A piece of art that will be introduced during Fall Fest was commissioned to mark 50 years of Bethel’s social work program.
The unveiling of “Veil of Voices” by Mexico City-based artist Rodrigo Cacho takes place Oct. 17 at 9 a.m. in the area between the Will Academic Center and Haury Hall, close to where the sculpture will be installed.
Bethel’s social work program celebrated 50 years at Fall Fest in 2024. The program graduated its first six accredited social workers in 1974, and has graduated more than 500 since then. Bethel’s program was one of the first in the state to be accredited.
As part of the celebration, social work alumnus and member of the Social Work Advisory Council Nadine Reimer Penner gave a gift intended to fund a piece of public art.
Jennifer Chappell Deckert, professor of social work, spoke about the reasons behind a “call for art” when she welcomed people to the anniversary celebration in October 2024.
The Bethel social work program, she said, is “held together by [seven] values” that parallel the college values: discipleship, scholarship, service, integrity, community, peace and social justice, and diversity.
“We teach these values and embody them in our various practice settings,” she said. “And when there is a violation of these values, we are also required to name the violation, recognize the harm that was caused, and do what we can to create repair.”
One sign of this commitment, she continued, would be “a piece of art that will be visible to everyone visiting campus. … We want this piece to represent healing and hope … for anyone who has been harmed by toxic power-based or colonized violence through the direct or indirect actions of our profession.”
Following the 2024 anniversary celebration, the call for art was extended throughout North America and internationally.
A committee of alumni, faculty, staff, students and administrators considered the proposals.
The committee consulted with others who brought the perspectives of historically under-represented groups (e.g., indigenous and people of color adopted into non-indigenous and white families, LGBTQ+ people, survivors of sexual abuse) on how the top proposals did or did not speak to their experiences.
Some of these consultants will be special guests at the Oct. 17 unveiling.
The committee ultimately chose Cacho’s proposal.
In Cacho’s words, the concept behind “Veil of Voices” is “a sculptural chorus of fragmented faces – mouths murmuring, ears listening, eyes watching – capturing the tension between language and silence, presence and absence.”
The sculpture will “rise like a great stone chorus,” its textured steel surface featuring abstracted facial expressions, that invite viewers “to engage from different perspectives – some voices speaking, some secrets held, some gazes meeting.
“Faces dissolve into fragments – half-seen, half-heard – stitched together in a patchwork of expression. A conversation cast in steel, it becomes a monument to language, to silence, to everything said and unsaid. It is a wall, but it does not divide. It is a mask, but it does not hide.
“Viewers become participants in the conversation, interpreting the unsaid and finding personal meaning in the layered expressions within the piece.”
Cacho and his team will be on campus to install “Veil of Voices” in the week before Fall Fest. The public is invited to the Oct. 17 unveiling. There will also be a social work reception as part of Fall Fest.
See more here.
Bethel is a four-year liberal arts college founded in 1887 and is the oldest Mennonite college in North America. Bethel was the only Kansas college or university selected for the American Association of College & Universities’ 2021 Institute on Truth, Community Healing and Transformation, and has been named a TCHT Campus Center. Visit the Bethel website for more information.
