The Art of Joy: Extraordinary Exhibit Coming to Texas Lutheran University’s Schuech Fine Arts Center This Fall

Imagine art providing a breathing space all around the Texas Lutheran University campus. To alums John and Joni Sager, who graduated the university in 1979 and 1980, that vision would mean art not confined to the Annetta Kraushaar Gallery in the Schuech Fine Arts Center-but rather spread all over campus, everywhere you look. And every time you encountered a work of art in any given location, you would have the opportunity to pause, to look, to ponder. To breathe deeply.

It is that vision that inspired the Sagers to plan a legacy donation to TLU, to include their extensive art collection as well as an endowment for art education at the university. And the TLU community, as well as the community-at-large, are invited to get a glimpse of the collection this fall, when TLU hosts The Art of Joy, an exhibit featuring the works of forty-five artists from the Sagers' collection. It's their way of saying thank you to TLU for the start of their own joy-filled success in life.

After graduating in 1979, John Sager went on to a thirty-seven-year career as a preparator for the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin, and to become a celebrated artist in his own right, whose work has graced galleries all over the state and the world. Joni, following a thirty-seven-year career as an editor and communications manager for the State of Texas, now works as PR director and IT support for John's art.

"Our Art of Joy exhibit truly has something that will appeal to everyone-from John's and other artists' spiritually themed art to intriguing abstract metal sculptures and drawings to charming representational paintings to glorious photographs and prints," says Joni. "What unifies our collection is the joy the artwork and our friendships with the artists has given us."

The community is invited to share in that joy when the exhibit kicks off with an opening reception on September 11, from 3 to 5 p.m., where there will be refreshments as well as an opportunity to hear remarks from TLU President Dr. Debbie Cottrell and to visit with the Sagers. During the opening, the Sagers will present a gift to the university: John's "To Hope" collage. The exhibit will remain on display through November 21, and is free and open to the public.