New Sculpture Arrives on Campus Joins Another Piece by Same Artist
T Family members joined Rick ’03 and Shelby ’97 Alexander with daughter, Virginia Claire (seated front row) as she made it official and signed on to become an Eagle. Top left to right: Dr. Joe Parisi, Barbara Alexander, Brad Burkhardt, Camille Dovin, Sally Michael, Max Michael, Sarah Dovin, Charles Alexander, Bruce Dovin.
Alexander Legacy Getting Stronger
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ne of Central Methodist University’s biggest legacy families is adding one more to the list. Virginia Claire Alexander has announced she will be attending CMU next fall. The Fayette High School senior has earned a top academic scholarship and will study biology and be a cheerleader. Her parents are Rick ’03 and Shelby ‘97 Alexander. “We’ve been recruiting her since she was a freshman in high school,” said Dr. Joe Parisi, vice president for enrollment management. “VC has been extremely sought after because of her top academics and her cheer background.”
26 The Talon | Fall 2020
CMU President Roger Drake said that legacy families such as the Alexanders are “incredibly important and a part of Central’s fabric. They help create our family spirit and strengthen the lifelong love of the institution held by our alumni.” VC’s father is a civic leader in Fayette, and her mother, is a senior registered client service associate and serves on the CMU Board of Trustees. Her grandfather, Fred Alexander ’58, is a farmer and developer and the longest serving Central Methodist board member ever, and grandmother Barbara is an alumna from 1956. Others include cousins, aunts, great aunts, greatgreat aunts, and her great grandfather.
he sculpture garden outside Central Methodist University’s Classic Hall just added a new piece of art to its collection. Vianney Red, a 1989 abstract sculpture by Brother Mel Meyer, S.M., has been donated to the Ashby-Hodge Gallery of American Art by the previous owners, Jack ’60 and Gail Jones. The sculpture is the second piece by the late Brother Meyer to be featured in the garden, joining another painted steel work known as King and Queen. The pieces are just two of the more than 10,000 works Meyer created throughout his career. Born in 1928, Meyer became a brother in the Catholic Community of the Society of Mary, the Marianists, in 1949. He became a full-time artist in 1960, and later opened his studio on the campus of Vianney High School in Kirkwood, Mo., from which the new sculpture gets its name. Following Meyer’s death in 2013, the AshbyHodge Gallery was bequeathed a number of his works, including the King and Queen sculpture, six acrylic paintings, and eight watercolors. Prior to its arrival on campus in July, Vianney Red spent many years at the Jones family home. When the family made the decision to move and were not able to bring the sculpture with them, they decided to donate the piece in honor of Earl ’61 and Sunny Bates. Jack Jones and Earl Bates are longtime friends, having gone to high school and Central together.
