Emily Blake, executive director of St. Damascus Gild, explains how a new sacred arts nonprofit in eastern Iowa is working to renew culture through Christ-centered music, visual art, literature, and liturgy. She previews a musician's retreat and a free sacred music concert in Iowa City featuring composer and seminarian Ryan Everson. Emily also shares why she believes beauty is the path that will bring people back to God, and what's ahead as the Gild officially launches this December.
Emily Blake, executive director of St. Damascus Gild, joins Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell to introduce a new sacred arts nonprofit serving eastern Iowa and the greater Midwest. Named for St. John of Damascus, defender of holy images, the Gild exists to renew culture through goodness, truth, and beauty — and especially through beauty, the "transcendental" Emily believes our culture hasn't yet tried.
This Saturday, October 10, at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Iowa City (4330 St. Patrick Dr.), the Gild hosts a Musician's Retreat Day led by national composer Ryan Everson, a seminarian for the Diocese of Phoenix whose music has been performed by choirs at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Mary. That evening at 6:30 p.m., a free public sacred music concert features Everson's compositions, a University of Iowa quartet, and regional musicians from Cedar Falls, Waterloo, Dubuque, Davenport, Iowa City, and Cedar Rapids. Admission is free; bring friends, family, and neighbors.
Emily also shares the bigger vision: workshops, masterclasses, and live performances in four areas — visual, performing, literary, and liturgical arts — that recover "lost arts" from the Church's tradition and pass them to the next generation, with the Gild traveling to parishes and schools as a resource. The Gild's official launch gala is Thursday, December 3, in Cedar Rapids, featuring a live painting of Jesus and a silent auction with items from EWTN and the St. Paul Center, followed by a January event at UNI's Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center on St. Pier Giorgio Frassati.
Learn more, join the Arts Gild, or support the mission at StDamascusGild.org, with gala details at StDamascusGild.org/2026-gala.
Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.
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