Pages 1-8 NEW - Holy Family Catholic High School

Spring2009Convocation CircleZeller left Holy Family that day with afeeling that everything was, indeed, comingtogether. Her encounters with students doingengineering projects in class (Zeller worked inengineering prior to devoting herself to herart) and the school’s fire nickname(coincidentally connecting her currentwork on “The Flame”), as well asher intense emotional responseto participating in dailyConvocation, led her tobelieve she was meantto work onthis project.She immediately began her research on St. John Baptistde La Salle and created her first sketches of the patronsaint. Her concept of him standing with two students,guiding and preparing them for the world, came to heralmost immediately. Laura Woods, who designed thecenter circle brickwork and landscaping, had envisioneda 4-foot statue. But at the urging of Wes Jones from thefoundry, Zeller began to rethink things on agrander scale. She had only once before created a lifesizefigure and was hesitant to take on such a largeproject. However, just like the students at the podiumwhen she visited the school, she found her strength fromthe Holy Family students themselves. In rememberingthose powerful moments, she realized it was only fittingthat the grouping be portrayed standing at the podiumas she had seen them do in Convocation that day.Deb Zeller describes her experience with Holy Familyand this project as “life-changing. It’s the best thing thatever happened to me! It pushed me out of my comfortzone and led me to this wonderful community.”Convocation could not be a more fitting theme for theartful masterpiece that will be installed in the CenterCircle Drive on May 8, 2009. It is a powerful statementof the identity of our school. It is the hallmark of a HolyFamily education. But more than that, this project—likeConvocation—is a true coming together of the spirit ofour students, our Lasallian affiliation and the incredibletalents of our local community. In addition to Deb Zeller,several local artists and residents have participated inthis project.By The Woods owner and master designer,Laura Woods, lives just across the highway from HolyFamily here in Victoria. Her careful and creative designincluded moving the large pine tree, which satprominently in the middle of the circle drive. The treewas carefully uprooted from the center circle andreplanted closer to the building to make way for thechalice-shaped brick path and base for Zeller’s“Convocation” sculpture. Without her keen eye todesign, this project would literally have no foundation.