Art, Beauty and Joy

The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration have cultivated art, beauty and joy through leadership, encouragement and support of the fine arts. Many women with natural ability for the arts joined the community and offered their talents to the students and others they encountered in schools and parishes.

Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration Clara Leinfelder and Silveria Goetzmann
Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration Clara Leinfelder and
Silveria Goetzmann

black-white-photo-Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration procession on Centennial Day
Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration process from Viterbo College (now known as Viterbo University) to Maria Angelorem Chapel.

The arts have a way of inspiring a love for learning and creating communities committed to collaboration rather than competition. Below is a glimpse into the the vast array of talents surrounding the FSPA community. Help us honor the history of these dedicated hearts and minds and share in the art, beauty and joy of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.

Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration artists with paintings
Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration Verena Dauser, Merietta Hackner, Kiliana Burghauser and Gervina Schilling

FSPA Visual Art Experience

"With every stroke of the paintbrush, every stitch in fabric, every handful of clay, every iconography workshop and every shaving of wood that falls away, the history of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration is told through the art and fine arts created over the years by the sisters themselves," Perspectives magazine shares in the story "FSPA Shares 'Love of Creation," Franciscan tradition of art."

"Art has always played an essential role in the lives of the sisters — an outlet to express their love of creation, a celebration of the beauty of the world and a means to live out their Franciscan values. The Franciscan tradition of art is often encapsulated in the legendary story of Mother Antonia Herb, who went out to buy food for the community and purchased a painting instead. As she explained it, the sisters needed food for their souls as well as their bodies."

For 175 years, FSPA has worked to enrich the lives of others. They are a talented group of individuals, working past retirement to serve and inspire. The creativity they possess spans a reach that not only touches their immediate community but spans worldwide.

Now it is critical that we preserve the legacy of “every brush stroke” and share the beauty and joy of FSPA art in this visual collection. A selection of FSPA artists and their galleries of work are to be featured here, in celebration of both 175 years of prayer, witness and service, and their legacies will live on in this visual gallery for generations to come.

Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration-history-wataercolor-images "FSPA History Timeline," by Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration Maryam Gossling, created for FSPA's 150th jubilee.
The images are on display in the Gathering Room at St. Rose Convent in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Celebrating Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration Betty Bradley

Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration Betty Bradley- oval portrait-pastel watercolor flowers

Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration Betty Bradley, born in 1939, grew up in Spokane, Washington. She received a bachelor’s degree in home economics at Viterbo College in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, and a master’s degree in religious education at Seattle University in Washington State.

She taught at schools in Spokane; Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin; Milford, Iowa; and Bozeman, Montana. For 25 years, she worked as a religious education director and pastoral minister on the West Coast. She served as Director of Clare Center in Spokane, Washington, for four years and as FSPA Director of Affiliation for four years.

Sister Betty began painting watercolors in 1990 at the age of 51 and took lessons under Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration Margaret Ann Schlosser. She studied watercolor at the North Light Art School in Cincinnati, Ohio, for 2 and a half years. She was a member of Monarch Arts and the Spokane Watercolor Society, where she served in an executive position from 1999 until 2003. Sister Betty taught watercolor classes throughout the 90s and early 2000s, and her paintings hang in public and private collections across the country.

“Involvement in the process of painting nourishes and energizes my spirit," shares Sister Betty. "The beauty and goodness surrounding us in all of creation elicits a personal response that wants to be visualized and shared. Each painting is a creative journey that leads to still another experimental, original work of art."