"When I am an old lady..." - Martin de Porres Center Art Exhibit

COLUMBUS, OH - From now through March 3, the Martin de Porres Center is featuring a retrospective exhibit of oil paintings by Dominican Sister of Peace Elaine DesRosiers, OP, from the St. Catharine Motherhouse in Kentucky. She titled the show, "When I am a little old lady..." as the introduction to the story of how she entered the art world.

In 1986, at the age of 56, she told herself, "When I am a little old lady with white hair living at the Motherhouse, I'll want to paint, but I'll want to know how to paint." At that time she was Director of Educational Media at the University of Notre Dame and living in South Bend, Indiana. She began to take oil painting lessons at the South Bend Regional Museum of Art School on Tuesday nights, where she continued to study for 20 years. During these years she painted 80 works, two of which were award winners. Buildings were her favorite subjects, especially buildings in foreign lands where she traveled.

By the time she "retired" to the Kentucky Motherhouse in 2005, she clearly knew how to paint and has recently been named "artist in residence." The City of Springfield, Kentucky, recently purchased her set of 12 oil paintings of turn-of-the-century buildings on Main Street in Springfield to exhibit in the town's Visitors' Center in the restored Opera House. Her latest commission is to paint the ten academic buildings on the campus of St. Catharine College near Springfield.

At 81, Sr. Elaine considers herself "in the full blossom of the ministry of art, fulfilling the desire I first had twenty-five years ago."

The gallery space is open by appointment through March 3, by calling the Center, 2330 Airport Road in Columbus, OH, at 614.416.1910.

The Martin de Porres Center for ministry outreach, sponsored by the Dominican Sisters of Peace and located at the Columbus Motherhouse, is a place for spirituality, education, and the arts. Established in 2004 and infused with the spirit of hospitality, the Center offers its own programming - particularly in areas related to social justice - and invites other nonprofit groups with compatible missions to rent space for their programs. Conference rooms of various sizes accommodate speakers, group meetings, retreat days, and cultural events all year round.