The theme of this show in celebration of Founder's Day 2022, "The Care of Our Common Home, Earth," focuses our attention on the environment. In order to be deeply concerned with the earth's care, we need to be sensitively aware of its presence and beauty. That naturally leads us to care for our common home, or Laudato Si'. This name for the encyclical is Umbrian, St. Francis' spoken dialect and is taken from Francis' Canticle of the Sun.

Pope Francis appealed to every person in his encyclical entitled "Laudato Si'," issued in the Spring of 2015, about how our activity as humans is shaping the very future of the planet. "The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change."

I asked students in my Digital Photography classes in the spring of 2022 and Summer 2022 to photograph in the natural world with an eye to being sensitive to the presence of light and shadow, and to consider the design of the visual elements in the frame when deciding what to photograph. The photographs in this series all share the spirit of Laudato Si'.

Creation is precious, creation is delicate. We must appreciate and protect it with sensitivity. In these photographs, students opened their hearts and spirit to our common home and discovered much beauty. These images serve as a powerful reminder to become caretakers of this delicate and beautiful "Mother Earth."

--- Prof. Jerome Nevins