Living Joyfully Artwork Unveiled
The Unveiling and Blessing of the Artwork was held in August.
On August 27, Franciscan Ministries held an unveiling of new artwork that hangs in the hall of the home office in Lemont. The new Living Joyfully artwork was designed by Steve Kozy, Marketing and Creative Director at Franciscan Ministries, and Sheri Law, owner of Sheri Law Art Glass and Interiors in Homer Glen, Illinois. The associates of Franciscan Ministries attended the event which included the official blessing of the artwork by Sr. Jeanne Marie Toriskie and Sr. M. Francis Clare Radke.
Sheri Law and Steve Kozy created the artwork together.
The Seven Pillars of
Living Joyfully
• Make Your Mark
• Create Your Contributions
• Expand Your Communities
• Give Your Gratitude
• Grow Your Gifts
• Pursue Your Purpose
• Embrace Your Joy
Living Joyfully is a cultural concept rooted in the compassionate work of Mother Mary Theresa Dudzik (foundress of the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago), and all of the Sisters who served in various ministries throughout the past 130 years. These Sisters worked tirelessly and dedicated their entire lives to helping and caring for others. Living Joyfully is a reflection of this dedication that was exhibited by the Sisters and an expression of the overall mission and culture of Franciscan Ministries.
While developing the concept of Living Joyfully, seven pillars were defined that would help illustrate the concept. A sketch artist was brought in to draw rough drafts of each pillar. The seven pillars of Living Joyfully are: make your mark, create your contributions, expand your communities, give your gratitude, grow your gifts, pursue your purpose, and embrace your joy. Steve then began the official design and interpretation of the sketches. “The first panel I designed was the "Embrace Your Joy" panel. I could hear the birds singing outside and I felt like they were giving praise to God and showing their joy. Thus, I designed that panel with birds singing. Soon all the other panels came together,” Steve said.
As he would read the description given for each pillar and reviewed the sketches, he then conceptualized the art for the panel. “Another example was the ‘Make your Mark’ panel. I felt making your mark on the world was like leaving your fingerprint and how one tells the story of their life. Thus, I designed a quill used for writing in a journal to symbolize this pillar. Each panel has a symbol of how I interpreted each pillar,” Steve said. Once the initial design work was done, Steve met with Sheri Law. She opened her stained glass business in 1979 and specializes in beveled, stained, fused, and carved glass designs. Sheri has always loved art since she was a child. “What I love most is being creative. I feel that I have a God-given talent for design, from glass to interiors,” she said.
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Originally the idea was to make stained glass panels for the design, but after viewing Sheri’s previous work with fused glass on an art piece for the Silver Cross Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in New Lenox, Illinois, it was decided to use fused glass.
Overall the project took a total of 11 months.
“Fused glass is a process of joining compatible sheets of glass together in a kiln where the temperature rises to 1480 degrees Fahrenheit. The glass is cut similarly to making a stained-glass panel, but instead of leading the pieces together, it is all melted together in a kiln. All glass has different coefficients and you can't mix them. For example, striker glass is a type of glass that will change color when fired in the kiln. Thus, there is a lot of testing that is done to get the right colors. The schedule of the kiln is the most challenging aspect of it as one must consider the thickness of the glass layers, and the colors. Every little detail can make a difference and every project is an adventure,” Sheri said. It took nearly 6 weeks of drawing sketches to finalize the color, design, and other artistic details. Once the design was ready, each panel was fused in the kiln, which took a total of 1,680 hours for the entire piece. Overall the project took 11 months from the design time and fusing the glass in the kiln, to the hand cutting of each piece and the installation.
In the background of the artwork is an homage to St. Francis of Assisi’s The Canticle of the Sun that features each element: Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Brother Wind, Sister Water, Brother Fire, and Sister Mother Earth. The dichroic opal glass represents God and in each panel there is a smaller sphere that reflects God’s presence in the world. The chrome glass depicts figures of people and is made so one can reflect in the artwork and see themselves as part of Franciscan Ministries. The black opaque and dichroic carnival glass depicts a net and fish, which references Mark 1:17. Jesus said to them, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of people.”
Once the artwork was finished, workers came to install it on the wall. The finished project was unveiled to the employees of Franciscan Ministries and the Sisters in August. "It was such an honor to create the visual expression behind the Living Joyful artwork and it fills me with joy to see someone gazing at the wall and then hearing their unique interpretation. It’s amazing how art can evoke such diverse meanings. I truly feel I’ve 'made my mark' in telling its story," Steve said. The artwork is now on display in the hallway on the first floor of Franciscan Ministries near the entrance. Thank you to Steve and Sheri for sharing their artistic talents in designing this wonderful work of art.
The illuminated Living Joyfully artwork now hangs on the wall at Franciscan Ministries. It is 12 feet by 4 feet in size, which is quite large for a fused glass project.