SALT LAKE CITY — When students of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School returned from spring break earlier this month, they were greeted by a new piece of artwork located on the brick wall between the playground and gym doors.
The artwork, and image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, was designed and crafted by J.C. De Astis, the school’s vice principal, and donated by his family in honor of the school’s Class of 2020.
De Astis has two daughters who graduated from Our Lady of Lourdes. In addition to his job as vice principal, he teaches world cultures and is the school’s languages/information digital technology instructor.
He began his teaching career at Kearns-St. Ann Catholic School; before that he designed and created high-end furniture.
Traditionally, the Our Lady of Lourdes 8th-grade class, upon graduation, donates a gift to the campus. Last year during the lockdown due to COVID 19 the youngest, Serena, asked him if they could do something to remember what happened during the pandemic. The suggestion inspired him to design and create the Our Lady of Guadalupe image with an inscription that reads, “To all that suffered.”
Our Lady of Guadalupe, who first appeared to St. Juan Diego in 1531 in Mexico, “has never left people alone,” De Astis said. “When we asked her to protect the Latino population in Salt Lake during the pandemic we were hoping that that came to the school as well and would protect us all.”
The student population of Our Lady of Lourdes School is about 40 percent Latino, he added.
While creating the image, De Astis used materials already at hand. The rays surrounding Our Lady were made from the pallets that delivered the playground tiles.
“What I did was I took home a lot of wood that was removed and used to build the playground two summers ago instead of buying or ordering something, and started the designing and construction in our garage during the lockdown,” he explained.
De Astis hopes that the image will remind generations to come of the important things in life.
“Sometimes we forget about others, so we wanted this also be a reminder that we are all children of God, and Our Lady protects and cares for all,” he said. “The pandemic forced us to realize that the rush and crush, the ‘let’s make money and step on everybody,’ the ‘I am better than you are’ … it’s not really the point. The pandemic made us stop and reflect and have a moment to realize the amazing wildlife, and even the noise that the plants make when the cars stop, when airplanes stop,” he said, adding, “That was the message – we have to take care not only of each other but of our Mother Earth, too.”
Our Lady of Lourdes Principal Christine Bergquist said the image De Astis created of Our Lady of Guadalupe is “a piece that honors our school community.”
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