Alumni Christmas Celebration
Join us in December for a virtual celebration with guest speaker Timothy Schmalz, the world-renowned artist responsible for the St. Thomas Aquinas sculpture being installed by the Iversen Center for Faith. He will join us live from his studio in Canada. This is your chance to see where the work happens!
President Julie Sullivan, Fr. Larry Snyder and art history professor Dr. Victoria Young (2019 St. Thomas Professor of the Year) will join us, too, and we have a few seasonal surprises in store. You'll leave ready and eager for Christmas!
Dec. 4, 2020
Noon - 1 p.m.
Event Details
Alumni Christmas Celebration
Featured speaker: Timothy Schmalz, figurative artist and sculptor
Friday, Dec. 4
Noon - 1 p.m. CST
Zoom - Free
Questions about using Zoom? Click here.
Spots are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Register to reserve your spot!
There is no charge to attend. Please consider making a gift to support our students who are facing immediate and pressing financial needs due to the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more.
About Our Speaker
For over 25 years, renowned Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz has been sculpting large scale sculptures. He is a figurative artist with his pieces installed worldwide. Some of his most reputed pieces are installed in historical churches in Rome and at the Vatican. He describes his most important work as visual translations of the Bible.
Schmalz’s work includes “Angels Unawares,” unveiled last year by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square in Rome – the first new statue added to the square in more than 400 years.
He was selected to create a bronze sculpture of the university’s patron saint, Thomas Aquinas, one of three new art installations in and around the recently-opened Iversen Center for Faith. The statue’s concept features the pages of Aquinas’ theology ascending to the sky and transforming into a dove. Unseen wind not only carries the pages to heaven, but also animates the saint’s clothing, creating a spiral of movement throughout the whole work. At the base of the sculpture are ancient busts of Aristotle and Greek pillars, giving visual recognition to the background and range of Aquinas’ theology.