William Schickel (1919July 14, 2009) was an American
spiritual artist and
liturgical architect.
His stained glass, painting, sculpture, furniture, and building design is characterized by
neo-Thomism and
modern
Modern may refer to:
History
* Modern history
** Early Modern period
** Late Modern period
*** 18th century
*** 19th century
*** 20th century
** Contemporary history
* Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century
Phil ...
ism and is influenced by the writings of
Jacques Maritain
Jacques Maritain (; 18 November 1882 – 28 April 1973) was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised Protestant, he was agnostic before converting to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive Thomas Aquinas fo ...
.
Biography
Schickel was born in 1919 in
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...
, the grandson of German-American architect
J. William Schickel
J. William Schickel, FAIA, (1850–1907) known professionally as William Schickel, was a German-American architect and founder of the New York architectural firm of Schickel & Ditmars.
Life and practice
Schickel was born January 29, 1850, in Wi ...
,
and grew up in
Ithaca, New York
Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...
.
As a student at the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
, he studied under the philosopher
Yves Simon and the stained-glass artist
Emil Frei, Jr., whose daughter Mary he would soon marry. He graduated from Notre Dame in 1944.
The Schickels moved to
Loveland, Ohio
Loveland is a city in Hamilton, Clermont, and Warren counties in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. Considered part of the Greater Cincinnati area, Loveland is located near exit 52 off Interstate 275, about northeast of the Cinc ...
, so that Mary could be close to Grailville, the national headquarters of the
Grail movement of which she was a member. William Schickel established a design studio there in 1948. The Schickels had five sons and six daughters, including Iowa politician and broadcast executive
Bill Schickel
Bill Schickel is an Iowa broadcast executive. A former Iowa State Representative, he represented the 13th District for three terms. He was elected to his fourth term as the mayor of Mason City, Iowa on November 7, 2017. He is the former the co ...
.
In 1952, William Schickel was diagnosed with
lymphoma
Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...
, which went into remission after a pilgrimage to
St. Charles, Missouri
Saint Charles (commonly abbreviated St. Charles) is a city in, and the county seat of, St. Charles County, Missouri, United States. The population was 65,794 at the 2010 census, making St. Charles the ninth-largest city in Missouri. Situated on t ...
.
On July 14, 2009, Schickel died in Loveland of complications from
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
. The William Schickel Gallery in Loveland has continued to display his works.
Notable works
Over his more than 60-year career, Schickel was involved in the design or renovation of many liturgical structures. One of his earliest works was the 1962 conversion of a 1813 barn in Loveland into the Grailville Oratory. He won an
Architects Society of Ohio award for the 1960s renovation of the
Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, the oldest Trappist abbey in the United States, in which the
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
vaulting was replaced by a minimalist design in keeping with
Second Vatican Council
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...
reforms.
His other liturgical commissions include Bellarmine Chapel at
Xavier University
Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 studen ...
in Cincinnati and the Shrine of St.
Rose Philippine Duchesne
Rose Philippine Duchesne, RCSJ (August 29, 1769 – November 18, 1852), was a French religious sister and educator whom Pope John Paul II canonized in 1988. She is the only fully canonized female Roman Catholic saint to share a feast day with t ...
in St. Charles, Missouri, an early example of a church
in the round.
Schickel's secular works include the Rotunda of Creation at the
Mercy Centers for Health and Wellness in
Anderson Township and
Fairfield, Ohio,
and the Kane County Correctional Complex in
Aurora, Illinois
Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area located partially in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage, Kane County, Illinois, Kane, Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall, and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Locat ...
.
References
Further reading
*
External links
William Schickel Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schickel, William
1919 births
2009 deaths
Architects from Cincinnati
Architects of Roman Catholic churches
Artists from Cincinnati
Artists from Ithaca, New York
Artists from Stamford, Connecticut
Catholic painters
Catholic sculptors
Catholics from Ohio
Deaths from pneumonia in Ohio
Modernist architects from the United States
People from Loveland, Ohio
University of Notre Dame alumni