There is a sense of rightness here,

tangible in this place.  Once inside

the great oak doors, one enters a space

of simplicity and clarity, quietness

and peace.  Without artifice, the stucco

walls, hushed grey-golds, natural oak, and translucent off-white windows, are quietly

serene.

 

This is a welcoming space, a place of

hospitality.  Slatted oak screens provide transparency; a feeling of discovery and

pleasure is felt as one is led beyond,

into the main liturgical space.

¨ Dominican Chapel of the Plains

¨ Rosary Shrine

¨ Retreat Centers

Upon entering the central space, one

senses a place of gathering, a place of waiting, whose completeness comes in the presence of community.  Here, around an altar of weathered wood, a community of three hundred persons can gather.

 

All is natural here — clay floor, handblown glass, stoneware vessels, black iron, flicking wall candles, reminding the community of the deep needs of the world.

 

Giving thrust and character to the entire space, a liturgical tapestry, twenty-three and a half feet in length, one of seven seasonal tapestries arising from scriptural texts, is positioned next to the tabernacle.  In the glory of color and stitchery, it is season made immediate.  Now, and here.

Elusively, throughout, there is the clarity

and presence of light.  During the daytime,

an indefinable aqua light dapples the space, becoming a deepened hush at dusk and at dawn.  From the tall stained-glass windows, the Dominican saints of old lend dimension

to the sacred space.

 

In daylight, evening, or nighttime, with

use of the focal lighting system, each

object in the sanctuary steps out into a

clear and beautiful white light.  Spaces

can be lit in various ways so that creative liturgical and paraliturgical events might occur.

 

Sun and shadow, dapple and dusk, grey-green and gold.  A place symbolic of, and

evocative of, the Plains.

Past oak-screen, tabernacle, and tapestry is a walkway to the Meditation Chapel.  Here greyed gold gives way to a place of near-whites, natural oak, and living greenery.  A spiritual space, with intimacy.

 

One portion of the ceiling soars to twenty-two feet, while another is low over a sitting deck, a place conducive to extended personal prayer.

 

Carpeted levels, which match chair proportions, large cushions, and pillows provide multiple seating modes.

A single candle burns beside the tabernacle.

Dominican Chapel of the Plains is a

new space, born of the old, rich with presence and memory.  Contemporary now, so that it might call forth the community

of persons who gather around its altar,

unto commitment and faith.  It is a

place of meeting, and being met; of

coming to, and going forth.

 

A place in which to encounter our God.

Original chapel at right.

Design of chapel and interior furnishings/INAI Studio, Adrian Michigan; Architect/Linnea B. Searls, Great Bend Kansas; Lighting design/Gary Steffy Lighting Design, Ann Arbor Michigan; Contractor/Alvin Schneider Construction Co., Hoisington Kansas; Tapestry design and fabrication/INAI Studio; Handstitching of tapestries and fabric appointments/Dominican Sisters, Great Bend Kansas; Stoneware vessels/Celeste Bourke OP, Chicago Illinois; Processional Crucifix/Helena Steffens-meier SSSF, Milwaukee Wisconsin.

Text ~ INAI Studio, 

Adrian Michigan

 

Photography ~ Tom Treuter, Birmingham Michigan

 

Dominican Chapel

of the Plains

 

Gold Medal recipient in the Cultural/Religious facilities category, and Best of Competition

in the 1983 IBD (Institute of Business Designers)/Interior Design Annual Awards for contract design.