Museum of Contemporary Religious Art (MOCRA), Saint Louis University

04/03/2026

In connection with the 2012 exhibition “The Papercut Haggadah,” we also welcomed attorney Stephen Durchslag for a presentation about what is considered to be the largest private collection of haggadot in the world, numbering some 4,500 volumes dating from 1485 to the present day.

Watch the talk here:

Stephen P. Durchslag draws on examples from his extensive collection to show how the haggadah is a central element of the Jewish experience, a text that sustains both tradition and innovation, and a vehicle for myriad expressions of the Jewish imagination

04/03/2026

MOCRA’s 2012 exhibition “The Papercut Haggadah” featured the texts of the Passover seder given expression in 55 unique abstract papercut pages.

The artist, Archie Granot, and the project’s patron, Max Thurm, spoke to the MOCRA Voices podcast about how Granot was drawn to the art of papercutting, how the commission came about, the special considerations engaged in creating an artwork based on a sacred text, and continuity and innovation in the Jewish tradition.

Check out the episode:

Israeli artist Archie Granot talks about the Papercut Haggadah project and his innovative approach to a centuries-old medium.

04/03/2026

We are happy to share a free online resource from our 2009/2010 exhibition “Good Friday.” The booklet “Reflecting on Good Friday: Meditations on Scripture and Art” brings together biblical passages, artwork, and reflection questions structured around different moments in the suffering and death of Jesus.

03/30/2026

The latest print edition of The University News features MOCRA on the front page. We thank the reporters for their thoughtful and thorough look at MOCRA's final exhibition. Have a read at the link below!

On March 1, MOCRA celebrated the opening of its final exhibition, “Liminal,” which will be on display through May 31 with a final celebratory event on April 19 at 2 p.m.   When preparing for the museum’s opening reception, director David Brinker made final touches to the lighting and set chai...

03/03/2026

A big thank-you to everyone who came out on Sunday to celebrate the opening of MOCRA’s final exhibition, Liminal. The crowd included first-time visitors and folks who have been coming to MOCRA since the museum opened in 1993. Similarly, the exhibition includes works that were in MOCRA’s first exhibition and works by 7 artists who are being exhibited here for the first time.

A special note of appreciation to STL regional artists Janie Stamm, Christopher Schulte, and Steven Heilmer, and contributing curator Jessica Baran, for their presence.

The exhibition continues through May 31. We hope to see you!

photos: Kevin Lowder

02/25/2026

We had a great time yesterday working with artist Janie Stamm and contributing curator Jessica Baran as they set up Stamm’s new installation, “Devotion.” The piece is in dialogue both with MOCRA’s original use as a chapel and with the powerful Adrian Kellard work, “The Promise.”

Both works are on display in MOCRA’s final exhibition, Liminal, from 3/1 to 5/31. More info: slu.edu/mocra

You can also catch Stamm’s solo exhibition, Mermaids’s Purse, opening at on 3/6.

10/25/2025

EVENT UPDATE!
Originally the talk was scheduled to take place in person and on Zoom. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the talk will now be Zoom only. 

Mary Mattingly
The Kristen Peterson Distinguished Lecture in Art and Art History
Monday, October 27, 5 pm

Register for the event at: slu.edu/mocra/events

Artist Mary Mattingly will discuss art-making as vocation, with a focus on co-creating regenerative public art. She will also talk in depth about specific projects, including building the floating food forest Swale and the absurdity of bundling her possessions for performances.

Mattingly’s work is on display in the MOCRA exhibition, “To See This Place: Awakening to Our Common Home.”


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Mary Mattingly (b. 1978) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores ecological relationships through sculptural ecosystems, performative installations, and research-based collaborations. Rooted in a deep inquiry into urban ecology and interdependence, her work addresses urgent issues around water, food systems, and climate adaptation. At the core of Mattingly’s practice is a belief in art as a form of investigation and a tool for imagining adaptive futures. Her installations often function both symbolically and practically: creating space for gathering, co-learning, and reflecting on systems of resource extraction and ecological resilience. 

1: Mary Mattingly, Rhythmic Time (detail), 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Robert Mann Gallery. 
2: Mary Mattingly. Photo: JJ Tiziou.

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The Kristen Peterson Distinguished Lecture in Art and Art History is presented by the Art History Program of the Visual and Performing Arts Department at Saint Louis University with support from the Peterson Lecture Fund.

Additional financial support comes from the Regional Arts Commission.

10/19/2025

Mary Mattingly
The Kristen Peterson Distinguished Lecture in Art and Art History
Monday, October 27, 5 pm
Attend in Person or on Zoom

Artist Mary Mattingly will discuss art-making as vocation, with a focus on co-creating regenerative public art. She will also talk in depth about specific projects, including building the floating food forest Swale and the absurdity of bundling her possessions for performances.

Mattingly’s work is on display in the MOCRA exhibition, “To See This Place: Awakening to Our Common Home.”

More info and Zoom registration available at: slu.edu/mocra/events

*****

Mary Mattingly (b. 1978) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores ecological relationships through sculptural ecosystems, performative installations, and research-based collaborations. Rooted in a deep inquiry into urban ecology and interdependence, her work addresses urgent issues around water, food systems, and climate adaptation. At the core of Mattingly’s practice is a belief in art as a form of investigation and a tool for imagining adaptive futures. Her installations often function both symbolically and practically: creating space for gathering, co-learning, and reflecting on systems of resource extraction and ecological resilience. 

1: Mary Mattingly, Rhythmic Time (detail), 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Robert Mann Gallery. 
2: Mary Mattingly. Photo: JJ Tiziou.

*****
The Kristen Peterson Distinguished Lecture in Art and Art History is presented by the Art History Program of the Visual and Performing Arts Department at Saint Louis University with support from the Peterson Lecture Fund.

Additional financial support comes from the Regional Arts Commission.

10/04/2025

Each year on October 4, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi (1182–1226). Francis is regarded as the patron saint of Italy, animals, and ecology, and he is celebrated for his example of radical poverty and vision of “family” that encompassed all of creation.

2025 marks the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’s famous poem, “The Canticle of the Creatures,” which calls on the Sun, the Moon, The Wind, the Earth, and even Death to join as siblings to humanity in singing praises to the Divine Creator.

The phrase “Laudato Si’” (“Praise be to you”) recurs throughout the original Italian text. Pope Francis took this phrase as the title of his 2015 encyclical, “Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home,” a wake-up call addressing the global ecological crisis. “Laudato Si’” is the inspiration and touchstone for MOCRA’s current exhibition, “To See This Place: Awakening to Our Common Home.”

Today we’re taking a moment to be thankful for St. Francis, for Pope Francis, and to all who lead and inspire us by the example of their lives to do our part in caring for our shared home.

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Images:
Adrian Kellard, St. Francis screen, 1985. Latex on wood with hinges. Collection of Antonia Lasicki and William Devita.

Translation of Canticle of the Creatures: https://www.xavier.edu/jesuitresource/

10/02/2025

Today marks Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement in the Jewish calendar. Many practices are associated with this sacred day. Pauline Wengeroff (1833–1916) describes an Ashkenazi Jewish custom of women making candles for Yom Kippur:

“The women prepared for their work of candle-making by praying in Yiddish from the T’chines (Yiddish prayer books for women), weeping intensely. . . . While they passed the thread back and forth, my mother—in a voice filled with tears—spoke the names of family members who had died, recalling aloud their acts of kindness. A thread was added for each person she remembered, until the wick was good and thick. Then living members of the family were remembered for life—the dead and the living joined together in the Yom Kippur candle.”

Artist Tyler Rai adapted this custom for her work “Neshome Likht,” on display in the current MOCRA exhibition “To See This Place: Awakening to Our Common Home.” Rai creates her candles for ecological relatives and ancestors, inviting us to expand our conception of the relationships that bind us to one another.

Thus, we might mourn the places that nourished us and the plants and creatures that brought us delight, and commit ourselves anew to safeguarding our world for life.

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Tyler Rai
Neshome Likht For Ecological Relatives, 2023
Video projection, 8 minutes, 54 secondsCourtesy of the artistTyler Rai
Neshome Likht For Ecological Relatives, 2023
Driftwood, beeswax candles, copper fittingsCourtesy of the artistPhotos: Kevin Lowder

09/26/2025

Yesterday we had the privilege of watching the new work “genius loci,” choreographed by artist and co-created with Holly Seitz Marchant and her students in .vpa.dept Dance program. The performance took place across two sites, Spring Church and Park-Like.

The students had Zoom conversations with Tyler as they explored the two spaces and organically developed a movement vocabulary in these distinctive urban environments. Even the weather played a role, as rainfall a day before the performance transformed dry foliage into lush banks of green leaves and late-blooming flowers.

The performance was recorded by David Marchant. We’re eagerly awaiting the final edit and look forward to sharing it with you.

Thanks to the staff at for welcoming us into these remarkable sites, and thanks to for generous financial support of the project.