Artist Denham completed the largest sculpture of her career, according to a Mar. 31 announcement. The project took about 18 months and involved close collaboration with colleagues and community members.
The sculpture is significant as it represents both an artistic milestone for Denham and a collaborative effort among faculty, committee members, and local religious leaders. The process also served as a learning experience for Denham’s students.
Denham said that Mary Donahue first approached her about the commission, leading to meetings with a planning committee before she began developing sketches in 2024. She credited the committee for its support and flexibility throughout the project: “The committee was wonderful in supporting me and being willing to work with me on logistics.”
She worked closely with Father Todd Philipsen during most of the project, describing him as passionate about both the building and sculpture. When leadership changed near completion, Father Matthew Nash also provided support. To prepare for this large-scale work, Denham experimented with different clays before selecting one containing grog for stability. “You need something that has a bit of a grip to it for a large project like this,” she said.
Constructing the piece required building an internal frame using metal rods and newspaper, over which clay was layered before removing the armature at the leather-hard stage. Attention to detail was key: “When everything is finished and I have the sculpture exactly the way I want it, I let it dry a bit so it can hold its own body weight,” she said.
From early on, emotional connection among figures guided Denham’s design: “I thought of it as a family portrait,” she said. “I wanted to capture that loving embrace of the mother looking at the baby and also Joseph looking down.” She used specific techniques to align gazes between Mary and infant Jesus: “I think that kind of attention to detail brings a feeling of warmth.”
Students observed every step in real time this semester while creating their own life-size self-portraits from clay. “They got to see real-life problem solving for a project,” Denham said.
For finishing touches, rough areas were sanded smooth before primer was applied; paint chosen resembled natural fired clay in warm terra-cotta tones with stone-like finish. Finding suitable models posed challenges but ultimately led her to recruit individuals through personal connections at dance rehearsals.
Reflecting on daily commitment since late fall 2024—including holidays—Denham recalled: “From that point forward, every single day I came to moisten the sculpture… That’s when I started to realize it was going to be my life for the next year.” After unveiling at an open house event where attendees expressed appreciation, Denham credited Donahue and others for encouragement throughout: “I couldn’t have done it without Mary and the committee… They were my cheerleaders.” She added: “Many times I asked Mary for feedback… It also gave me a chance to step back and critique it myself.”
Looking back on her experience, Denham said: “I’m very thankful for the opportunity… It challenged me in ways I probably would have never encountered otherwise.”
