughout Psalms show artistic renderings of digital voice prints of Saint John’s monks chanting the Psalms—intersected with digital voice prints of calls to prayer in Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Sufi, and Native American religious traditions. “Illuminated manuscripts have always marked the time and place in which they were created, and The Saint John’s Bible will reflect our world at the beginning of the twenty-first century for future generations,” said Brother Dietrich Reinhart, OSB, president of Saint John’s University. “Today, through partnerships with museums and educational outreach, we hope to touch people of all cultures and creeds with the spirit and beauty of this book.” The Saint John’s Bible, consisting of 1150 pages in seven volumes, will be completed in 2007, at a cost of about $4 million. Then it will be housed permanently at the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library, Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minnesota, where it will be used in worship and be available to scholars and the public. The Saint John’s Bible will tour to libraries and museums worldwide. After leaving Tyler in September, the exhibition will be displayed in the Library of Congress, the Naples (Florida) Art Museum, the Phoenix Art Museum and the Mobile Museum of Art. The Prophets volume will be displayed at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, with additional venues currently being scheduled. The exhibition was organized by The Minneapolis Institute of Arts and Saint John’s University; the exhibition and its national tour are made possible by Target. Local individuals and corporations sponsoring the Tyler exhibition to date include Su Holder, Rowland Foundation, Dermatology Associates of Tyler, Southside Bank and Tyler Cancer Center. The TMA is currently seeking additional local and regional sponsors for the exhibition and its companion events including the members opening reception, educational lectures and calligraphy workshops. “The Saint John's Bible is a unique artistic undertaking, and Target is proud to bring the Illuminating the Word exhibition to…venues across the country,” said Laysha Ward, vice president, community relations, Target Corporation. “Target believes in making the arts accessible, and through our sponsorship of this exhibition, we hope all audiences will enjoy the project’s contemporary and multicultural nature.” Illuminating the Word: The Saint John’s Bible will be a ticketed exhibition, with free admission to TMA members. Admission fees are $10 for adults; $8 for seniors and college students with ID; $5 for children 13-17; $2 for children 3-12. Special group rates are available for churches, clubs and organizations, or tour groups with advance reservations. Three exhibition-related books will be available at the TMA Gift Shop for purchase: Illuminating the Word: The Making of The Saint John’s Bible, Gospels and Acts, and The Psalms. For more information on the exhibition, to become a TMA member, or an exhibition sponsor contact the Tyler Museum of Art at 903-595-1001. About The Tyler Museum of Art Recognized as one of Texas’ leading small museums, the TMA is a destination for people seeking a dynamic, culturally enriching experience in the visual arts. Conveniently located adjacent to the Tyler Junior College campus at 1300 S. Mahon, the Museum’s permanent collection includes more than 700 pieces, and is recognized for its focus on early and modern Texas art. Admission to the permanent collection is always free, although some special exhibitions have a nominal admission fee. Museum Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m.–5 p.m.; closed Monday. The Gift Shop is open during exhibition hours; The Café is open for lunch, 11:30 a.m.Ǿ1:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. Handicap accessible; the Museum includes a children’s art activity center. About Saint John’s Abbey and University and the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) Saint John’s Abbey is a Benedictine monastic community of men who follow the 1500-year tradition of worship and work through daily prayer and service. About two thirds of the community live and work in Collegeville, Minnesota. The Abbey is located on 2,400 acres of woodland and lakes in Collegeville, 70 miles north of Minneapolis/Saint Paul. Located on the campus of Saint John’s University, the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library is dedicated to preservation of and access to art, rare books, and manuscripts focused on how humans imagine the sacred. HMML’s history of preserving rare and endangered handwritten works from around the world by capturing them on microfilm, and now in digital formats, began in earnest in 1965; the collection now totals 30 million pages of manuscripts, the largest of its kind in the world. About Target Stores Minneapolis-based Target Stores serves guests at 1,313 stores in 47 states nationwide. Target Stores, along with its parent company Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT), gives back more than $2 million a week to its local communities through grants and special programs. Since opening its first store in 1962, Target has partnered with nonprofit organizations, guests, and team members to help meet community needs. |