Sister Maryam Gossling's Story & Gallery

Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration Maryam Gossling- pastel watercolor mountains

Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration Maryam Gossling, born in 1938, grew up on a farm in Festina, Iowa, where her family grew crops and raised cows and horses. She earned a master of arts from Iowa State in Ames, Iowa, and spent the majority of her career as a professional artist, art teacher and graphic artist. She was sent on mission to teach art in Wisconsin and Iowa. In the 90s and early 2000s, she served as an artist in residence at Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center in Hiawatha, Iowa. Returning to La Crosse in 2011, she focused her art practice primarily on writing icons.

"Early on, I decided I really didn't want to be a housewife," shares Sister Maryam about her ministry of art, beauty and joy. "The other thing was that I decided I wanted to be an artist. I had seen some things in school that led me to believe that the sisters would be happy with that, too. I had a double motive in coming to the community. I remember Sister Esther wanted me to take German because my folks were German. I said 'No. I need to take art,' so they finally let me. After high school, I came to La Crosse and got my degree in art education from Viterbo University."

Transcribed from Sister Maryam Gossling's Oral History from FSPA Archives

Sister Maryam's Art Gallery

Click/tap on the images below to view an enlarged version of her work.