Vincentian Brother Uses 7- Story Building As Canvas to Create Murals
A seven-story image of St. Vincent dePaul
Br. Mark Elder is a professional muralist whose building-size murals are spread all over the United States.
Among his artworks is a most strikingly impressive one, right on the DePaul University campus in the city’s trendy Lincoln Park neighborhood. It wraps around two sides of a dormitory.
The 70-by-36-foot mural, “We Are DePaul 2,” is a gigantic portrait of Saint Vincent DePaul himself.
Nine months of research and preparation led to two weeks of work by faculty, students, administrators using specially crafted brick-size rubber stamps. Upon closer look, it is made up of what Elder calls “little, bitty faces”—students, faculty, staff members from the university’s community.
Be sure to watch the brief movie of the drone aerial footage of the mural.
The man behind the art
Elder’s students at DePaul often ask him to explain the difference between being a brother and a priest. “I try to pin it down the best I can,” he says. “I tell them that, traditionally, brothers were mostly monastic, and they would ordain a few of them as priests to serve their needs [for Mass and the sacraments]. But the Vincentians are different. They’re a religious group that’s mainly a group of priests—and then there are a few knuckleheads like me. But basically we all strive to do various works for the evangelization of the poor and disenfranchised as best we can.
See how Brother Mark blends Art and Spirituality
Germantown, Pa – Vincent’s Orchard
Bro. Mark Elder, CM writes…. “Finally after 3 summer sessions, I finished a rather large public mural in Germantown of Philadelphia.
The color is bright and those of you who know Germantown…it’s by choice. It’s called ‘St. Vincent’s Orchard’. Please give a look at the pictures and the statement….. if you want to know what all the imagery is about.
St. Vincent’s Orchard is a community sponsored public art piece for the community of DePaul Catholic School in Germantown. The neighbors of the school, faculty, students and parents not only took part in giving the artist input and content for the piece, but also joined in fabricating the piece as well.
For more on this mural visit St. Vincent’s Orchard DePaul Catholic School Germantown
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