The St. Thomas More Newman Center situated at Ohio State University recently unveiled a new hand-carved, polychrome wood sculpture of Our Lady Seat of Wisdom, known here affectionately as "Our Lady of the Buckeyes" (coming with reference to the school).
King Richard's Liturgical Design and Contracting provide us with some of the background of the project:
The O.S.U. Newman Center The St Thomas More Newman Center on the Ohio State University Campus has undergone a very nice transformation from a 1970’s “youth styled” chapel to an updated and liturgically beautiful place of worship. Prior to the renovations at the Newman Center, Michael Barone and Rick Lair from King Richard’s contacted the center and visited the building asking about the plans for the future of the space. We were tasked with coming up with something unique to the area that would really make an impact on the students and their visiting families. Our design team at King Richard’s provided a perfect solution in this Mary and Christ statue originally called Mary Seat of Wisdom. In turn, Fr. Streitenberger and Assistant Director Pat McNulty, came up with the concept of making her into Our Lady of the Buckeyes statue. Fr. Adam is quoted saying, ”We know Our Lady is a great evangelizer when she enters the culture. Just like when she appeared in Mexico as Our Lady of Guadalupe and the culture was transformed. We really want her to be a part of The Ohio State University culture.” From this discussion the statue was named Our Lady of the Buckeyes and work on the statue began. King Richard’s is honored to provide what we consider the crowning jewel of the new renovation in this 5-foot heirloom quality hand carved masterpiece. This Our Lady of the Buckeyes (Originally Mary Seat of Wisdom), was created specifically by King Richard’s for the St. Thomas More Newman Center, to help inculturate the Catholic devotion to Jesus through Mary as a real Mother to all the students attending Ohio State. “King Richard’s is honored to have brought to reality the vision of Fr. Adam Streitenberger and Newman Center Assistant Director Pat McNulty” says Michael Barone of King Richard’s. He goes on to say, “It is our hope that the students from all over the world who attend The Ohio State University, will now be able find comfort and a little peace of heart that Our Lady of the Buckeyes can give”. Once the model of Mary Seat of Wisdom was determined, the process of bringing Mary and Jesus out of the wood began. The wood is selected and properly prepared to keep it from ever warping or splitting. Once the wood is ready, the rough carving begins. The carving is further refined and ultimately painted. Progress photos document the entire process and are shared with the client during production. Once the customer has given final approval the piece is packed and crated for safe keeping during travel. There is no other statue like this under this unique title “Our Lady of the Buckeyes. Jesus is holding a Buckeye and blessed buckeyes were presented to the students as well.” We are pleased to have provided a unique piece for devotion that will help blend prayer life with academic life for thousands of students and their families for years to come.
The piece is beautifully constructed and coloured in hues of blue and gold. Here is a look at it within the chapel, as well as a detail of the Christ Child.
As always, let's take a look at the work in progress so that we can see how simple blocks of wood are able to evolve into a beautiful sculpture sure to inspire devotion of those who come into contact with it.
And finally, the exciting day of its delivery.
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