Gregory Wolfe

The title, Violent Grace, suggests a paradox. This pairing has become an unexpected gateway into the astonishingly varied and prolific artistic career of Edward Knippers. Violence conjures images of aggression while grace has long been associated with beauty, poise, or an unmerited gift, perhaps even a kind of salvation. Within the ambiguity of this fertile paradox, the art of Edward Knippers—which can initially shock and disturb—opens up into something rich and rewarding.Our lives are reflected in the lives of his biblical characters; we understand their message in our own flesh and blood.Edward Knippers grapples with the perennial human questions embedded in the Bible—a strenuous effort never satisfied until it has extracted a blessing. This is the image of violent grace. Drawn into the wrestling match, we come away wounded—and blessed—by a passionate, unreasonable, overwhelming beauty.

In the second edition of Sacred Passion, biographer Gregory Wolfe chronicles the artistic career of William Schickel (1919-2009) in the years since the original 1998 publication of this book by the University of Notre Dame Press. There are two new chapters, one on Schickel's recent contributions to the built environment in several communities, and the other on his recent paintings. There are 70 new color images, in addition to the 189 from the first edition, many of which have been replaced or enhanced. William Schickel was born in Stamford, Connecticut in 1919 and raised in Ithaca, New York. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1944. His graduation project was the sculptural fountain "Living Water," now in the university's grotto. In a consistently productive career spanning more than six decades, Schickel has combined his skills as a sculptor, architectural designer, furniture designer, stained-glass artist, and painter with his deep personal faith to bring a healing vision to a number of American communities. In addition to his many paintings and ritual arts creations, Schickel's public works include the renovation of Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky, for which he received the American Institute of Architects' Gold Medal Award; the Duchesne Memorial Shrine in St. Charles, Missouri; the Miami Valley Hospital Chapel in Dayton, Ohio; the "Rotunda of Creation" in the Cincinnati Center for Health and Wellness; the renovation of the Bellarmine Chapel in Cincinnati; the "Journeying with Christ" mural in the St. John Neumann Church in Canton, Michigan; and the Larry Hoffsis stained-glass window in the Epiphany Lutheran Church near Dayton, Ohio. Celebrating an artist of extraordinary faith, power, creativity, and dedication, the second edition of Sacred Passion is a tribute to William Schickel and his achievements.