Dominican Class of ’72 gifts sculpture to school

by Kim Roberts

By Kim Roberts
Clarion Herald

To commemorate the 50th reunion of Dominican High School’s Class of 1972, class members commissioned, designed and donated a 6-foot tall bronze sculpture by world-renowned Italian sculptor Albano Poli. The sculpture, resting on a solid marble base in Alumnae Hall entitled the “Legacy Tree,” symbolizes the school’s history of women handing their senior class rings down to the next generation.

“The sculpture recalls a Dominican ceremony steeped in tradition, and our class is proud to donate and present a Master Poli sculpture to teach generations about our school’s roots and legacy, and for alums to remember that we have been part of something truly special here at Dominican,” said Barbara Cole, who helped commission the sculpture.

It features 10 roots representing the seven sisters who founded the school and the three locations the school has occupied over the years. The tree trunk is inscribed with phrases and traditions important to the Dominican community. The branches of the tree depict the different generations of Dominican women, from grandmothers to granddaughters, all connected by the leaves that represent the students – past, present and future.

Ring through generations

The focal point of the sculpture is a ring being passed from one generation to the next.

Cole and her classmates shared the story about the symbolism of the sculpture and the legacy of being a Dominican graduate during homecoming and Academic Honor Day in April. While they were planning their reunion, the Class of ’72 wanted to present the school with a meaningful gift.

After many hours of brainstorming, they landed on a tradition that meant so much to them – the class ring.

“I think when we focused on the ring, we had to figure out how to make that meaningful and symbolic,” Cole said. “The ring by itself didn’t work, so we moved on to the hands. When we get the rings, we turn the ring. The different generations of hands wear the rings. And where would we be without the generations that came before us?”

“And there was a deep connection with the visual of hands for the artist, too,” she added. “By the time we talked about New Orleans and how we could represent the city, the image of oak trees became the clear answer. From that came the hands that were different ages and the vehicle for the rings being passed down from the founding sisters. We’re rooted in the oak tree.”

Fellow classmate and co-organizer Kathy Pastorek said the initial idea was for a processional piece that could be used each year during the seniors’ ring ceremony.

“As we started working on the project, it transformed from a processional piece because it was starting to look like a monstrance, and we started working on something that could be enjoyed all year long,” she said.

The sculpture process

Pastorek said the sculpture offers symbolism of the heritage and growth at Dominican. The journey in creating the piece was amazing, along with working with Poli’s team and traveling to meet with him and see his studio in Verona, Italy.

“At his advanced age, he was still creating bronze sculptures, stained glass and murals all over the world, including the Vatican and China,” she said. “How wonderful for Dominican to be one of the locations of Maestro Poli’s works. This adventure has been such a rewarding experience for me to be part of.”

The statue project was even more poignant because the revered Verona sculptor died July 11 at the age of 88. It was one of his final works.

The entire process took three years from concept to completion with Cole, Pastorek, Dominican president Dr. Cynthia Thomas and a committee spending time working together with the team in Italy via Zoom to get every aspect perfect.

“We just kept working on it, kind of like kneading bread,” Cole said. “And once it started coming together, the artist and his staff were on top of it. They built on our ideas. He sent his family twice to experience Dominican. We wanted them to meet the girls so they could express how important the ring was.”

The ties that bind

Truly a labor of love for this alumni class, the five-figure price of the sculpture was completely covered by the alumnae.

“We basically just put it out there to our class that we wanted to do this project and donate it to the school,” Cole said. “I always knew we had Dominican in common, and I think at this stage in our life, we particularly still have this in common. The donations came in from the class.”

Pastorek said her classmates wanted to be part of this gift to Dominican because it’s a sense of gratitude that everybody has for the Catholic education they received.

“They just teared up when they saw the sculpture for the first time,” she said. “It brought together all of these emotions to the people who love Dominican and feel like not only did they get a good education, but it was life-changing for them to go to school there because the life skills you learned were so important.”

Since the sculpture was installed at the end of last school year, not many students have seen it yet. Thomas said she is looking forward to the new school year and seeing the reactions of the students.

“The ones who have seen it so far recognize the symbolic nature of the sculpture,” Thomas said. “It definitely visualizes the passing on of our Dominican traditions and values from generation to generation and how the original sisters called the students to be saints and sages and to continue to use their gifts after graduation.”

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