One of the only Catholic universities dedicated to the creative arts just doubled the size of its campus in an exciting milestone.
It’s time for Catholics to reclaim their heritage as leaders in the creative arts — and that’s exactly the mission of a very special university in California.
John Paul the Great Catholic University in Escondido, California, was founded to bring a Catholic perspective to media and creative arts.
“The creative arts were something that the Church totally dominated in the Middle Ages [and] the Renaissance,” the university’s founding president, Derry Connolly, Ph.D., said in an interview last fall. But today? “It’s not very clear that the Church has any great influence on the arts.”
John Paul the Great Catholic University — often known as JPCatholic — is on a mission to change that.
Since 2003, the university has sought to prepare entrepreneurs and experts in communications media and the creative arts to evangelize the culture. To quote the Newman Guide, “In a world lacking both truth and beauty, John Paul the Great Catholic University serves an important niche by forming graduates who are prepared to ‘impact culture for Christ.’”
But with limited space, the fledgling university needed room to bring to fruition all the creative dreams of students and faculty. The completion of a new project this summer will make possible a more robust and expansive experience.
Doubling the campus size
A new Creative Arts Complex in downtown Escondido will more than double the university’s academic footprint — and the $8 million project represents a significant investment in the university's ongoing work of revitalizing the town. To that end, the complex, former home of Johnson Furniture and Sears Roebuck, will host community events, outdoor performances, and other events open to the community.
But more than that, the newly renovated 30,620-square-foot facility will bring all kinds of new opportunities for the university, offering a dedicated space for creative projects like filmmaking, animation, game development, design, illustration, and music.
The new Creative Arts Complex received its official dedication and blessing on Saturday, June 13, as some 300 students, alumni, faculty, staff, and other community members gathered to celebrate. It was a major milestone for the growing university.
“When JPCatholic began, we had a vision of creating a university where faith and creativity could flourish together,” Connolly said in his remarks. “Today, that vision takes a significant step forward. This Creative Arts Complex will provide our students with the space, tools, and community they need to pursue excellence in their craft while remaining grounded in their faith and in preparation for their mission to Impact Culture for Christ.”
"The soul needs art"
Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco blessed and dedicated the new complex and spoke to those gathered, saying:
I applaud you for bringing the arts back to the center of education. There’s been a real sort of … dismissal of the importance of the arts and of the humanities, in the overly pragmatic age in which we are living.
But the human soul needs the arts. As your patron saint John Paul the Great said in his Letter to Artists, society needs artists as much as it needs scientists, technicians, workers, business professionals, teachers…
[A Catholic culture of the arts and especially of the sacred life] forms the soul. It makes the soul capable of seeing God and knowing God and sharing God’s love with others.
With its new complex, JPCatholic isn't just doubling its square footage. It's multiplying its impact and taking a big step toward reclaiming the Catholic artist’s heritage as a cultural leader.
