Artist seeks beauty's saving grace

Brother Mickey O'Neill McGrath is to lead 'At the Name of Jesus: Advent Saints and Stories' at Trinity Episcopal Church. He has been commissioned to create art for Catholic parishes and universities. Enlarge

Brother Mickey O'Neill McGrath has taken to heart the saying, "The world will be saved by beauty."

"It's really what I'm trying to do," said Brother Mickey, quoting the phrase penned by Feodor Dostoevski and frequently cited by Catholic social activist Dorothy Day.

It represents the faith and the hope of the Catholic brother, an artist and author who will lead an Advent retreat at Trinity Episcopal Church in Toledo on Friday and Dec. 3.

A member of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales religious order, Brother Mickey lives in the urban heart of Camden, N.J., just across the Delaware River from his hometown of Philadelphia, and seeks to drive away some of the city's darkness through art and community.

"All of Camden is pretty much inner city," he said in a recent interview. "It's a rough place. But there is a huge, huge amount of community outreach. There are nurseries for the children, job placement services, a lot of that in all the churches, and that's why I love it. It's the second-most dangerous city and the second-poorest, but there's so much good happening through the churches. They've all banded together. It's very exciting as an artist."

He leads retreats and gives presentations on art and religion across the country at least two weekends a month, he said, using his large library of artwork for illustrations and his knack for storytelling to inspire audiences.

Brother Mickey, 54, said he became interested in art as early as 4 years old.

"I used to sit under my Mom's ironing board and watch As the World Turns every afternoon, drawing on paper my Dad brought home from work," he said. "I was a very shy and self-conscious kid and drawing was kind of a safe place for me."

He also had an early interest in religious life, entering the seminary right out of high school.

"During my novitiate year, while I entered thinking I would become a priest, I decided to be a brother instead because I would be able to keep art first," Brother Mickey said.

His art was inspired by the works of Edward Hopper and Georgia O'Keefe, he said, but he also was attracted to Romanesque and Gothic art, such as designs found in stained-glass windows in historic cathedrals.

Brother Mickey has been commissioned to create art for Catholic parishes and universities throughout the United States.

Last year, his painting Christ the Teacher was presented to Pope Benedict XVI during events celebrating the reopening of the Vatican library. "That was a real thrill," he said.

He primarily paints with acrylics, but has found a new favorite medium for creating art: the Apple iPad.

"It's a perfect way to sketch projects," Brother Mickey said, adding he can be productive by creating digital sketches on the iPad while waiting in airports, or by using it during his morning meditations.

He used an iPad to create the artwork featured on posters announcing his Toledo retreat, a graphic that featured baby Jesus in the arms of Joseph. That theme is rare in religious art in general, but common in Brother Mickey's portfolio.

"Every year for the last 10 years my Christmas card has been an image of Joseph with child. Mary gets enough attention, you know," Brother Mickey said with a chuckle. "I have done whole books on Mary, but I have a particular devotion to Joseph and fatherhood."

Brother Mickey has written 10 books, the latest being about Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement who was born in 1897 and died in 1980. The book is due for publication next spring.

"She believed that, in the end, beauty will save the world," Brother Mickey said. "There are different kinds of beauty and you can see beauty in unexpected things."

Brother Mickey O'Neill McGrath will lead a retreat, "At the Name of Jesus: Advent Saints and Stories," from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 3 at Trinity Episcopal Church, One Trinity Plaza, in downtown Toledo. The cost is $25. More information is available online at trinitytoledo.org or by calling 419-243-1231,

Contact David Yonke at: dyonke@theblade.com or 419-724-6154.