Jo Myers-Walker, artist

She was about ten years old when she discovered what life was all about for her.  She would be an artist!

Jo's mother had given her the freedom to paint her own bedroom.  And did she ever paint!  Feeling the need for beauty all around her, she filled the walls with trees, flowers, and vines.  From that childhood moment, she and her parents realized that she had a special gift, that this was what her life had to be.

After graduating from Iowa State University, Jo began teaching in Iowa colleges and exhibiting her art wherever she could.  That didn't bring much income, but what was important to her was the joy in living that she was able to portray through her art.  

She was commissioned by her parish, St. Thomas Aquinas Student Center at Iowa State University, to create a Story Wall of stories from the Bible.  With no clear idea of what she would do, she started molding clay until she recognized life taking shape within her fingers.  She filled the 30- by 16-foot wall with figures such as Jesus washing the feet of his apostles, the prodigal son, Jesus with the children--and more.  See the story wall -- here 

At one point she took a leap of faith and purchased a 110-year-old bank in Gilbert, Iowa.  A bank vault became her office.  The teller's drawers held kitchen supplies.  She cleaned and polished everything, and covered the walls with brightly colored murals.  In remembrance of an earlier trip to France, she christened it "The Left Bank Studio."

As you can imagine, that studio bears little resemblance to the somber bank it once was.  A constant stream of students comes through to take classes, absorbing from Jo her belief that art is a personal expression of one's spirituality--viewpoint, beliefs, joys, fears, and sorrows.  A favorite theme of hers is "negative space."  When people say that they can't paint, don't know what to paint, she tells them to look at something (a chair, a building, a person) and, instead of trying to paint that object, look at what is behind it, around it.  Let your mind see what shapes might be hiding there.  Once a student accepts this idea and tries to use his imagination, it is a very freeing process.

Jo developed her present mission of ministering through art to the terminally ill and their families when her mother had a stroke, followed by a diagnosis of terminal lung cancer.  She found that her mother experienced some peace and joy through this means of self-expression.  The hospice team asked her to help other patients, and it all blossomed.  Families started coming to her studio, where they find some relief from stress through the brightly colored artwork, as well as from Jo's natural talent as a listener and nurturer.

If you find her story interesting, Jo has a blog which tells, and shows, so much more about her and her work.  I got most of this information originally from a story written by Sue Stanton in the Catholic magazine, St. Anthony Messenger this past July.  Jo's blog updates a couple of important developments since then: 
1) She is selling the Left Bank Studio as a means of simplifying her life; 
2) The Story Wall suffered smoke damage in a recent fire, and will require an  extensive and sensitive cleaning process.

You can find Jo's blog here .  Be sure to check out the "Online Gallery" to get a real feel for her artistic work.  And you will want to look at the "Tomato Bisque Soup Club" to get a feel for the person she is.  I don't know about you, but it definitely looks like a place where I would like to spend some time!