Liturgical Artwork by Palmer Eide and Odgen Dalrymple

Two former members of the Augustana art department faculty, Palmer Eide and Ogden Dalrymple, were key figures in the history of the Hovland Center for Liturgical Arts.

  • Palmer Eide served as a member of the Augustana faculty from 1931 to 1971, advancing to full professor and chairman of the Department of Art during his career. He created several pieces for the Chapel of Reconciliation. A Special Supplement to Faculty Development at Augustana (September 1992) notes that "Eide, a deeply spiritual man, believed that works of art are supports for contemplation and refreshment for the spirit. He taught that art is a representation of significant things that cannot be seen except by the intellect."  According to Bob Aldern, Eide's art was "dedicated to the concept that less is more. Clarity and simplicity are important; Eide had the instinctive ability to know what to leave out of his sculpture. Essential to his art was communciaiton. Eide never surrendered to total abstraction."
  • Ogden Dalrymple joined the art department in 1946, after having earned degrees at the University of Michigan and Yale University and serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. He taught courses on drawing, design and sculpture even after his retirement in 1973, all the while producing a great many commissioned pieces throughout the Midwest until his death in 1991. A number of his liturgical works can be found on campus, including the Chapel of Reconciliation.