"I am so happy as an artist to have been invited several times to do
paintings for the home missions appeal. I love the work they do and am
both honored
and delighted to share in their ministry of supporting and celebrating
the rich diversity of our church."
~ Mickey
BROTHER MICKEY O’NEILL MCGRATH, Oblate of St. Francis de Sales, paints pictures and tells stories. In between the occasional layovers in his studio, Mickey keeps himself busy as a speaker and retreat director for audiences around the United States. He also creates art for many of today’s leading Catholic publishers including America Magazine and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, for whom he has designed posters for Catechetical Sunday, the Bishops’ Home Missions Appeal, and National Migration Week. His work and ministry have been featured in ST. ANTHONY MESSENGER, USA TODAY, and Catholic newspapers around the country.
Two recent developments in Mickey’s art ministry are the publication of his latest book, AT THE NAME OF JESUS, published in 2006 by World Library Publications; and his appointment as Artist-in-Residence for the school year 2006-7 at the Washington Theological Union.
In 2005, Mickey’s book BLESSED ART THOU (World Library Publications), a collection of paintings and essays about Mary, was honored with three awards from the Catholic Press Association. Also in 2005, 14 of Mickey’s paintings were published by Orbis Press in a book entitled WOMEN OF MERCY, a collaborative effort with KathyCoffey. He has illustrated and written a three-volume series on patron saints entitled PATRONS AND PROTECTORS (Liturgy Training Publications) and an art and meditation book, JOURNEY WITH THERESE OF LISIEUX. (Sheed and Ward).
The twenty-one original paintings found in BLESSED ART THOU were on an exhibition tour beginning at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, DC and going on to Dayton, Minneapolis, LosAngeles, and Chicago. They also inspired a concert event which was performed at the East Coast Religious Education Conference, Los Angeles Religious Ed Congress, NCEA and NPCD in Philadelphia, and NPM in Milwaukee, all in 2005.
Since 1987 Mickey has been a teacher and director at the Grunewald Guild, an ecumenical art community in Leavenworth, Washington. He has also found an audience dear to his heart among Catholic religious educators and has spoken at their conferences in Kansas, New England, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Joliet, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Wilmington, DE, and Washington, DC. Whatever the titles of his presentations and whatever type of audience, Mickey’s message, to quote St. Francis DeSales, is basically the same: “We pray best before beauty.”
Catalogues, cards, and prints of Mickey’s work are available at his website, www.beestill.com.
