by Dennis Dalman
Almost five years ago, just before the Covid-19 pandemic began rearing its nasty head, Mary Bruno of St. Joseph took on a challenge of creating a most unusual artwork – a letterpress-printed 36-foot-long scroll.
That scroll project became a year-long labor of love for Bruno and her collaborators. Mary Bruno is owner-operator of Bruno Press in St. Joseph.
That scroll will be exhibited for the public to see starting Thursday, Oct. 17, with an opening reception on that day featuring the artist, Bruno, from 5-7 p.m. in the Escher Auditorium the College of St. Benedict Performing Arts Center. It will be on exhibit there from 8 a.m.-9 p.m. until the first week of December.
The scroll includes 90 pages of text from “The Rule of Saint Benedict” and 20 illustrations carved in linoleum printing blocks by Bruno, then printed on paper and hand-painted in watercolors.
Conception
The idea for the scroll was suggested to Bruno by Richard Bresnahan, a renowned potter, an artist-in-residence at St. John’s University and director of St. John’s Pottery. In 2020, he was working on plans to create a time-capsule of hundreds of items to be placed inside a large sculpture. He asked Bruno if she’d be interested in creating a letterpress-printed scroll with text from “The Rule of Saint Benedict.” Written in Latin circa 530 A.D. by St. Benedict of Nursia, “The Rule” was a book of precepts for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. One of its major themes is how to combine faith, prayer and work in monastic life.
Bruno loved the idea of such a scroll, but at the same time knew all too well what a time-consuming challenge it would present. Nevertheless, she said yes.
“I couldn’t help but feel the weight of this project,” she said. “But it felt right, and I was up for the challenge.”
Bresnahan and she both agreed the scroll project should honor much-neglected women throughout history.
“It was important to Richard and I that this scroll be created by a woman and about women,” Bruno told the Newsleaders. “Historically, women have been under-represented in religious texts, both in creation and in content. I have always admired the Sister of St. Benedict’s work ethic, community activism and kindness.”
Hard work begins
Bruno decided to roll up her sleeves and get to work. She did fundraising projects to finance the job. Then she met with two Benedictine Sisters (Sr. Katherine Howard, Sr. Michaela Hedican) to learn more about “The Rule of Saint Benedict” and its importance to their lives. She also had conversations with many others at the St. Benedict Monastery.
Next Bruno spent many hours, with assistants, at the SJU Hill Museum and Manuscript Library. There she examined ancient and medieval manuscripts and scrolls for their designs, types of imagery and historical contexts. She also pondered “The Saint John’s Bible,” a much heralded hand-written Bible commissioned by SJU and created by master scribes/artists about 25 years ago.
“Those studies gave me context and direction,” Bruno recalled.
After more research and planning, Bruno began the long creative process, with the help of four assistants.
Creative solutions
After more research she decided to rely upon “Palmer Plates” for the printing blocks (hard-plastic type instead of lead type). Each of the 90 pages has its own plate that was fitted into Bruno’s printing press.
Bruno also began to carve her illustrations on linoleum print blocks – images of local fauna and flora and images depicting Benedictine Sisters at work – dying fabric, making candles, singing in a choir. Those artwork illustration blocks were then placed one at a time on
Bruno’s press, inked and printed on paper.
Finally, after about one year of work on the scroll project, as well as ongoing projects of her own, the text pages and illustration pages were all printed. They were then ready to be attached, to be affixed one by one to the 36-foot-long scroll of Thai(land) mulberry paper, which is very thin but very strong.
And then one fine day, the labor of love was completed. A cabinet/carrier for the scroll was made by a St. John’s Abbey woodworking team. All who saw the scroll agreed it should be seen by many over the years rather than be locked in the dark of a sculpture time capsule.
Viewings
One of its first viewings took place at a Benedictine worldwide conference at Cullman in north Alabama after Bruno packed the scroll in its cabinet and drove it to the conference. Before Bruno began her project, she had raised some money from a monastery in that area of Alabama.
“The Sisters there were really moved when they saw it,” Bruno recalled. “Many others there were moved too.”
An intrepid traveler, Bruno has driven the scroll to many places for viewings, including one in the Sacred Heart Chapel at the St. Benedict Monastery some time ago.
“I intend to keep finding places to exhibit the scroll,” Bruno said. “Places like churches, monasteries and colleges.”
She is very pleased that her long labor of love brings honor and respect to the “Rule of Saint Benedict” and to the hard-working, empathic kindness of the Sisters of St. Benedict in central Minnesota and elsewhere.
Mary Bruno takes a coffee break at her business, Bruno Press.
This is the title page of “The Rule of Saint Benedict” scroll created by artist and printer, Mary Bruno of St. Joseph.
This shows two pages toward the beginning of the “Rule of St. Benedict” scroll.
