Exhibitions
Laudato Si: Caring for Our Common Home, June 11 - August 10, 2025
Francis M. Maguire Art Museum St Joseph University
Summer Solstice Opening Reception and Family Day
Saturday, June 21, 11 am - 1 pm
50 Lapsley Lane, Merion, PA 19066 | (610) 660 2820
This exhibition explores humanity’s deep and sacred connection to the Earth through the lens of Laudato Si', the powerful poem by Saint Francis of Assisi that inspired Pope Francis’s call for environmental action. Featuring 22 artists working across diverse mediums—painting, sculpture, photography, and mixed media—Laudato Si': Caring for Our Common Home presents a rich tapestry of landscapes, both realistic and abstract, that reflect the beauty of our planet and the urgency of its preservation.
Grounded in the themes of care, responsibility, and interconnection, the exhibition examines the human impact on the environment and the ethical imperative to act as stewards of creation. It also considers Pope Francis’s emphasis on an interfaith approach to ecological protection: What does a unified spiritual response to climate change look like? How can collective belief systems foster accountability and hope?
A critical component of this exhibition is its focus on environmental justice, illuminating how climate change and ecological degradation disproportionately affect marginalized communities around the world. Through the voices and visions of artists from a range of cultural and geographic backgrounds, Laudato Si' invites visitors to reflect, question, and imagine new paths toward healing the Earth and each other.
Saint Joseph’s University is designated by the Vatican as a Laudato Si university, showing its commitment to sustainability and stewardship rooted in Jesuit values. The Maguire Art Museum will strengthen this commitment through this art exhibition curated by museum interns, Brianna Kelly and Natalie Parone with Assistant Curator, Dr. Erin Downey, and Associate Director, Jeanne Bracy.
Participating Artists: Kim Bricker, Gregory Brellochs, Angelo Canta, SJ, David Enriquez, Roberta Tucci, Mary Negro, Rebecca Schultz, Rebecca Rutstein, Jack Elliot, Jennie Booth, June Yong Lee, Jean Burdick, Michelle Marcuse, Zhiqian Wang, Steve Donegan, Amie Potsic, Deirdre Murphy, Rosalind Bloom, Emily Brown, Billy Friebele, Sandra Benhaim, Josh Urso and Michael Webb.
Field Notes Workshop: Sketching the Barnes Arboretum
Saturday, June 28, 9-11am
Join Deirdre Murphy, Climate Change Artist in Residence at Lower Merion Conservancy, and Bill Rein, Assistant Director for Living Collections and Horticulture Program at Saint Joseph’s University, for a walk through the Barnes Arboretum. Participants will learn how to sketch and identify plants to create their own field notebook to take home. At the conclusion of the workshop, a tour of the Laudato Si’ exhibition in the Maguire Art Museum will be provided by museum staff. Free and open to the public with light refreshments provided in partnership by Lower Merion Conservancy
Public Art Commissions
Maquette photo on site at Washington College’s Center for Environment & Society in Chestertown, Maryland.
Flyways Sculpture Installation, Washington College
Flyways is a public art commission sponsored by Washington College’s Center for Environment & Society in Chestertown, Maryland. The bird blind bench functions both as a place to sit and as a screen for viewing birds. Scientists from the Foreman Branch Bird Observatory selected two long-distance migratory species—the Caspian Tern and the Least Tern—to be featured in the sculpture, as they travel along the Chester River flyway.
Each bird is precisely laser-cut into the steel, along with their migratory routes and associated constellation maps. These elegant shorebirds traverse both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres annually, flying up to 20,000 miles to reach their breeding grounds. Like sailors of the past, many migratory birds navigate by the stars—reflected in the sculpture’s etched constellations of Polaris and Cassiopeia on the shade roof.
The Flyways sculpture is constructed from weathering steel, an alloy that forms a stable, rust-like patina when exposed to the elements—allowing it to blend harmoniously into the Eastern Shore landscape. The bench is crafted from locally sourced Eastern Cedar.
Birds do not recognize artificial borders; they migrate freely across countries and continents. As one of Earth’s many migratory species, humans, too, are shaped by movement—yet we often build barriers that divide us. Migratory birds remind us to soften those boundaries, to embrace one another with openness and shared humanity. Katie Bui, Lehigh University Architecture (2026) student was awarded a College of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Creative Research Grant to assist in research and CAD design and was pivotal to implementing the project.
In the News
Residencies
Lower Merion Conservancy
Climate Action Artist -in -Residence at Lower Merion Conservancy, Gladwynn PA
Lower Merion Conservancy
Climate Action Artist in Residence
The Lower Merion Conservancy is pleased to announce Deirdre Murphy as the inaugural Conservatory Climate Action artist-in-residence. The Conservatory is devoted to protecting and promoting environmental wellness and sustainable public land management as well as historic preservation to promote conservation and climate change awareness. Murphy will produce her Contemporary Herbarium print series based on native pollinators from the cottage studio garden and use the forest as inspiration for her studio painting practice. The Conservancy advocates for policies, programs, projects and has a youth education program in which she will participate.
Teaching
Siracusa Sicily Italy abroad program / Lehigh University & MADE
This summer I am thrilled to be joining the study abroad faculty to immerse students in the art, architecture, and culture of Siracusa and surrounding areas in southeastern Sicily. Students will experience the stunning natural beauty of this central Mediterranean island. This cultural immersion will serve as a foundation for the coursework to follow. Design-build studios will integrate history, ancient mythologies, geologic formation, and foreign influences.
Mount Gretna School of Art / Visiting Artist & Lecture
Mount Gretna School of Art provides life-changing and transformative opportunities for artists & art students to develop from the time they are in college through their emergent careers. I am honored to be a visiting artist & will give a public lecture June 30 at 7:15 in The Hall of Philosophy at PA Chautauqua
212 Gettysburg AvenueMount Gretna, PA, 17064