Gleysteen's life work on exhibit at Goshen College Library Gallery Jan. 4-Feb. 22

 

GOSHEN, Ind. -- He is a painter, illustrator and photographer; he is a storyteller, tour guide, slide lecturer and Mennonite historian; and he is an environmentalist, train lover and humorist. The wide interests and passions of Jan Gleysteen expressed through his life's work will all be on display in the upcoming exhibit "Jan Gleysteen: Life Work" in the Goshen College Library Gallery, opening Sunday, Jan. 4 with a reception from 2 to 4 p.m. and continuing through Feb. 22.

The show will feature Gleysteen's pen and ink drawings, watercolor and oil paintings, calligraphy, book designs, model trains and documentary photography.

"Jan is well-known in the Mennonite Church for all his years as an illustrator with Mennonite Publishing House, and later as a slide lecturer on Mennonite history," said Ervin Beck, Goshen College professor emeritus of English.

Gleysteen was born in 1931 in Amsterdam, Holland. He and his family attended the historic Singel Mennonite Church that traces its roots back to 1608, located in the heart of the city. After living through the five-year German Nazi occupation of his country and then connecting with American and Canadian Mennonite relief workers and church leaders during the reconstruction period, Gleysteen traveled to the United States to attend Goshen College at the invitation of H.S. Bender. He attended Goshen and then Eastern Mennonite College in Harrisonburg, Va., each for a year, before working full-time at the Mennonite Publishing House in Scottdale, Pa. Having studied art in Amsterdam at the Municipal School for Fine and Applied Arts and the Royal Academy, Gleysteen began his life-long career of illustrating, designing books and editing.

"I haven't used a computer yet for designing -- my work is all done by hand," Gleysteen said.

 

Gwen Stamm, a former designer for Mennonite Publishing House who worked with Gleysteen for 20 years, said, "Beneath Jan's sense of humor, quick wit and ability to tell a captivating story, I learned that he possessed a refined sense of what comprises quality. Besides playfulness and a creative imagination, Jan has modeled a care for authenticity and sense of harmony in his visual images, wherever they would appear, be it on a church bulletin cover, in one of his travel journals or on the outside of an envelope to a friend. The Mennonite Church community has been and continues to be enriched by the legacy of this gifted artist and visionary."

 

After extensive travel in Europe and photographically documenting Mennonite historical sites, Gleysteen contributed to the "Mennonite Encyclopedia" and wrote the "Mennonite Tour Guide to Western Europe." Gleysteen is co-founder of TourMagination, personally leading over 60 tours through Europe. And from the 1970s to 1990s, he carried his well-worn projector to many churches around the country giving illustrated lectures on Mennonite history. His 200,000 slides of nature, travels and Mennonite history are all housed in his basement now, color-coded and easily accessible, along with black and white photos which have been printed in many Mennonite history books and his prize possession -- an original copy of the "Martyr's Mirror," dated 1685, that has been passed down through his family.

"I am a person who had a lot of fun doing things and I got paid for some of it," said Gleysteen. The multilingual Gleysteen, married to Barbara (Detweiler) and father of two adult children, lived in Scottdale, Pa., for 40 years before moving to Goshen in 1995.

The Mennonite-Amish Museum Committee sponsors the exhibit. The Library Gallery, located on the lower level of the Wilma and Harold Good Library, is open from 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, noon-6 p.m. Saturday and 1-11 p.m. Sunday.

Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college's Christ-centered core values -- passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership -- prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron's Best Buys in Education, Kaplan's "Most Interesting Colleges" guide and U.S.News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges" edition, which named Goshen a "least debt college." Visit https://www.goshen.edu/.

Editors: For more information, contact Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.



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