Charism in the Cornerstone: Dominican Women and Sacred Space in the Twentieth-Century Midwest

Abstract

Abstract:In the twentieth century, Dominican sisters in the United States embarked on ambitious architectural projects. In the process they sought to inscribe their charism into the fabric of their ministry and community life. Significant among these architectural projects are the 1922 construction of Rosary College in River Forest, Illinois; the 1964 building of the Queen of the Rosary Chapel at Sinsinawa Mound, Wisconsin; and in the 1980s, the Dominican-led work of INAI, an architectural design and art studio that planned modernist renovations of Dominican motherhouse chapels in Great Bend, Kansas, and Grand Rapids, Michigan. In the latter case, a dialogue with architects around the ideas of Environment and Art in Catholic Worship (1977) helped the congregation embrace new directions in worship. These case studies reveal the intentional ways Dominicans sought to preach with their spaces and return to the core of their charism. The intentionality of these spaces is consistent across the projects, sometimes remarkably so, compared to many twentieth-century American architectural projects, and served the historic mission of Dominican women in the United States.