At nearly 100-years-old, Sister Gerardine's love for making art persists

“You mean I’m on the internet?” asked Sister Gerardine Mueller O.P. with a laugh. “I’ll check it out someday.”

Sister Gerardine turns 100 on Sept. 16. And while the world tries to wrap its collective head around new digital art forms like non-fungible tokens (NFTs), Sister Gerardine continues to impress within more traditional art forms. Lately, she has been creating elegant hand-crafted Christmas cards every year.

Calligraphy, or “lettering,” as she prefers to call it, is her favorite artistic medium. You might not know it walking around the campus of Caldwell University, where her beautiful stained glass work, sculptures, woodcuts, mosaics, and murals are ubiquitous. There’s even an art gallery on campus named after her.

“I guess I became known for the stained glass work, and I did a lot of that,” Sister Gerardine told Jersey Catholic in a recent interview. “It’s not my favorite. My very favorite art expression is lettering. I love lettering. It’s very architectural. It has its rules. It has a wonderful history. The stem of the letter is from the Roman times.”

*A selection of Sister Gerardine Mueller O.P.’s Christmas cards. (Photo courtesy of Pushparaj Aitwal/Caldwell University)*

Sister Gerardine will be sending out 200 Christmas postcards this year, which she painstakingly creates. Materials include backing paper and gold or silver leaf. She prefers sending out postcards over traditional folding Christmas cards because she says, “the postal workers handling them receive a Christmas greeting as well.”

Sister Gerardine, beloved by her Dominican Sisters and former art students alike, said she is looking forward to celebrating her birthday with about 50 friends and family at Calandra’s Italian Village in Caldwell.

She began the art department at Caldwell University and spent 34 years in the classrooms before retiring in 1999.

“When I left it, there were 65 art majors, and it was going strong,” she said. “And it still is. It has developed tremendously.”

In recent years the honors and accolades have been pouring in. The Mueller Gallery was dedicated in 2017, and two years later, Sister Gerardine received the Father Victor Yanitelli, S.J., Award from SOAR (Supporting our Aging Religious). The award recognized her life’s devotion to sacred art, the training and mentoring of students of all ages in the arts, and her remarkable ability to bring out the best in each of the artists she has helped develop.

Some of her students went on to create excellent work. She counts Sister Donna L. Ciangio, O.P., chancellor of the Archdiocese of Newark, as one of her “prized students.” Another student became a top lettering artist and did work for the Vatican.

“I like the people, but I could forget the teaching,” Sister Gerardine admitted. “To me, it was a waste of my time, but I loved the students. They apparently got the most out of what I taught. They appreciate it and have gone on to become great artists themselves. Evidently, I was successful. But I would have preferred not to teach.”

Sister Gerardine said she always wanted her art to be religious.

“When I was a novice, I remember promising that I would only do religious work, which is foolish, but it turns out that most of it was,” she said. “I would say almost all my work is religious connected.”

These include wood carvings of the Last Supper, stained glass Stations of the Cross, and a statue of the Blessed Mother.

Sister Gerardine said she often prays while she creates her artwork.

A section of a glass mosaic entitled “Days of Creation,” by *Sister Gerardine Mueller O.P. (Photo courtesy of Pushparaj Aitwal/Caldwell University)*

“I think I’m in a world of my own when I’m lettering,” she said. “It’s personal, and sometimes I can stop and pray with it, but not always. It’s situational. I often thank God for the opportunity to do this. I thank him for bringing me to this point. I love my vocation. I love being a sister. I love my life dedicated to God.”

However, Sister Gerardine said she regretted entering the novitiate at such a young age – 18.

“Even though my parents permitted me to leave, if I were to do it over again, I would not have left so early,” she said. “I think young girls and boys should still be formed within their families. And their families need them. And I’m sorry to this day because I feel that I deprived them of my presence.”

Sister Gerardine was born in Newark. Her family belonged to Saint Ann’s Parish in that city before relocating to Maplewood and attending St. Joseph in Maplewood when it was a new parish. She was taught by Benedictine sisters in grade school there.

She had teaching assignments in Montclair and Jersey City before heading up the art department at Saint Dominic Academy in Jersey City and teaching there for nine years.

“The other thing I loved was sculpture,” Sister Gerardine said. “I loved carving wood. My favorite wood carving is in Jersey City at the Saint Dominic Academy. It’s the blessed Mother and Christ child. I would love to have it here in Caldwell, but they won’t part with it.”

She went on to Caldwell College after that.

To learn more about Sister Gerardine, visit the Dominican Institute for the Arts or Caldwell University’s website.

Featured image: Sister Gerardine Mueller O.P. creating art. (Photo courtesy of Pushparaj Aitwal/Caldwell University)