The Colorado Dominican Vocation Foundation (CDVF) is a non-profit tax exempt organization established to provide spiritual and financial support for the novices(first year of formation as Dominican friars) living at the Dominican Novitiate in Denver, Colorado. The CDVF shares in the Dominican mission of preaching, theological education and the promotion of justice and peace. Its primary aim is to promote, encourage, and support the formation program in Denver, and to help ensure that a new generation of preachers will be ready to serve people in the Church and the wider society for many years to come.
The fundraising goal of the CDVF is to contibute to the costs of the novitiate and to establish an endowment for the future. CDVF is an all-volunteer organization that raises funds through two major programs:
- Fra Angelico Celebration of Art & Spirituality (Windows to the Divine). The next art show will be held Sunday, November 4th, 2007, at 6:30 p.m. in the Donald Seawell Ballroom at the Denver Center for Performing Arts.
- Preachers and Partners.
The CDVF celebrates the legacy of Fra Angelico, the patron of artists and a member of the Order of Preachers, the Dominicans, in the early fifteenth century, by hosting the Fra Angelico Celebration of Art & Spirituality. The focus of this unique Celebration is the "Windows to the Divine" Art Exhibition and Sale which is held every other year in November in Denver. Over 120 works of art by local, regional, and national artists are displayed along with a personal statement from the artist about the connection for him/her between art and spirituality. Many different visual media are included in the exhibition ranging from bronze, metal and ceramic sculptures to acrylic, oil, and pastel paintings to textiles and photography. Many spiritual paths are represented.
In addition to raising funds through art for the novitiate, the Fra Angelico Celebration promotes the vocation of the friar and the artist and invites people of different faiths to acknowledge and articulate the close unity between art and spirituality. By sponsoring "Windows to the Divine," the CDVF hopes to inspire all people to reflect upon the connections between art, especially the visual arts, and the broader spiritual journey of individuals, communities and cultures.
Here are galleries of pictures from past shows.