The Bridge Project

As part of building Santa Maria de la Vid Priory, we Norbertines of New Mexico are undertaking an on-going project of bridging the gap between contemporary art and Christian spirituality. We simply call this project, The Bridge. We intend to build this bridge by bringing contemporary artists and the wealth of the Christian spiritual tradition together in an inspiring way in our Center for Spiritual Life.

Norbertines and Art

For over nine centuries, our Norbertine Abbeys in Europe have been cultural centers for the creative meeting of art and spirituality. As such, they are part of the much older Catholic tradition of fostering art as a basic sacramental expression of the human spirit. We see our Bridge Project as a concrete way for us to be creatively faithful to this rich Norbertine heritage.

Art and New Mexico

New Mexico is a mecca for gifted artists. However, many of these artists are never called upon to draw their artistic inspiration from the Bible and the riches of the Christian spiritual tradition. This situation reflects a serious gap that exists between creative artistic expression and the Christian spirit; a gap that impover­ishes both the culture and the Church. We believe that the best way in which we can help bridge this gap as a community is by entering into personal dialogue with talented artists and by engaging them in a specific creative project at our Center for Spiritual Life. We believe that the culture, the Church, our friends, and the people of this area will be spiritually enriched by such an effort.

Works of Art at the Priory

The priory is home to an extensive collection of artwork. Many pieces have been comissioned by the community over the years. The collection also holds fine examples of iconography, Native American and Hispanic artwork and contemporary works.

Photos and information coming soon!