Summer 1975
The erection of this wall is an effort of love, devotion,
dedication and sacrifice on the part of several persons, spearheaded by the inspiration
and determination of Father Moses Anderson. Father’s belief and confidence in
people, especially young people, helped to create the wall. This wall is not an
end in itself but only one of many milestones in the renewed awakening and
involvement of the total community here at Xavier.
Many hundreds of man hours were purposely set aside by
students and faculty to bring the wall to completion. Many times these hours
were sacrificed not only by those involved but their families as well.
The wall had its beginning as a Senior Project of two
students, which resulted in an unfruitful effort during the spring semester of
1975. Dedication, confidence and sacrifice were not among the ingredients in
this initial effort. However, the first effort served as a catalyst for the
then Junior students to resurrect from the ashes and bring the wall to a
fruitful conclusion. To these students -- Reggie Atkinson, Denise Newman and
Julie Romain, all BFA senior students majoring in ceramics -- I want to express my gratitude for their commitment, dedication
and attitude of professionalism.
A few problems did arise which delayed the completion; most
of them were technical in nature. The most outstanding were in the breakage of
the tiles and tesserae and were problems related to the firing process. After a
satisfactory method of handling raw tiles and a firing technique was devised,
plus increased work space and uninterrupted studio work time gained with the
beginning of summer, our losses and problems became nil.
In the weeks that followed shortly after the end of the spring
semester, we developed a closer student-teacher relationship and a cohesive
work unit was formed. Prior to this time our work was viewed as an extension of
the teaching situation, but now we were able to draw on the increased benefits
afforded us on the spiritual and professional levels.
We then proceeded into the erection stage of the wall within
the confines of the Chapel. With this close proximity of the Blessed Sacrament,
a feeling of love, respect and honor was experienced. Later our feelings began
to manifest themselves in our wall. Very subtle relationships emerged,
which were originally intended but not with the intense religious impact as
they are now endowed.
We, as modern Christians and citizens of America, are
accustomed to seeing many symbols in our daily lives, so much so that symbols
sometimes serve only as shallow recognitional devices; and we sometimes react to them merely in a conditional response manner with little or no intellectual
deliberation. At first, I personally reacted to the use of the African symbols
only as an artist engaged in the application and adapting of those symbols as
elements for a creative expression with something less than complete awareness
of the religious symbolic impact.
Many elements in my early religious training have been
awakened and stimulated by my work on the wall. I feel that I have made a
positive contribution to my students’ development and that the wall will
continue to inspire students in the future and society as a whole.
* * *
May 1985, further thoughts:
I have always been intrigued with the construction of forms
using various materials which were geometrical, but yet organic in
structure. It is because of this seemingly incongruous dichotomy that I find
excitement. My concern for structural contrast does not overshadow my respect
for the plastic quality of clay. In all of my works there is a conscious effort
made to consistently reassure the viewer that the medium is clay. And clay not
only has a “mind of its own” but when it has been subjected to manipulation and
intense firing temperatures it is impossible to totally predict or completely
control the outcome of it or final form in respect to physical appearances.
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