Feb 26, 2026

“Via Creativa: Art as a Spiritual Practice” is on view at Divine Word College’s Weyland Art Gallery from February 27 through April 17. The exhibit featuring work by Catherine Quehl-Engel and Lori Erickson is free and open to the public.

A public reception will be held Friday, March 20, from 4 to 7 p.m. in the gallery.

Via Creativa--“the Creative Way”—is the third path in theologian Matthew Fox’s Creation Spirituality, emphasizing creativity as a spiritual practice and form of active meditation, a way of life Quehl-Engel and Erickson have fully embraced.

Erickson’s watercolor sketches and phenomenology wheels coupled with Quehl-Engel’s oil paintings offer a glimpse into a spiritual friendship between the artists who made a Marian pilgrimage through France in 2006, culminating at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes.

“It’s rather powerful that curator Erin LaBelle had no idea about the soulful ways we were already linked when she invited us to exhibit together. Very Spirit led!” said Quehl-Engel. She hopes the artwork serves as “a doorway to contemplative prayer for viewers.”

Lori Erickson, M.A. is an artist, Episcopal Deacon, workshop facilitator, speaker and one of America’s top travel writers specializing in spiritual journeys. She’s the author of Every Step is Home, The Soul of the Family Tree, Near the Exit, Holy Rover. Her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, National Geographic Traveler, and Better Homes & Gardens, among others. She’s also the creator the Spiritual Travels, a website featuring spiritual sites from around the world.

Catherine Quehl-Engel, D.Min., M.Div., M.A. is an Episcopal priest, mystic, artist and Chaplain Emerita at Cornell College. Her lifelong interweaving of art and religion led to doctoral research and a dissertation on the use of interior prayer of the heart for personal and communal healing, and for deepening awareness of our oneness with God.  Catherine offers spiritual guidance and mind-body-spirit practices through her business, Calm with Catherine.

The Weyland Art Gallery is located just inside the main entrance at Divine Word College, 102 Jacoby Drive SW in Epworth. The gallery is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, or by appointment.

For more information, contact Erin LaBelle at (563) 876-3353 or elabelle@dwci.edu