Students Take Lead on New Interfaith Mural Project

The next time you pass through Van Ackeren Hall, look up.

On the ceiling of what was formerly a mostly white entry way is a burst of blues and greens in the form of a new mural celebrating different faith traditions and the connections between them.

The new campus art is the result of a Faithfully Forward grant from the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, awarded to institutions in the hopes of celebrating religious diversity on the campuses of Catholic colleges.

Bill Kriege, director of campus ministry, said the staff who helped secure the grant — a group that included himself; LaTisha Davis, director of diversity, equity and inclusion and chief inclusion officer; Alicia Douglas, director of community relations and outreach; and Kristy Peterson, director of the Center for Arts and Letters — decided to ask a group of students from the University’s interfaith student council, SEEK, to develop the direction for the project, help find a location and choose the artist. The students represented different faith traditions, from Catholic and Christian to Muslim and Hindu.

Anna Pham, a sophomore studying biochemistry who was part of the committee, said the group discussed a lot of possibilities as far as location, as well as the list of qualities they hoped to see in the final mural.

“We really wanted it to be colorful, to incorporate symbols from a number of different faiths and we wanted it to reflect what is known as the platinum rule, which is to treat others as they would want to be treated,” Pham said.

Kriege said the committee considered different locations around campus. The committee ultimately chose the foyer of Van Ackeren Hall, which is heavily traveled on a typical day, accessible for most visitors and made an impression with its wide-open staircase and partially recessed ceiling.

“The student leaders walked across campus to look at different possibilities,” Kriege said. “And when we walked into that space, boom, there it was.”

They then worked with students in the Kansas City Art Institute’s Sponsored Studio on the design. KACI students in the Sponsored Studio work with real-life clients on art projects around Kansas City. Sponsored Studio artists had also completed another project on campus — a gallery of works for the Seelos Simulation Center inside Sedgwick Hall that celebrate aspects of being a health care professional, from providing care across cultures to the sacrifices made by those providers.

The students presented to the KCAI class, communicating their goals and priorities, and then evaluated each of the resulting designs based on how well each met their original criteria. After narrowing down the number of submissions, they worked with the artists to refine the remaining concepts. Manashi Patel, a senior exercise science major who was part of the committee, said she feels the final design reflects those original core principles.

“We liked the symmetry and we liked the simplicity and the colors,” she said. “It showcased what we wanted. The energy we were looking for was always there.”

The mural’s artist, Catherine Ryback, said she was initially inspired by the tulips that bloom each spring across the Rockhurst campus.

“I did some research into the different faiths and found each one has a flower that is connected with them. Mixed in with each flower is also some tulips representing the Rockhurst campus,” Ryback said. “I wanted it to feel like a celebration of each faith together in one image that can be seen from any angle you look at it.”

Also included are symbols from each of those religions against a pastoral blue and green background.

“I wanted to create an elegant yet colorful composition to accompany the space,” Ryback said. “They mentioned they wanted to represent the connectedness of the many faiths that attend the school, so it was very fun to find a way to represent them.”

Patel and Pham said they both hope the campus community finds beauty in the mural, but also that it can serve as a symbol of welcome to students of all faiths. For someone who is not Catholic, Patel said enrolling at Rockhurst came with some uncertainty — questions she herself answers as a student ambassador. But she has since found so much from the Catholic Jesuit tradition at Rockhurst that speaks to her, and added she hopes the mural communicates some of that, too.

“I feel that our school does a really good job of instilling the values that a lot of religions have. The kind of faith that Rockhurst embodies, really has made me feel stronger in myself, spiritually,” she said. “I hope incoming students see themselves as a part of it.”