Cathedral Arts Guild sells commemorative poster

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
August 19, 2004

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the Cathedral of the Epiphany building in Sioux City, the Cathedral Arts Guild is selling a commemorative poster.

According to Father Paul-Louis Arts, rector of the Cathedral, the poster features images from the church's stained glass windows. The poster will be accompanied by a brief description of the images written by Father Brian Hughes, vocations director of the diocese who headed up the renovation effort of the Cathedral in 1998.

"We want to share with the diocese the excitement and the joy of celebrating 100 years in that beautiful building," said Father Arts.

Cathedral of the Epiphany is listed on the National Historic Register.

As the Cathedral Arts Guild determined what to feature in the poster, Father Arts said they determined that a sampling of images from the windows would be not only simple, but striking.

"The windows are so beautiful, it was difficult to decide if we should take a whole picture or just a sampling," he said. In the end, they opted to go with details from the various windows. These are the original windows, which are 100 years old and are from Germany.

Photos and design of the poster were by G.R. Lindblade and Co.

The poster is available in two sizes - 36- by 12-inch vertical for $20 or 18- by 7-inch for $15.

"It is a chance for people to have a little piece of history in their own homes," said Father Arts. "This is a limited-edition poster. We only printed 1,000 of these."

While the Arts Guild anticipates that the majority of the people who will purchase the posters are current and former Cathedral parishioners, anyone may buy the commemorative item. Given that the Cathedral of the Epiphany is the diocesan church, they were aware that others may be interested in the poster as a way to share in the celebration of the Cathedral's centennial.

The posters will be available for purchase at the Cathedral Business Office, 1000 Douglas St.; and on display at FitzGibbons, 609 5th St. in Sioux City.

The Cathedral Arts Guild decided to take on this commemorative poster project as a way to help the parish celebrate its centennial.

"The purpose of the Cathedral Arts Guild is basically to promote the Cathedral in art, music and fine arts. The poster is a way to showcase some of the beautiful things in the Cathedral," said Father Arts.

The guild is a volunteer organization whose mission is to foster the historic role of the Cathedral as a diocesan and community center for prayer, hospitality and the arts.

Cathedral plans to hold a centennial celebration at 1 p.m. on Sept. 12 for parishioners. This tri-cultural event will celebrate the various cultures of people who have made their home at the church in the past such as the Irish, German, Italians and Polish.

"That church has seen the beginning of Catholicism in the city. It is the mother church of the city and the mother church of the diocese," said Father Arts. "Certainly as a parish church, we are still in the midst of its original mission - to minister to the needs of the immigrants in the area."