Second Century
NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE P A I D UNIVERSITY OF ST. FRANCIS
The USF Centennial Campaign Newsletter
500 Wilcox Street Joliet, Illinois 60435
The USF Centennial Campaign Newsletter Dear Alumni and Friends,
ISSUE 1 | JUNE 2019
As the University of St. Francis embarks upon its 100-year anniversary celebration, we reflect on our past, honor our rich history and make plans for the future. USF students come to the university with hopes and dreams of becoming teachers, nurses, doctors, accountants, business leaders, and more. Our mission is to strive for academic excellence in all of our programs, preparing women and men to contribute to the world through service and leadership, and ultimately, make the world a better place. This newsletter is the first in a series to share with you, news on the Centennial Campaign and its progress. As you receive each issue, we hope you will share our excitement for our Centennial Campaign plans and the impact it will have on the lives of our students. Through the Centennial Campaign, we are raising funds for three key initiatives. The first is to raise at least $1 million in additional scholarship funding for our students, most of whom remain the first in their families to attend college. The second is to establish a Centennial Quad with new gathering areas and open spaces in the space being vacated by St. Albert Hall. The third is to establish a Centennial Gateway on the northern edge of campus – complete with a welcoming sign, a statue of Saint Francis with a Saint Bernard and a stone patio with the names of 100 alumni and friends who support this initiative. All three initiatives are critical to achieving our mission and preparing for next 100 years. Many deserving students would not be able to afford a USF education without the support of scholarship funds. The Centennial Quad will provide places for student to enjoy camaraderie and collaborative learning. The Centennial Gateway will provide a beautiful, welcoming entry to campus and help with our recruitment efforts.
Local Artists Commissioned to Create Statue of Saint Francis for Gateway The prominent component of the Centennial Gateway that will be created at the northern edge of the main campus in Joliet will be a life-sized, six-foot bronze statue of Saint Francis of Assisi with a Saint Bernard at his side. Artists Kathleen Farrell (at left in photo) and Kathleen Scarboro (at right), who have been commissioned to create the piece, will begin their work in September of 2019. “We love doing figurative sculpture and we love doing sculpture that is life-sized,” Farrell said. “Being challenged to take on creating a piece that represents someone who has done so much good for humanity is certainly an added blessing.” To find inspiration for the piece, Farrell and Scarboro are looking to many sources. “There is a wealth of research required for sculpture,” Farrell said. “We look at a variety of images, we look at other works, and we look at historical items such as clothing to come up with a vision that will accurately represent our subject.” The artists plan to also look to the work of another artist, Sr. Kay Francis, OSF, whose works of art inspired by Saint Francis carry a very special significance to USF because she was a member of the university’s founding order, the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate. For the first time in their history of working
together, Farrell and Scarboro will create a piece of art outside of the familiar confines of their studio. The team will create the piece onsite at USF’s St. Bonaventure Campus in downtown Joliet. “This is an exciting challenge to add to the creative process,” Farrell said. “Creating the sculpture on campus can serve as an educational experience that invites people to come by and see the project progress.” Farrell added that one of the important aspects of the sculpture will be its pose. “We are trained to look at the smallest of details when it comes to the pose a sculpture has. We look at how the body is positioned, how the arms and hands are placed, and the positioning of the hips, legs and feet. We look at if and how the head is tilted. Our goal is to come up with the most dramatic pose that expresses the warmth of humanity and that is beautiful to look at from all angles,” she said. “The model is also significant. We are looking for a model that possesses the physical traits of St. Francis. We are looking for a male with an Italian look and an evocative, handsome face with a prominent nose,” she said. Once a model and pose are identified, the artists will begin finalizing the piece through the selection of appropriate clothing before
actually assembling an armature to begin their actual hands-on work for the sculpture. The entire process of creating the oil clay version of the sculpture that will be cast by a foundry will take approximately eight weeks. Once the piece is shipped to the foundry for casting, the process will take three additional months before the piece is complete and ready for delivery to campus. “Creating a bronze sculpture is a long and detailed process,” Farrell explained, “but the end result will be a beautiful representation of Saint Francis and everything he embodied.”
We are taking the Centennial Campaign on the road and hope to visit a city near you. So far, we have visited Philadelphia, Sarasota and the Western suburbs of Chicago, and are currently planning gatherings in Chicago, Joliet, Madison, Albuquerque and more. Between these special events off campus, as well as those we will be planning on campus, we want make sure that everyone has an opportunity to participate in Centennial celebrations and this exciting campaign. We are so grateful for all our loyal supporters for their vision, foresight and generosity as they continue to partner with us to transform these strategic initiatives into realities. If you have not yet made a gift to the Centennial Campaign, please contact me at 815-740-3613 or kshort@stfrancis.edu. We can discuss areas in which your generosity can have the greatest impact. Gratefully,
Kristin Short, Vice President for Institutional Advancement
TO VIEW MORE WORK BY THE ARTISTS: kathleenfarrell.org kathleenscarboro.fr
BUILDING A FRANCISCAN FUTURE... TOGETHER, IN OUR SECOND CENTURY!