Dialog Editor
The Caterina Benincasa Gallery and Book Shop on the grounds of Holy Spirit Church in New Castle is a bright light in the diocese that’s hidden under a bushel basket of sorts.
The Dominican Sisters’ Benincasa monastery is on the parish grounds and the impressive shop they have stocked with Catholic art and religious goods is meant to be a stopping point or, more precisely, a shopping point for pilgrims who visit the imposing Our Lady Queen of Peace Shrine by the church.
The gallery features the artwork of Sister Mary Grace Thul, the Dominican superior at the convent. Her paintings line the hallway to the shop and prints of her oils and other pieces are available for sale with other religious goods.
Unfortunately, while the Queen of Peace statue is a can’t miss icon for commuters on I-95 heading to and from the Delaware Memorial Bridge, the Dominicans’ Catholic gift shop doesn’t see much traffic, in part because Holy Spirit’s property is harder to find than the statue is to see.
What to do?
Publicity never hurts, so after consulting diocesan officials and friends of the monastery, the sisters decided to exhibit Sister Mary Grace’s work and other Dominican-related items at the World Meeting of Families at the Philadelphia Convention Center Sept. 22-25.
“We had no idea what we were getting into,” Sister Mary Grace said.
A booth in the exhibit hall at the world meeting costs money, $1,500.
“They give you a table, two chairs and a wastebasket,” said Sister Mary Columba Brienza.
“A chair two tables and a wastebasket.”
But the sisters decided the expense was worthwhile to get the word out about their ministry in Wilmington and the 800th anniversary of the Dominican Order of Preachers founded by St. Dominic de Guzman.
The exhibit booth will display two oil paintings of Pope Francis by Sister Mary Grace, a large collage of the pope in action, and a smaller work of Francis and the Holy Spirit. The sisters will be selling chances to folks who stop at the booth for $10 and $5 to win the actual paintings.
A recently published coffee-table style book will also be available: “The Mysteries of the Rosary, Life’s Pilgrimage to Peace.” It features art by Sister Mary Grace that reflects on the rosary’s 20 mysteries. The head of the Dominican order worldwide, Father Bruno Cadoré, wrote the book’s introduction.
The book is lavishly illustrated with Sister Mary Grace’s work of the past 53 years.
A young adult novel, “Unearthing Christmas,” by Anthea T. Piscarik, a St. John-Holy Angels in Newark parishioner who is studying to be a member of Dominican Laity, will also be sold at the booth.
Piscarik, who is a playwright and screenwriter, said her first novel links a girl who decorates a Texas bomb shelter for Christmas in the 1950s, with another girl who discovers it still preserved decades later.
Sister Mary Grace has a mock up of the booth planned for the World Meeting of Families in her studio. Every square inch of it has been designed for maximum impact.
Good thing, too, because the $1,500 bill to exhibit came with unexpected add-ons.
Turns out electricity and Internet service for the booth also came with fees.
All in all, the four days are costing the sisters about $5,000.
Raising the profile of the Benincasa gift shop isn’t limited to their booth in Philadelphia, either. There’s e-commerce to consider.
“Sister Emmanuella [Handlos] got us up on Facebook and Twitter,” Sister Mary Grace said. The sisters are also looking for a company that will handle the sale of Sister Mary Grace’s art prints online, including fulfilling orders by sending the art to customers.
The sisters will be happy to see friends from the Diocese of Wilmington at their booth at the World Meeting of Families exhibit hall. The map of the area looks like a tight honeycomb of spaces, so be persistent, especially if you want to buy a chance to win an oil painting of Pope Francis.
If Philadelphia isn’t on your itinerary, stop at their gem of a gift shop on the grounds of Holy Spirit Church.
