The late Sister Jeanne Knoerle’s familiar smile is now a fixed feature of the building bearing her name.
A bronze bust sculpture of Knoerle, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College’s beloved 12th president, a Sister of Providence and a 1949 graduate was unveiled during a dedication ceremony in June 2017. Weighing 35 pounds and approximately 24 inches tall, the work of art by noted sculptor Jerry McKenna is now prominently displayed just outside the entrance of Hamilton Arena (the gym), inside the Jeanne Knoerle Sports and Recreation Center, ready to welcome students, faculty, staff and visitors.
The sculpture is a gift to the College by McKenna and his wife, Gail Thomas McKenna, a 1963 SMWC graduate.
in the Jeanne Knoerle Sports and Recreation Center.
McKenna designed it in his studio in San Antonio, Texas. He said it took about three to four weeks to finish before sending it to the foundry for casting, a process which took a few months. A lieutenant colonel of the U.S. Air Force turned sculptor, McKenna has created 240 sculptures of military leaders, religious figures and sports stars — including Saint Mother Theodore Guerin — across the U.S., Japan, Germany, England, Ireland, Nepal and Norway.
The pedestal holding the bronze — which matches the wood of the Knoerle Center — was a gift from McKenna’s college friend, Tim Monahan and his wife, Joan. Monahan’s mom, Mary Cunningham Monahan was an alumna of the class of 1933.
President Dottie King said the sculpture was placed in the Ariens Atrium near the gym’s entrance because it was a place where it would get the most notice. The sculpture not only brings to the College a work of art by a notable artist but also a remembrance of important people at the College who invested in it and its students, she said. It is a reminder of the legacy inherited by the current students, faculty, staff and alumni at The Woods.
“Jeanne will help us remember that [legacy],” she said.