Founding Professor Calvin Seerveld Gifts Art Collection to Trinity
-Michael Vander Weele ’73
Calvin Seerveld has bequeathed to Trinity the collection of 80+ art works–including two stunning sculptures–that he and his wife, Inès, have collected or been given through the years. The collection includes art works acquired by the previous two generations of Inès’ family in Europe as well as works by contemporary artists whom Cal and Inès have encouraged. The official Opening will be held on February 6 at 5:00 p.m. A portion of the collection will be on display in the Seerveld Art Gallery for the rest of the month, after which many pieces will find a more permanent home around campus.
Friends of the College and former students count Professor Seerveld as the major influence on their own and Trinity’s formative years. He left an enduring legacy by helping design Trinity’s original curriculum, giving his early academic career to encouraging students to think Christianly about their culture and their academic disciplines, establishing social action seminars for students and community, and presenting many chapel meditations, later collected in Take Hold of God and Pull and For God’s Sake, Run with Joy. His books on aesthetics are still used by art and philosophy majors at Trinity and elsewhere.
This generous gift fits Cal’s demonstrated love for Trinity. Some years back I had the privilege of writing a short profile of Cal as one of the strong influences in my and others’ Christian education. The publishers wanted a title. I finally decided upon “The Showing Professor.” Part of that was the work he did beyond textbook and classroom, like going out to interview gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, hiring an atheist from the University of Chicago so students could learn the kind of dialogue that would require, helping set up the Patmos Art Gallery. A big part was just the way he was in the classroom, turning to the chalk board to make a point, his left heel off the ground, bits of chalk flying, in his enthusiasm for his subject and his students.
This art gift fits those interests. The works from the Seerveld collection were mostly gathered from the walls of their home. Cal’s deep interest is in showing the place art can have in the ordinary life of a Christian. Or of a Christian college.
This bequest follows many other demonstrations of the Seervelds’ love for the College: lectures for students and alumni, dramatic performances of the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes, the dedication of the Seerveld Art Gallery, the establishment of the Seerveld Arts in Society Fund, and now the Seerveld Art Collection. Alumnus Peter Enneson has worked tirelessly on the Toronto end to make this gift possible. Professors emeriti Brad Breems, John Bakker, and I, stewards of the Seerveld Arts in Society Fund, have worked steadily on the Trinity end to prepare for it.
We invite you to help us celebrate at the Opening Reception on February 6, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. CDT in the Seerveld Gallery, located in the Art and Communication Center on the campus of Trinity Christian College.
