The Legacy Tree, a bronze sculpture by the renowned Italian artist Master Albano Poli, was presented by the Class of 1972 to St. Mary’s Dominican High School at the Alumnae Homecoming in May. The artist, born in Verona in 1935, created bronze sculptures, stained glass, and murals all over the world, including the Vatican – www.poliartesacra.com/en

Rich in Dominican symbolism, class members envision the Legacy Tree teaching generations about Dominican’s roots and its legacy. They shared the story about the Legacy Tree at homecoming and Academic Honor Day. In planning their 50th reunion, the Class of ’72 wanted something meaningful. After brainstorming several ideas, they focused on what symbolically meant so much to them after they graduated – the class ring.

Years ago, Barbara Cole ‘72 met Poli on a visit to Verona with her parish choir. “He had sculptured the corpus for our local parish,” she recalled. “What I did not know was that he was a master artist in the history of Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Raphael for the Vatican. This 80-year-old artist’s creations are all over the world and created in his Renaissance style studio. He was an artistic time traveler. I knew the minute I stepped foot in his studio I was on Holy Ground.”

Classmate Kathy Pastorek said the initial idea was for a processional piece that could be used each year for the seniors’ ring ceremony. The challenge was how to bring meaning of the ring’s calling to serve. The design process transformed into the Legacy Tree sculpture, “enjoyed 365 days a year instead of one, with the ring still being the focus. It offers symbolism of our heritage and growth at Dominican.”

Last fall, Barbara, Kathy, and classmate Debbie Horn Caluda visited Poli’s Verona studio to see the clay prototype. At Dominican there were meetings on campus with President Dr. Cynthia A. Thomas and class members, who also met via Zoom with Maestro Poli and his staff. Twice the artist sent his family to Dominican for research. There were also meetings with students and faculty.

“The Dominican Legacy Tree mirrors the Live Oak, a prominent part of the New Orleans area landscape,” noted Kathy. “The sculpture’s tree roots are etched with the names of the seven Irish Dominican nuns – Mother Mary John Flanagan, Mother Mary Magdalen O’Farrell, Sister Mary Hyacinth McQuillan, Sister Mary Brigid Smith, Sister Mary Osanna Cahill, Sister Mary Xavier Gaynor, and Sister Mary Ursula O’Reilly who in 1860 traveled from Cabra, Dublin in Ireland to New Orleans, where they educated students.

“The other three roots are etched with the three locations where Dominican was based: 

Dryades Street, St. Charles Avenue, and Walmsley Avenue. The tree trunk is etched with familiar school phrases: A Toast of Praise, Saints and Sages, Alma Mater, Home of Learning, Veritas, Known for Loyalty, Steeped in Tradition, Serve to Others, Academic Excellence. From the trunk of tradition emerges four female hands, representing the generations of grandmother, mother, daughter, and granddaughter, continuing the Dominican Legacy of receiving the Senior class ring – one of the most exciting events of the senior year before we set out to make a difference in the world. The tree branches with golden leaves represent generations of past, present, and future students.”

Barbara noted, “What you see before you is years of planning, prayer and hope that our class might leave to your classes a connection of what we each carry to the world, where Veritas never wanders and what we have been given in these halls by faculty and staff – by Saints and Sages. We stand on the same shoulders – you, me, and our classmates. We reflect the same profile of a graduate. We seek Veritas.”