Dr Nora Donnelly Offers An Insight Into Her Upcoming Art Workshop at Knock Shrine

‘Viewing & Reflecting – Presentations on the Nativity in Art & Scripture’

Dr Nora P Donnelly will be the guest facilitator at an insightful and inspirational day of art appreciation at Knock Shrine this December. ‘ Viewing and Reflecting – Presentations on the Nativity in Art and Scripture’ takes place in the Prayer Centre at Knock Shrine on Saturday, December 7^th from 10am to 4pm.

Nora Donnelly has always wondered about how painting tells a story and  what story it tells, so she spent a lot of years doing a little more than wondering… she took to the books and studied it.

Having examined the ins and outs of the Art Story, she came to see that many people are far too serious about Art, and they are often afraid of it.

They are afraid because they think they ought to know a lot about the painting or sculpture that they are looking at. Sometimes they feel that they know little or nothing and that they cannot say if the piece is good or bad, who made it and what it is made from,  when in point of fact, they don’t have to know any of this at all.

In fact, all you need to have a full and rich experience of Art is to approach a work of art just with an open mind and try to attend to it for as long as it feels right . Art is not really about ‘understanding’, it is about ‘attending’ imaginatively and waiting for the richness and beauty of the works to unfold in order to get a more vivid sense of what they are about.

And this is what Nora Donnelly   hopes to facilitate during her talks in Knock on December 7th.

The paintings that Nora has chosen are ‘all about’ the Sacred.   They present images of the Annunciation and  of the Nativity, both well-known pieces from the Old Masters  and works  by various artists who were working  almost right up to the present.

Nora believes that by approaching these wonderful paintings where you rely on nothing more than your eyes and your imagination you can –and will – be placed in the realm of prayer.

Why is she so convinced of this? Because, as she herself has  said, she spent a lot of years studying and reading  – and looking  – at these matters.

She began as a Froebel teacher and it was here, in a sprawling school in the middle of Ballyfermot  – (during a time when the children in her class were very poor and more often than not deprived) –  that she first  stumbled on the power of art of  enhance the vision and the lives of children. ( Written up as ‘Stumbling on the Aesthetic Experience’ for a Journal of Education in the U.S.A)

It changed not only the way she taught, but her whole outlook. So she left the safe confines of Education and enrolled in the College of Art in Dublin as a full time degree student.

Following that she moved to the University of Ulster in Belfast where she continued to investigate the very nature of Art and its characteristics. This time she looked towards the philosophers, and it was there she found a wealth of treasures which she fell deeply into,  in order to write about what was called ‘The Aesthetic Experience of Art’.

Nora has scoured the art books bought in Galleries throughout Europe in order to find the most exciting and insightful images to present at the talks she is to give in Knock on December 7th.

She will be joined on the day by Rev Dr Eugene Duffy, author and former lecturer at Mary Immaculate college, who will provide a scriptural reflection on each of the main themes displayed in the images.

This will be Nora’s second visit this year to Knock Shrine, following on from a hugely popular art workshop that she held during the summer. Fr Eugene regularly facilitates a wide range of workshops as part of the Knock Shrine Faith renewal programme.

This intriguing workshop takes place on Saturday, December 7th in Knock Prayer Centre from 10am to 4pm. The cost of the day is €15  and advanced booking is recommended.

For bookings, contact Nicola Mitchell, Director of Pastoral Development at Knock Shrine, at faithrenewal@knockshrine.ie or by phone at 094 93 88100.