ACADEMY OF OUR LADY OF PEACE
Unveiling God’s Splendor Religious Art on Campus
“But now, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are our potter; we are all the work of Your hand.” ISAIAH 64:8
A SACRED ART JOURNEY WITH OLP
The Stories on Our Walls In 2019, the Academy of Our Lady of Peace
Addressing the Heads of Schools in the Diocese of
embarked on one of the most auspicious capital
San Diego, Bishop John Dolan stated that “what
improvement projects in its 138-year history. In
we put on our walls reflects our values.” Indeed,
our Boundless campaign, with a new imagining
that upon which our eye falls daily creates the
of OLP’s physical presence, we sought to
pathway for what the mind consumes.
reinforce the very core of what enlivens our campus and sustains our ministry: the spirit of our faith, and the Catholic women who have traversed the path before us.
Today, on our walls, in our hallways, and around our community spaces, our campus flourishes with artwork that is a literal and figurative reflection of our values as a CSJ community. Each
At a time when many young Catholics felt more
piece was chosen to tell stories, elucidate women
disconnected from their faith than ever before,
of faith, and build connections through art with
we saw an opportunity to tell new stories. Too
our young women.
often, women of faith are characterized in slim categories, failing to see the tremendous depth of all they have accomplished.
In the years since, the collection has grown, and so has the way our community makes use of it. Some of this work is permanent, set into the fabric of the campus. Some of it is made each year by our students, prayed with for a season, and then given way to what comes next. This guide holds both.
PART ONE
PART TWO
Sacred Art That Anchors Our Campus
Sacred Art That Comes Alive
Mosaics, murals, and statuary set into the fabric of the campus. They greet every class that passes them, and they will greet classes not yet born.
ACADEMY OF OUR LADY OF PEACE
Installations made by our students and our community, offered in a season of the year, prayed with, and carried in memory.
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PART ONE
Sacred Art That Anchors Our Campus These works are permanent, set into stone, tile, and wood, holding the stories of women of faith for every young woman who walks past them.
The CSJ Mural AT THE ENTRANCE TO CAMPUS
In 1650 in Le Puy-en-Velay, France, six women came together to form the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph. From France, the Order journeyed to Carondelet, Missouri in 1836, and eventually founded OLP in 1882. The CSJ mural, Uncommon Women for an Uncommon Time, at the entrance to campus.
In their honor, our mural features six Sisters from modern times who stood up for civil rights, served as public advocates, fought for human rights, shaped healthcare on a global scale, and led.
Saint Teresa of Calcutta MAIN HALLWAY, NAVARRA HALL
The mosaic of Saint Teresa of Calcutta gazes down on you, with her love radiating off the very piece of art itself, through her prayerful hands, gentle smile, and searching eyes. She is a reminder to love, and that you are loved, all in one. She is the only saint to have walked the OLP campus. In 1961 she
Mosaic of Saint Teresa of Calcutta, main hallway of Navarra Hall.
traversed what was then a hallway of the Academy on her way into the former theater, where she spoke to our students.
THE RELIC
A second-class holy relic of Saint Teresa of Calcutta was bestowed upon OLP by her order here in San Diego. Upon the rededication of the Aquinas Building, reopening after COVID as Navarra Hall in 2021, the relic was placed in the very fabric of our building, along the path she would have walked in 1961. It remains there beneath the cornerstone medallion, a reminder of her presence, and of her challenge to all of us to see our dear neighbor, the face of God, in the least among us.
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The Diversity of Saints SECOND FLOOR, SHILEY HALL
These mosaics tell the stories of four women of faith from around the world, reflecting the unique stories of the diverse young women within our OLP community. Great care was taken to choose each saint in her authentic depiction, as her own people know her. On the adjacent wall, a digital display carries the stories of other women of faith from all religious traditions. The Diversity of Saints mosaics, second floor of Shiley Hall.
“We celebrate the saints amongst our cultures and throughout our world who showed their love of Christ through their corporal works of mercy.”
St. Marina of Omura, Japanese
Patron Saint of Japan, sought by those close to having their faith tested and needing to recover courage and strength
St. Laura Montoya, Colombian
Patron Saint of people suffering from racial discrimination, and of orphans
St. Josephine Bakhita, Sudanese
Patron Saint of Sudan and of victims of human trafficking
St. Kateri Tekakwitha, Mohawk
Patron Saint of the environment and ecology
la Virgen de Guadalupe CIRCLE DRIVE
Gold-leaf tiles and contrasting red roses mark one of five Marian apparitions of December 1531, when the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Saint Juan Diego at Tepeyac Hill in Mexico City. What moved us most is the intimacy of the gesture: Mary bending down to touch Saint Juan Diego, as she reaches out to her people, and to each and every one of us. The smalti mosaic is the work of Rohn & Associates Design, created for the Our Lady of Guadalupe Adoration Chapel in Fargo, North Dakota. OLP was given special permission to replicate it, and the designers came out to our campus to do so. The same design was chosen by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for the Respect Life campaign in 2018.
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Mosaic of la Virgen de Guadalupe, Circle Drive.
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SACRED ART THAT ANCHORS OUR CAMPUS
The Chapel Garden and the Grand Staircase Two works at the heart of campus. One offers solace to anyone who comes looking for it. The other is built into the building itself, so the Sisters remain in the architecture even though they are no longer in the halls.
Our Lady of La Vang CHAPEL GARDEN, WALL OF ST. CECILIA’S
c M La Vang in Vietnamese. During the anti-Catholic rule of emperor King Thinh in the 18th century, the oppressed people of Vietnam saw an apparition of Mary that provided comfort, peace, and a promise of protection and relief from their plight. Here, as at Tepeyac, Mary appears in the likeness of the people she comes to. Our students and visitors find solace in her the same way. Mosaic of Our Lady of La Vang, on the wall of St. Cecilia’s in the Chapel Garden.
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The 135th Anniversary Mural, also in the Chapel Garden, painted by Michael Stringer with more than thirty of our students.
THE GRAND STAIRCASE
Lace, Joining Navarra and Shiley Hall At the center of campus, art and symbolism are fused together in the lace railings, a reminder of the continued influence of our Sisters of St. Joseph. Lace was an important economical means of support for our first Sisters in Le Puy-en-Velay in 1650, and it represents the skills they imparted to young women as a means of livelihood. While we might not have our Sisters on our campus, our architectural lace is the connective tissue that binds together, through art, the stories of our past.
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The statues that stand in the open air of our campus: the Holy Family, Our Lady of Grace, St. Joseph, and St. Thérèse.
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PAINTED BY ONE OF OUR OWN
The 135th Anniversary Mural CHAPEL GARDEN · MICHAEL STRINGER, VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS OLP FACULTY EMERITUS
The 135th Anniversary Mural, six feet by twenty, in the Chapel Garden. Read left to right, it is a timeline: Le Puy at one end, this campus at the other.
Both figurative and architectural elements create a
Every other work in this guide was commissioned.
visual timeline that starts in Le Puy, France, and
This one was made here, by a teacher and his
ends on OLP’s campus, depicting important events
students, on a wall they all walked past every day.
in the history and journey of the Sisters of St. Joseph and of this school.
Michael Stringer taught the visual and performing arts at OLP for two decades, inspiring a love of the
The composition and design were about a year’s
arts in thousands of students, some of whom went
work. More than thirty current and former students
on to make their lives in it.
contributed, and the painting itself took nearly two months to complete.
Women of heart. Women of faith. Women of courage. PAINTED ACROSS THE TOP OF THE MURAL
Mr. Stringer’s passing was a profound loss for this community. His legacy continues in the Mike Stringer Memorial Endowed Scholarship for the Arts, established in 2021 for students who show a commitment to the visual and performing arts.
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SACRED ART THAT ANCHORS OUR CAMPUS
The Statues of Our Campus Four figures stand in the open air, in the places where our students gather, pass, and wait. They are not behind glass. Our young women walk by them every day, in every weather, for four years.
The Holy Family OUTSIDE THE HOLY FAMILY EVENT CENTER
Cast in bronze and set beneath the arch, the Holy Family stands with the child raised high between his parents, the three of them turned outward toward the campus rather than inward toward one another. They keep watch over the building where our community gathers most often, for Mass and for prayer, for competition, and for the moments when this school comes together as one.
The Holy Family in bronze, outside the Holy Family Event Center.
Our Lady of Grace
The historical statue of Mary, set among the plantings of the Chapel
CHAPEL GARDEN
Garden and one of the oldest devotional figures on this campus.
St. Joseph
Patron of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph and protector of
CIRCLE DRIVE
families, standing where every visitor first arrives.
St. Thérèse of Lisieux
The Little Flower, who is also the patron saint of pilots, keeping
ST. JOSEPH UPPER PLAZA
company with our own Pilots on the plaza.
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AN INTERFAITH SACRED SPACE
The Martha McRoskey Interfaith Place of Peace WEST OF CAMPUS
The hand-painted dome above the Pietà, where eighteen student butterflies fly among the clouds beneath Psalm 133:1, “How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity.”
In March 2020, OLP unveiled an interfaith sacred
Through the generosity of OLP benefactors,
space that brings together a replica of
including the Mogollon Coppel Family and the
Michelangelo’s Pietà and The Butterfly Project.
Boulanger Family, OLP was gifted an exact 1:1 cast
Bishop John Dolan and Rabbi Jeremy Gimbel of
from the original sculpture, and a historic portico
Congregation Beth Israel blessed the space
on campus was restored to house it, in honor of
together.
Parents in Prayer founder, board member, and
In the late 1930s, fearing that the Nazis would
alumna parent Martha McRoskey.
destroy priceless works of art, the Vatican
Here at OLP, the Pietà stands as a testament to the
commissioned molds of sacred statues. OLP
courage of Catholic upstanders during the
alumna Ninoska Navarro Rocha ’13 connected the
Holocaust, and in particular our Sisters of St.
school with Arte Devine, which supports the
Joseph during World War II, who hid children and
Vatican in placing these marble castings.
adults in their convents and moved them to freedom, often at their own peril.
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The Butterfly Project, and the words set into these walls.
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WITHIN THE PLACE OF PEACE
The Butterfly Project IN THE DOME AND ON THE WALLS
Founded by educator Jan Landau and artist Cheryl
Every painted butterfly memorializes a child who
Rattner Price in 2006 at the San Diego Jewish
was lost, and serves as a symbol of hope that
Academy, The Butterfly Project memorializes the 1.5
through remembrance we may be courageous
million children who perished in the Holocaust and
upstanders against hate, violence, and oppression.
honors the survivors.
Since 2014, students in Examining the Holocaust
Eighteen butterflies painted by OLP students fly in
Through Literature, under the direction of faculty
the dome above the Pietà. The number eighteen is
member Dr. Angela Gascho, have painted butterflies
significant in the Jewish faith, representing the letter
as a lasting tribute to those whose lives were lost.
chai, which stands for life.
OLP is the only Catholic school in the world with a permanent installation of The Butterfly Project.
ANNE FRANK
CORRIE TEN BOOM
Joined here as a reminder of the CSJ mission, “that they all may be one.” John 17:21
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A COLLECTION THAT CONTINUES TO GROW
St. Thérèse of Lisieux ST. THÉRÈSE LIBRARY AND PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Our saints are usually depicted in their heavenly perfection and splendor. It is often helpful, and encouraging, for us here on earth to also remember how they experienced physical, spiritual, psychological, and emotional suffering as we do. OLP is blessed to commission perhaps the only statue of the beloved Little Flower portrayed in her human frailty, sitting in a wheelchair that once belonged to her father. Carved by sculptor Enrique Avilez Martinez, the statue holds relics of the saint. St. Thérèse spent her final days in this wheelchair, finding solace in the gardens of her convent. Beside her, St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta comforts Thérèse as they pray the rosary together. Above them is a joined quote, weaving together Teresa’s and Thérèse’s words: “Nothing is small in the eyes of God. Do small things with The carved statue in her father’s wheelchair, beneath the eight-foot mosaic, on the staircase landing at the Tubao Family Library.
great love.” A gift from Mary Theresa O’Toole (Molly) Gregoire ’63 and Michael J. Gregoire, in memory of Phyllis E. O’Toole Mather and Austin E. O’Toole.
ABOUT THE MOSAIC
The mosaic is an original design by the Artesanos Don Bosco in Peru. It stands eight feet tall and represents St. Thérèse in her heavenly form, holding a cross and her signature bouquet of roses, while a shower of roses lies at her feet. The frailty of our human life, as depicted in the statue beneath, juxtaposed with the promise of perfection in heaven, reminds all of us that no matter the challenges we may face in this life, our hope remains in our heavenly home.
“My vocation is love.” ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX
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A COLLECTION THAT CONTINUES TO GROW
Saint Rafqa and Saint Sultana Mahdokht UPPER PLAZA, ON THE WALL OF NAVARRA HALL
What began as a heartfelt question from a student became a lasting expression of faith and cultural pride. After a Chaldean Mass on campus in January 2024, Mariana Lazar ’26 approached the Head of School with a simple and profound idea: to honor a Chaldean saint through sacred art. The two mosaics were commissioned from artisans in Beirut, Lebanon, and were blessed in April 2025 at a Mass and luncheon that gathered students, faculty and staff, community members, and the Lazar Family.
The mosaics gave rise to the Saint Rafqa and Sultana Mahdokht Healing and Compassion Scholarship, which supports students whose families are facing significant health or financial challenges. A gift from the Lazar Family in honor of Mariana Mahdokht Lazar ’26 and the OLP Chaldean Club.
Saint Rafqa
Saint Sultana Mahdokht
Patron of lost parents and the sick. A Lebanese Maronite nun who received her habit on the Feast of St. Joseph, she is nicknamed “The Little Flower of Lebanon.” She devoted her life to the church, interceding for the healing of many physical and spiritual ailments, and helped to establish an all girls school in Lebanon.
A canonized saint in the Church of the East and the Chaldean Church, and patron saint of the village of Araden in northern Iraq. A Persian princess, daughter of Pholar, Prince of Dorsas, she and her brothers were killed by the King after turning to Christianity. The fourthcentury church that bears her name remains an important pilgrimage site.
“Today is not only about sacred art. It is about sacred action.” DR. LAUREN LEK, HEAD OF SCHOOL
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PART TWO
Sacred Art That Comes Alive Each year, in partnership with our art classes and our campus ministry, our community makes work that belongs to a season. It is built by many hands, prayed with, and then given way to what comes next.
The Guardian Angels and the Seraphim FRONT HALLWAY
Angels made by our students fill the wall on either side of the fleurde-lis, grouped as Guardian Angels and as the Seraphim. Each one carries the name of the young woman who made it. A corridor our The Guardian Angels and the Seraphim, made by our art students, front hallway.
students pass many times a day becomes a gallery of their own hands.
The Prayer Grotto MARY, UNDOER OF KNOTS
Each year on her feast day, a grotto rises on campus in honor of Mary, Undoer of Knots. Students bring what is tangled in their own lives and tie it to the arbor. By the end of the day the frame is covered, and the whole community can see that no one is carrying The Prayer Grotto for Mary, Undoer of Knots, hung with ribbons tied by students.
her knots alone.
The Windchimes ABOVE THE COURTYARD
Ceramic crosses, discs, and beads made in our art classes hang from the branches above the courtyard. They move with the wind and sound across the campus, a reminder that prayer here is often something heard before it is seen. Ceramic windchimes made in our art classes, hanging above the courtyard.
Each installation is temporary. What it forms in our young women is not. ACADEMY OF OUR LADY OF PEACE
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THE COLLECTION OVER TIME
From Le Puy to This Campus The works in this guide did not arrive together. They were gathered across three hundred and seventyfive years, and the gathering is not finished.
1650 · LE PUY-EN-VELAY
Six women come together in France to form the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph.
1836 · CARONDELET
The Order journeys from France to Carondelet, Missouri.
1882 · SAN DIEGO
The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet found the Academy of Our Lady of Peace.
135TH ANNIVERSARY
Michael Stringer and more than thirty current and former students complete the 135th Anniversary Mural in the Chapel Garden.
2019
The Boundless campaign begins, reimagining OLP’s physical presence with sacred art at its center.
MARCH 2020
The Martha McRoskey Interfaith Place of Peace is unveiled, housing Michelangelo’s Pietà and The Butterfly Project, and blessed by Bishop John Dolan and Rabbi Jeremy Gimbel.
NOVEMBER 2023
The St. Thérèse Library and Performing Arts Center is dedicated.
2024
The statue and mosaic of St. Thérèse of Lisieux are installed on the staircase landing at the Tubao Family Library.
JANUARY 2024
After a Chaldean Mass on campus, Mariana Lazar ’26 asks whether a Chaldean saint might be honored in sacred art at OLP.
APRIL 2025
The mosaics of Saint Rafqa and Saint Sultana Mahdokht are blessed on Upper Plaza, and the Healing and Compassion Scholarship is established.
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INDEX
The Works, and Where to Find Them A register of the sacred art on our campus, with the artists and benefactors who made each piece possible. MOSAICS AND MURALS
STATUARY
The CSJ Mural
The Holy Family
“Uncommon Women for an Uncommon Time”
Bronze
ENTRANCE TO CAMPUS
OUTSIDE THE HOLY FAMILY EVENT CENTER
Saint Teresa of Calcutta
Our Lady of Grace
Mosaic
Historical statue
NAVARRA HALL, MAIN HALLWAY
CHAPEL GARDEN
The Diversity of Saints
St. Joseph
St. Marina of Omura, St. Laura Montoya, St. Josephine Bakhita, St. Kateri Tekakwitha
Statue CIRCLE DRIVE
SHILEY HALL, SECOND FLOOR
St. Thérèse of Lisieux la Virgen de Guadalupe
Statue
Mosaic with gold-leaf tiles, replicated by permission
ST. JOSEPH UPPER PLAZA
CIRCLE DRIVE
St. Thérèse of Lisieux Our Lady of La Vang c M La Vang, mosaic CHAPEL GARDEN, WALL OF ST. CECILIA’S
Statue by Enrique Avilez Martinez, with relics; mosaic by Artesanos Don Bosco, Peru. A gift from Molly Gregoire ’63 and Michael J. Gregoire ST. THÉRÈSE LIBRARY AND PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
The 135th Anniversary Mural Michael Stringer with more than thirty current and former students
WITHIN THE PLACE OF PEACE
CHAPEL GARDEN
Michelangelo’s Pietà
ARCHITECTURE
Vatican-approved 1:1 casting, placed through Arte Devine. A gift from the Mogollon Coppel and Boulanger Families MARTHA MCROSKEY INTERFAITH PLACE OF PEACE
The Lace Staircase Architectural lace, after the lacemaking of the first Sisters
The Butterfly Project
JOINING NAVARRA AND SHILEY HALL
Eighteen student-painted butterflies in the dome; the only permanent installation at a Catholic school in the world MARTHA MCROSKEY INTERFAITH PLACE OF PEACE
Saint Rafqa and Saint Sultana Mahdokht Two mosaics from artisans in Beirut. A gift from the Lazar Family in honor of Mariana Mahdokht Lazar ’26 and the OLP Chaldean Society UPPER PLAZA, NAVARRA HALL
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HOW THE COLLECTION GROWS
Every Piece Began With Someone Asking There is no committee that decides what goes on these walls. Each work in this guide started with a person who noticed something absent and said so.
A Student’s Question
A Family’s Generosity
After a Chaldean Mass in January 2024, Mariana Lazar ’26 asked whether a Chaldean saint might be honored here. Two mosaics and a scholarship followed.
The Pietà, the St. Thérèse statue and mosaic, and the Chaldean mosaics each came through families who chose to give something lasting to young women they would never meet.
A Teacher’s Hand
A Class’s Work
Michael Stringer spent a year designing a mural for the Chapel Garden and then painted it with more than thirty of his students.
The angels in the front hallway, the butterflies in the dome, the windchimes above the courtyard, and the ribbons on the Prayer Grotto are all made by our students, year after year.
WITH GRATITUDE
The sacred art on this campus exists because families, alumnae, teachers, and students chose to give it. We hold in gratitude the Baker Family, the Boulanger Family, the Gregoire and O’Toole Families, the Lazar Family, the Mogollon Coppel Family, the Tubao Family, and the many benefactors of the Boundless campaign, along with Michael Stringer and every student whose hand is somewhere on these walls.
If a story is missing from these walls, tell us. That is how every piece in this guide began. Office of Institutional Advancement · Academy of Our Lady of Peace · 4860 Oregon Street, San Diego, CA 92116 · aolp.org
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ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX · ARTESANOS DON BOSCO, PERU
May the powerful medium of art surround our community with God’s splendor as OLP continues its unwavering commitment to sharing the inspiring stories of people of faith.
ACADEMY OF OUR LADY OF PEACE 4860 Oregon Street, San Diego, CA 92116 aolp.org