Brown Mary, black Jesus murals offer welcome

IOWA CITY - Pedestrians and drivers in Iowa City might notice a new mural as they travel down the city's busy Lower Muscatine Road.

A brightly rendered portrait of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a Mexican depiction of the Virgin Mary, adorns the street-facing garage doors at the Iowa City Catholic Worker House.

She is pictured next to brown-skinned hands in prayer, holding a rosary.

Around the corner, a black Jesus walks on water, his hand outstretched to save his disciple Peter from the waves.

'We want everyone to know that immigrants and refugees are welcome here,” Iowa City Catholic Worker House co-founder Emily Sinnwell said. 'We are a safe house and sanctuary where the poor come first.”

The house, at 1414 Sycamore St., opened Aug. 1 to offer short-term, transitional shelter to single mothers, children, veterans, prisoners, people with disabilities and immigrants and refugees. Since opening, around 21 guests have stayed at least one night, including a family that stayed for 90 days.

With three bedrooms, the house is a small-scale project, live-in volunteer David Goodner said. Most of their clients come through referrals from other social service agencies as well as church parishes.

Artist Michael Stenerson, of Iowa City, painted two of the walls, including the garage doors that face Kirkwood Community College's Iowa City campus. Artists Tony Carter and Kenny Morgan painted the other walls. Stenerson, a former Gazette photo intern, has painted other public-facing art around Iowa City, including the beer garden at Gabe's bar. Goodner saw his work there, and the two connected.

'This is my take on stained glass,” Stenerson said of the bold lines and bright colors of the murals. 'Futuristic, graffiti-style stained glass.”

Goodner said the art serves multiple purposes, including advertising the house's presence and message. It seems to be working, he said. Since the murals went up, people have knocked on the door to ask questions, and some have signed up to volunteer.

But he said the home's volunteers also wanted to present the art for its own sake.

'We were looking for traditional Catholic portraits but with a contemporary, urban, hip-hop twist to them,” he said. 'Part of it, too, was to contribute to the public art of the city. We wanted it to look beautiful. Even people who don't need our services at the house can enjoy it.”

l Comments: (319) 398-8434; alison.gowans@thegazette.com