Sister Mary Grace Thul, O.P. Illinois

University of Cincinnati College of Applied Arts
Dominican Monestary of Mary the Queen, IL

Before becoming a cloistered nun, Sister Mary Grace Thul served a summer internship at the Cincinnati Art Museum, taught art in the Cincinnati public schools, and established a custom art business with two colleagues. Sister Mary Grace entered the Dominican Monastery of Cincinnati in 1962 and in June of 2014 celebrated her Golden Jubilee of first profession. In 1999, a collection of Sister’s “Marian” prints was received into the Vatican Library in a special ceremony by Pope John Paul II. Sister Mary Grace has exhibited widely and created many sculptures, paintings, and woodcuts, commissioned by churches around the country for liturgical use and purchased by collectors for their homes. Many of her artworks are on permanent display at the Mater Ecclesia Institute in Cincinnati.

My goal is to produce art that is contemporary enough to be accessible and widely spread to the people of today. For this I am grateful to God for the opportunities and friends who have made it possible for a cloistered nun to reach out to so many. Art can be prayer. My artwork is my way of living a contemplative life. Art brings me inner peace. I hope my art brings inner peace to the viewer.