The Art of Wonder
Some people are gifted artists. Others have the gift of living with wonder. Sr. Barb Kearney-Schupp has spent a lifetime doing both.
A Sister of St. Joseph of Peace since September 11, 1982, Sr. Barb first encountered the congregation while serving as a Jesuit Volunteer in Ketchikan, Alaska. After teaching in Angoon and Anchorage, she felt called to religious life and moved to Seattle to enter the community.
Education has been at the heart of her ministry. For 37 years, she taught primary grades in Ohio, Alaska, and Washington, including in a Tlingit village, helping young minds discover the joy of learning. Throughout her years as a sister, she has served in many ministries within the congregation and at St. Patrick Parish in Seattle. Today she serves on the Home Team, which plans activities for the sisters at St. Mary-on-the-Lake, and is one of three Associate Co-Directors alongside Bryan Johns, CSJP-A, and Pat Hogan, CSJP-A. She also serves on committees and on the Community Board of United General PeaceHealth in Sedro-Woolley.
Yet if there is one word that best describes Barb, it is wonder.
She considers wonder one of the gifts of living with ADHD. Ever curious, she has always wanted to make things, discover how they work, and imagine new possibilities. As a little girl, without any paint, she decided she would simply make her own. She carefully filled a teacup with hot water, stirred in crayon shavings, and waited. Nothing happened. Undeterred, she tried again—with exactly the same result. Even then, what mattered wasn't whether the experiment worked. What mattered was that it was worth trying.
As a teenager, Barb joined the "Fad of the Month Club," eagerly awaiting craft kits in the mail and exploring one creative project after another. She painted murals on the inside of her family's garage doors and even on the back of a neighbor's garage while balanced on scaffolding. Later, while studying Elementary Education, she minored in Art Education and finally had the opportunity to immerse herself in printmaking, enameling, drawing, pottery, sculpture, and calligraphy. During her final semester, she was taking art classes six days a week.
That same creative spirit has continued throughout her life. Early in religious life, she joined fellow Sisters, members of another religious community, ballet dancers, and people who were blind in an experimental live performance at Seattle's On the Boards Theater. Directed by a New York videographer, the performance invited audiences to question their assumptions about each of those communities.
Whether she is taking photographs, inventing a new art project, baking, gardening, camping, playing 5 Crowns, or celebrating life's milestones with others, Barb continues to approach the world with the same childlike curiosity that has always guided her.
Wonder is not simply something she experiences—it is something she practices. It is the ability to notice beauty, ask questions, delight in discovery, and remain open to surprise. It reminds us that God is always creating something new, and that every ordinary day holds the possibility of grace if we are willing to look for it.
The Art of Wonder is a collection of stories, reflections, artwork, photographs, and moments from Sr. Barb's life that reveal the heart of her creative spirit. Rather than telling a single story, these pages weave together the experiences, discoveries, and quiet joys that have nurtured a lifetime of curiosity. As you journey through them, may you be inspired to look a little closer, ask a few more questions, delight in unexpected beauty, and remember that wonder is not reserved for childhood—it is a way of living.