The Wall of Contemplation

In the spring of 1974, the Rev. Moses B. Anderson, S.S.E. (MA in Theology XU '68), then the chaplain of Xavier University of Louisiana, obtained a grant from the Danforth Foundation to be used in the renovation of the school’s chapel. Father Moses consulted with Lloyd Walter Bennett, Jr. (XU ’60), then a professor of Art Education and Fine Arts at XU, regarding the construction of a suitable background for a tabernacle and wood altar made by Julius Saul (XU ’59). John Scott (XU ’62), then chairman of the Art Department, participated in the discussion, the result of which was a challenge to Bennett to design a freestanding wall to be placed behind the altar and tabernacle.

     The approved design was a combination of ceramics and wood, with ceramic, bronze and wood tiles mounted within a wooden ladder-like framework. The decoration on the tiles incorporated Ashanti adinkra symbols and other representations of the African American experience, which complemented the priest’s kente cloth vestments.

Professor Bennett suggested two of his senior students, Paula Cherry and Ozzie Davis (both BFA XU ’74) work under his guidance and tutelage during the spring semester. With Cherry and Davis both about to graduate, Reginald Atkinson, Denise Newman, and Julie Romain, all BFA students majoring in ceramics, agreed to work with Bennett on the project during the summer. They saw the project through to completion with assistance from Michael Bridges Russer (XU ’76), Timothy McGary (XU ’76), Emanuel Branch (XU ’76), Jane Wallace (XU ’79), Prof, Bennett’s children, Timothy and Terese, and others.

     The framework, dubbed “Jacob’s Ladder” by the participants, was constructed of California redwood by Henry Lemieux, supervisor of the maintenance department, and his crew, Charles Collins and Charles Baquet, the university engineer. Each of the ceramics artists requested to be responsible for specific tiles. Professor Scott was asked to contribute a cast bronze plaque and to carve a redwood image interpreting the Adinkra symbols for Gye Nyame (the omnipotence of God) and Nyame Ye Ohene (the majesty and supremacy of God).

     The chapel was located in the administration building at the corner of Palmetto Street and Drexel Boulevard (formerly Pine Street).