Salve Regina University

Christine Bagley wins best in show for her quilt, “Ice Points.”

 

Christine Bagley is Salve Regina’s resident expert on all things quilting. 

 

Christine Bagley takes home the first-place blue ribbon for her quilt, “Ice Points.”

So impressed were judges by Christine Bagley’s quilt, “Ice Points,” her rendition of a painting by American pop-artist James Rosenquist, that Bagley won best in show at Spring Bull Gallery’s 20th annual Fakes and Forgeries exhibit Feb. 5-29 in Newport. 

 

Librarian and coordinator of the Janet L. Robinson Curriculum Resource Center by day and award-winning quilter by night, Bagley stole the show at the exhibit, which brings together area artists who enter reproductions of works from the Renaissance to the modern day in various two- and three-dimensional mediums. 

 

“Artists are invited to submit serious copies or tongue-in-cheek humorous interpretations of a master’s works,” reads a Spring Bull Gallery news release on the exhibit. “It’s a great opportunity for the artists to learn from the masters and gives the public a chance to enjoy and own an ‘almost’ masterpiece.”

 

Bagley, who received a Mission Grant in 2011 to purchase two sewing machines for students to use, says creating “Ice Points” was a personal challenge – something she enjoyed doing to push herself in new directions. “For over 10 years I have been entering the fabulous fakes show at the Spring Bull Gallery because it forces me to study renowned artists and copy their style,” Bagley says.

 

Rosenquist’s painting, “Ice Points,” piqued Bagley’s curiosity from the moment she first saw it. “I learned a lot about his work before I copied this 1983 work he created for the Olympic Games in Sarajevo,” Bagley explains. “It took over 40 hours of actual work and weeks of thinking and planning.”

 

Salve Regina’s resident expert on all things quilting, Bagley has compiled a list of books, online resources, films and YouTube videos that teach all the basics. She also has a small list of faculty and staff who are willing to be contacted for assistance with a project. Both lists are packed with the machines, along with scissors, thread, bobbins, and more, and Bagley invites students to take advantage of the sewing machines available to them.

 

Bagley teaches quilting classes on weekends at Folk Art Quilts in Wakefield, R.I., and is also sought after as a lecturer by quilt guilds throughout New England. “Teaching and sharing skills is also a big part of my life; the same skills I bring to work every day as a librarian in a university setting,” Bagley adds. 

 

Brian Shanley ’10 (M) 

Brian Shanley ’10 (M), associate director of admissions, had his essay, “Wally and David,” aired on the Rhode Island Public Radio series, “This I Believe,” Dec. 26, 2012. The essay, originally published in The Providence Journal, discusses the bullying experienced by two gay men with whom Shanley attended high school. 

 

RI PBS airs essay on bullying by Brian Shanley ’10 (M) on “This I Believe.”

In the 1970s in my high school, Wally and David were both unique young men, excellent students, actively involved with our school, funny and sincerely well liked. And gay. 

 

Wally was our class president; David, as well-rounded as they come. Wally was prone to laughing before finishing his own joke, with a beyond-his-years vocabulary that left me nodding fraudulently as if I knew what he was talking about. David was a Ralph Lauren model in waiting. An accomplished swimmer and national honor society member, he was the envy of all of us cookie-cutter guys because he was always surrounded by girls, and with good reason, for he was kind, compassionate and a great listener. He played two sports, shared our locker rooms, and was nothing but a competitive, supportive teammate. I never remember a cruel word from either him or Wally. They played fair.

 

I didn’t. In my circle of friends we all had nicknames, some funny, others not so much. Wally’s was “Wally the Q” and David’s was “Gayvid.” Clever young men, weren’t we? I can honestly say we meant no harm. We liked them. We hung out with them. But words matter. They always do. 

 

I believe David and Wally survived high school because of who they were. Both continued on with successful academic and social lives. And both died of AIDS when it was an even lonelier, more stigmatized death. David died in Florida in the sweet care of his sisters. Wally’s remains are buriedin a Pawtucket cemetery under the inscription: “Adored for his kindness and wit.” 

 

I believe high school in the 70s was tough, but I believe it’s worse today. I can only imagine the force generated by the speed, pervasiveness, and anonymity of today’s social media tools, or should I say – weapons. Lucky kids: the cold shadow of high school loneliness can now follow them right into their own bedrooms.

 

In the 1970s, I was a young, ill-informed, insensitive, and probably a little scared high-schooler doing my personal best to dodge the boy-pack that roamed both the halls of my school and the inside of my head. Wally and David deserved better fates. You would have liked them. They truly were some of God’s better gifts. I believe the pain caused by hurting another often finds a home in our own hearts – payback, if not justice. I am still haunted by the way I treated the innocent … I believe – no, I know – words matter. Choose carefully. –Brian Shanley ’10 (M)

 

Tekle Mariam Samuel ’96 (M) 

 

Tekle Mariam Samuel ’96 (M) may make his home in Ethiopia, but Salve Regina is still close to his heart. Working in Addis Ababa as director of social communication and public relations for Ethiopia’s Episcopal Conference of Catholic Bishops, Samuel wrote this poem in praise of his alma mater:

 

Oh Salve, my Salve!

In my memory, 

Oh, what a time 

I had as your student.

Missing you, you are mine,

Learning to define

What really is lasting!

You discovered me, my Salve

Inwardly with you, and I pray, as I climb

Long stairs in another world, to be your prudent

Careful, and wise, mining the reflection goldmine

You disclosed to me on Cliff Walk, 

feasting or fasting.

Salve, yes, you have helped me to rise and stand!

–    Tekle Mariam Samuel ’96 (M)

      Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, East Africa

      2013