News Archive

New Rochelle, NY, September 27, 2000 - On Friday, October 6th, the new Iona College Arts Center will be dedicated. Located near the main entrance to the College on North Avenue, the former Remins Department Store has been renovated as a fine and performing arts center, complete with the 1,170 square foot Brother Kenneth Chapman Gallery, that will showcase exhibits of emerging artists, students and faculty.

"The Arts Center is an exceptional addition to Iona College and the local community," commented President James A. Liguori, CFC. "Our generous benefactors, Joseph '59, '83H and JoAnn '98H Murphy, were determined to provide Iona with a facility that would enhance our fine and performing arts curricula and our students' exposure to the arts. As we dedicate this important building, we thank the Murphys for their inspiring leadership role in transforming Iona College."

A long-time patron of the arts, Mrs. Murphy currently chairs the Iona College Council on the Arts that seeks to expand and deepen the cultural life of the student body by sponsoring gallery trips, music and dance presentations, plays and other cultural events.

According to Dr. Warren Rosenberg, dean of the College's School of Arts and Science, "The Arts Center is a much needed component in Iona's educational mission. It will enhance the cultural life of the campus and of the surrounding community, and provide the opportunity for Iona to partner with area artists and art organizations."

The 13,500 square foot, two-level center contains studios for dance, Irish Dance, sculpture, 3D art, drawing and painting, a music studio, a multimedia classroom, traditional classrooms and faculty office space. Opening the Fine Arts Gallery is a retrospective exhibit of more than 30 works of art by Brother Kenneth Chapman, the first Brother permitted by the Congregation of Christian Brothers to study and work professionally in the field of fine arts. Brother Chapman has showcased more than 40 works of art in his exhibit, including acrylics, pen and ink, enamels on copper, ceramics, silkscreens, lithographs and vestments.

Brother Chapman is known as an artist and teacher. Nonfigurative in his paintings, Brother Chapman strives to connect the two spheres of the authentically human and the spiritual to draw the viewer to interact with his art. He uses both bold colors and a calm, pastel palette and suffuses his art with the profound understanding that his art is a major force in his spiritual life.

The Brother Kenneth Chapman Gallery will be open to the public, after the dedication on October 6, on Tuesdays from 11 am to 1 pm; Wednesdays from 3 pm to 6 pm; Thursdays from 11 am to 1 pm and from 6 pm to 9 pm; and on Saturdays from 12 noon to 3 pm Exhibits will run for approximately three months.

For additional information on the Iona College Arts Center and The Brother Kenneth Chapman Gallery, please contact Mary Ann Rossi at (914) 637-2128.

For questions or more information please contact:
Meghan Finn
Public Relations Office
Iona College, 715 North Avenue, New Rochelle, N.Y. 10801
tel: 914 633-2005 fax: 914 637-2711

Back to Top