Religious Images from Collection of Chuck and Jan Rosenak Featured

The DePaul University Art Museum’s latest exhibition is sure to brighten the grayest winter day with more than 80 colorful carved figures of saints featured in “Santeros: A Living Tradition in American Art from the Southwest,” Jan. 10 until April 7 at 2350 N. Kenmore Ave.

The santos (carved figures of saints) featured in the exhibition are on loan from the collection of Miami attorneys Chuck and Jan Rosenak. The exhibition also features paintings (retablos) of saints and a personal altar.

An opening reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Jan. 10. The Rosenaks will provide an informal gallery talk during that time. The reception and exhibition are free and open to the public.

Santeros, or saint makers, date back to 18th century New Mexico, where Pueblo Indian and Spanish cultures melded in an acceptance of Catholicism. Images of holy figures, such as the Trinity, Jesus Christ and Mary, together with angels and various saints, were displayed in homes and churches. Village santeros thrived from the late 1800s into the 19th century. By the early 20th century, only a few santeros remained, mostly in Colorado. However, pre-Renaissance-style New Mexican santos caught the attention of writers and artists, who instigated a revival of New Mexican arts that culminated in a modern-day resurgence in the work.

“The majority of the work is contemporary, however there are pieces that date back more than a hundred years,” said Laura Fatemi, assistant director of the museum and exhibit curator.

Thomas J. Steele, S.J., a priest, teacher and authority on the religious folk art of New Mexico, praises the Rosenaks’ collection. “The Rosenaks’ keen eye for choosing artists who excel in areas of technique, drawing and carving has made their collection an exceptional example of santos from the New Mexican area,” he states in an essay on the work.

Artists included in the collection are Charlie Carrillo, Marie Romero Cash, James Cordova, Nicholas Herrera, the Lucero Brothers, Sabinita Lopez Ortiz, Arlene Cisneros Sena, Catherine Robles Shaw, Luis Tapia and Malcolm Withers. Carrillo, who is also an anthropologist and educator from Santa Fe, will deliver a free public lecture titled “Santos Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: Spanish Colonial Santos Tradition of New Mexico” at 6 p.m. Jan. 31 in the gallery. He will reflect on the diverse and rich heritage of Hispanic culture’s devotional images of saints.

The DePaul Art Museum is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.; Friday from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday from noon until 5 p.m. For more information about “Santeros: A Living Tradition in American Art from the Southwest” or other museum programs and exhibitions, please call 773/325-7506 or visit the Web site at http://museums.depaul.edu/artwebsite/.

Editors’ Note: J-PEG images from the exhibition are available upon request.