J. Kevin Byrne

As do so many of us I love seeing and feeling the world’s beautiful places and spaces, of late that includes churches. Given good luck and global affordances I was a Fulbright-Hayes Teaching Professor for a year in the UK, able to witness and savor dozens of Europe’s beautiful churches. Decades later I was a Google Earth Fellow in California, creating visual “flyovers” of any cityscape I so chose. As Emeritus Professor at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design I made, taught, and wrote about graphic and map design in three countries for a half century. Educated (robustly) by clergy of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Christian Brothers (both Irish and Lasallian), and the Society of Jesus, I was told by my language teacher in high school it would be best if l learned to “think in Latin.” I never quite could, but the alternative– “thinking in images”– was my ideal path. Right now, I am “urban sketching” in Saint Paul, where I live, downtown being walkable to many churches, courthouses, museums, music and dance venues, a gorgeous state Capitol, and parks aplenty.