Art, Faith and Ecology Converge in Iona Campus Murals
Through the Deignan Institute for Earth & Spirit, student artist-in-residence Jidapha Vastola ’27 leads collaborative art installations across campus.
A native of Hong Kong, Jidapha Vastola ’27 found her fit at Iona University, where she has collaborated with over 100 students and employees to create a series of murals across campus. Serving as the inaugural student artist-in-residence for the Deignan Institute for Earth & Spirit, her work aims to unite faith and ecological awareness through the arts.
Her first project was a 9x6-foot mural titled “Ecological Conversion.” Sponsored by the Deignan Institute and the Office of Mission & Ministry, it was completed in the spring of 2025 and has since found a home in the Murphy Center.
For this work, Dr. Jim Robinson, director of the Deignan Institute and a clinical lecturer in the Religious Studies Department, connected Vastola with Catholic Worker artist Dimitri Kadiev for guidance and expertise. Together, they conceived of and created the mural, which reflects a vision in which “the human community embodies sustainability, justice and mutual flourishing,” as they described.
“I was taking one of Dr. Robinson's classes where he invited the artist to paint this mural with us,” recalled Vastola, an entrepreneurship major with a minor in environmental studies. “I love how he uses art in his life to spread positive messages.”
Colorful and creative, the mural includes depictions of Iona’s iconic ginkgo tree and highlights the three guiding principles of the Christian Brothers’ philosophy: presence, compassion and liberation. Vastola played a significant role in the design, adding a likeness of the late Pope Francis.
For Robinson, Vastola’s papal addition especially tied the piece together and reflected Iona’s larger goals.
“Iona as an institution has been committed to trying to go through this process of ecological conversion that Pope Francis called people to enter into,” he said, referring to Laudato si’, subtitled “on care for our common home.”
With the mural completed, Vastola felt compelled to take her learnings from Kadiev to continue to positively impact campus.
Heeding the interest, Robinson successfully applied for a grant from the Congregation of Notre Dame Sisters, which enabled the Deignan Institute to fund Vastola’s work as a student artist-in-residence, supplying her with paints, brushes and canvases.
Equipped with supplies, she set out to design and lead another group of students and staff to create her next work. Entitled “Brother Sun, Sister Moon,” the installation consists of two individual banners depicting the elements along with St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi. It derives its name from St. Francis’ language about the natural world, “which he viewed as a community of siblings,” Robinson described.
The banners have been displayed as the backdrop of Iona’s annual St. Francis Day celebration and have also traveled to events at the Agape Community, a lay Catholic residential community located in Hardwick, Massachusetts. The installation now proudly hangs in McSpedon Hall in the Office of Marketing & Communications, flanking a window view of the St. Columba statue and ginkgo tree in the academic quad.
“Working with Dimitri Kadiev that week showed me different ways that I could share art with the world,” Vastola reflected. “I have started leading more group paintings, where we bring students together and achieve things similar to my work on the ‘Ecological Conversion.’”
ABOUT IONA
Founded in 1940, Iona University is a master's-granting private, Catholic, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers. Iona's 45-acre New Rochelle campus and 28-acre Bronxville campus are just 20 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. With a total enrollment of nearly 4,000 students and an alumni base of 55,000 around the world, Iona is a diverse community of learners and scholars dedicated to academic excellence and the values of justice, peace and service. Iona is highly accredited, offering undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, science and business administration, as well as Master of Arts, Master of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees and numerous advanced certificate programs. Iona students enjoy small class sizes, engaged professors and a wide array of academic programs across the School of Arts & Science; LaPenta School of Business; NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Nursing & Health Sciences; and Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Iona also continues to be recognized in prestigious national rankings. Most recently for 2025, Iona has been named one of the nation’s best colleges by The Princeton Review, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and others. Additionally, U.S. News & World Report recognized Iona as one of top for social mobility in the country, while Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) ranked an Iona degree in the top 6 percent nationally for long-term return on investment. Iona’s LaPenta School of Business, meanwhile, is also accredited by AACSB International, a recognition awarded to just 6 percent of business schools worldwide. In addition, The Princeton Review once again named Iona to its “Best Business Schools for 2025,” recognizing both its on-campus and online MBA programs. Connecting to its Irish heritage, Iona also opened a new campus in County Mayo, Ireland, located on the historic 400-acre Westport House Estate. A school on the rise, Iona officially changed its status from College to University on July 1, 2022, reflecting the growth of its academic programs and the prestige of an Iona education.