Painting love and gratitude

My mother, my grandmother, my aunt, my friend.

These honored ones, whose names were part of an art project, were some of those remembered in the painting on wooden blocks. The painters gathered on Feb. 1 in the Conference Room of the Loretto Motherhouse, where members and friends of the West End Women’s Collaborative (WEWC) directed the activity.

Mariel Gardner of WEWC introduced the activity by reading from Alice Walker’s “In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens.” Several tables of WEWC participants and Loretto members and friends painted on the blocks that became adorned with names of influential women in participants’ lives.

The colorful blocks with their messages, symbols and names will hang in the Peace Labyrinth at the WEWC’s ELA house in Louisville. ELA has (at least) two meanings: the initials of a founding member and Energy, Light and Art. The Peace Labyrinth at the site uses over 450 bricks for the path, and the bricks are painted with inspiring words of peace and love. The newly-painted wooden blocks will become part of that space.

The WEWC website explains that the center provides healing art, empowering workshops and meaningful connections. It is a welcoming center for women in the area who want to connect with others for friendship and community building.

The WEWC also connects with Loretto — for example, through meeting at Loretto with former U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), watching the movie “Origin,” welcoming Loretto members to the meeting house in Louisville and most recently painting blocks at the Motherhouse for the Peace Labyrinth.

This splendid connection between Loretto and our friends in Louisville will surely develop into an enduring and treasured friendship.