Art on display

Alumni Ballroom features million-dollar collection

A $1 million collection of 20 paintings depicting the life of Christ was recently donated to Liberty University’s permanent art collection and is currently displayed in the Montview Student Union Alumni Ballroom.

The families of Dr. Troy L. Day and the late Alton H. Thigpen donated the collection painted by Robert Wilson Sr., hoping to find “a permanent home that could really tell the story of Christ and be a blessing to the body of Christ,” Todd Smith, director and founder of the Liberty permanent art gallery, said.

“One of our goals is to be a repository for artwork that tells the story of the Gospel,” Smith said. “This goes a long way in helping fulfill that goal.”

According to Wilson’s website, the paintings have appeared before President Jimmy Carter at the National Prayer Breakfast in 1978.

They also inspired filmmaker Earl Owensby to create a documentary which features the paintings and follows the life of Christ, according to the Earl Owensby Studios website.

The oil-on-canvas paintings are seven feet tall and five feet wide, with some even larger.

“There’s nothing like that in this whole region — nothing like it at all,” Smith said.

The ballroom will be open to spectators at various events throughout the year, but specific dates are still undecided, Smith said.

Smith recommended entering the ballroom to the left, where the story begins with Christ’s birth and progresses around the room to the ascension.

“Even though the Alumni Ballroom was designed before the donation of the paintings was received, the setting is just perfect,” Eva Palmer, associate professor of studio art said in an email. “It is well-lit and modern and contrasts nicely with the ‘classic’ style of the artwork. (The ballroom) reminds me of the banquet room all believers will one day enjoy at the marriage feast of the Lamb.”

Both Smith and Palmer agreed that the paintings are “world-class” — the type of work one would see in world-renowned art museums.

Thigpen and Day originally bought 10 of the then 11-piece set which Wilson began in 1963.

They later commissioned Wilson to complete the 20-piece set, according to the Liberty University News Service.

“ … I think (their families) realized its impact can be not just here, but people come here from all over the world, and that impact goes out to many nations,” Smith said.

Art students will benefit from seeing original paintings instead of copies, which will allow them to observe techniques and elements such as brushstrokes, composition, lighting and the use of color, Smith said.

“Technique aside, studying art, especially when it depicts the life of Christ, is a way to grow closer to the ultimate creator,” Rachel Gudmundson, a senior studio and digital arts student, said.

“I like to go to art galleries anyway because I find a lot of peace in it (art),” Gudmundson said.

“And I just think that would be a really incredible opportunity to look at … and use it in meditation and prayer, and not just be looking at a piece of art in a gallery that maybe isn’t religious.”

Seeing the paintings for the first time, Palmer said she was awe-struck.

“I actually said a little prayer as I began to view the paintings,” Palmer said in a prepared comment. “I was deeply moved emotionally and spiritually when I took in the richness of these images of our savior. I felt as though I was ushered into his presence, and they made his life here on earth come alive for me.”

Wilson has more than 40 years of experience in art, but he is self-taught. During his career he served in the Army Air Corps and Air Force and flew transport planes in World War II and Korea, according to his website.

Kyle Watts, a senior graphic design student, remarked on the amount of detail Wilson used.

“Great painters normally went through some sort of schooling, but it just shows when you have a God-given talent that he’s going to bring it out of you, whether you go to train or not,” Watts said.

Pors is a news reporter.