WWW.THELEAVEN.COM | NEWSPAPER OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF KANSAS CITY IN KANSAS | VOL. 33, NO. 31 MARCH 16, 2012
Donna Houtteman, right, a docent for the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, shares details of a painting with Curé of Ars, Leawood, parishioners. About 120 people signed up for the Christian art tour. They split up into smaller groups to tour and learn about the Christian paintings, sculptures and more at the museum. Art, Houtteman explained, was used as a way to teach and share the faith.
Curé of Ars parishioners celebrate
A NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM
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Story by Jessica Langdon | Photos by Elaina Cochran ike and Patsy Gearheart have been to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art many times before, but the night of Feb. 10 was a little different. “To have a guide
is special,” said Mike. The Gearhearts, members of Curé of Ars Church in Leawood, joined some 120 of their fellow parishioners that night for a special tour of the Christian art treasures of the renowned museum. Donna Houtteman, a docent at the Nelson for more than a dozen years, led one of the Curé groups through the museum, sharing details about the paintings, frames, statues and other pieces as they walked. “I’m really not a teacher,” she told the group at the beginning, although she knows her subject very well. “I’m a learner, as well.” Some of the art, of course, illustrated stories from the Old Testament, like a statue of Adam. Others — like the art of ancient Rome — provided a stark contrast to what was to come. “If you look around,” Houtteman said as she led them through a room full of cold white stone busts and other sculpture, “there’s nothing Christian in
Famous faith-filled art The vast collections at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art include a good number of Christian pieces from various periods. The European collection includes “Virgin and Child in a Gothic Interior” by Petrus Christus and “Martyrdom of St. Sebastian” by Joachim Wtewael, just to name a few. Visitors will also find “Christ on the Cross” and “The Penitent Magdalene” by El Greco. An oil-on-canvas painting, called “Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness” by Caravaggio, is one of the Nelson’s best-known pieces. this room.” But the vibrant colors of their next stop provided a dramatic contrast to the white sculpture in the Roman area, as the tour jumped ahead a few centuries. “I’m going to let you imagine we’re alive now in the Middle Ages,” Houtteman announced. “Times are really tough.” Imagine your friends and neighbors — and how a third of them have died, she said, of the bubonic See “SYMBOLISM” on page 4
Cassidy Unland, 11, a fifth-grader at Curé of Ars, examines a crucifix with her teacher, Charlie Huber, on Feb. 10 at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Mo. Cassidy enjoys painting and sculpting, and joined about 120 fellow parishioners to see Christian art at the museum.