Professor Receives Grant for Groundbreaking Art Project at Scranton, Georgetown
Patrick Beldio, Ph.D., visiting theology/religious studies lecturer at The University of Scranton and a research fellow at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, has received a $100,000 grant to launch “Waymarks Toward Reunion: Beauty, Sacred Art and the Road to Freedom.” The grant, awarded by the Creative Arts Collective for Christian Life and Faith (CAC), will support workshops, public lectures and a Waymarks Student Fellowships at Scranton and Georgetown, among other things.Patrick Beldio, Ph.D., visiting theology/religious studies lecturer at The University of Scranton and a research fellow at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, has received a significant award intended to reawaken Christian imagination through beauty, sacred art and contemplative practice.
The Creative Arts Collective for Christian Life and Faith (CAC) awarded Dr. Beldio a $100,000 grant to launch “Waymarks Toward Reunion: Beauty, Sacred Art and the Road to Freedom.” Chosen among a highly competitive field of applicants, the project will run through December 2026 and will feature numerous elements, many of which will be executed in Dr. Beldio’s “Religion and the Arts” course this spring at The University of Scranton.
“This project responds to today’s wilderness of fragmentation, loneliness and ecological crisis through shared practices of making, discernment and dialogue,” Dr. Beldio said. “We’re exploring how beauty becomes a pathway — equal to truth and justice — for encountering the divine, even within suffering.”
In addition to holding multiple workshops, where the focus will be on treating various artistic media as spiritual practices, and public lectures convening Christian and interfaith voices, the project will support the selection of one student each from Scranton and Georgetown as Waymarks Student Fellows. The selected students will receive dedicated studio time, leadership responsibilities and enhanced mentorship from Dr. Beldio, who brings 30 years of professional sculpture experience alongside his scholarly expertise in comparative theology.
“Patrick represents the best of Jesuit education,” said Cyrus Olsen, Ph.D., associate professor of theology/religious studies at Scranton, who encouraged Dr. Beldio to apply for the grant. “He brings rigorous scholarship, creative excellence and genuine interfaith sensitivity to his teaching and research.”
After piloting the program in the spring at Scranton, Dr. Beldio plans to offer the same course at Georgetown in the fall, extending the model to a second Jesuit university while deepening alignment with the Berkley Center’s mission and the Franciscan Monastery’s pastoral witness. The initiative culminates in a Capstone Symposium in Washington, D.C., celebrating student work and gathering voices from both universities alongside Jesuit, Franciscan and interfaith communities. Future phases will expand to institutions serving underserved students, ensuring broad access and reciprocity.
Dr. Beldio possesses a unique expertise in Hindu-Christian studies, which he will leverage in this project. His own monumental interfaith sculpture, “The New Being,” a 40-foot, 11-ton bronze work completed over 10 years, exemplifies this vision of bridging traditions through sacred art.
The author of “The Mother of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram: Co-Creator of the Integral Yoga,” Dr. Beldio earned his MFA from George Washington University and his Ph.D. from Catholic University of America. He has produced commissioned works across the U.S., Europe and India.
For more information about the project or Dr. Beldio’s work, visit his website.
The Creative Arts Collective supports artists and initiatives that deepen Christian faith and imagination through creative practice, fostering communities where beauty, truth and goodness flourish together.
