Faith Leads to The Art of Giving

By Kate Pipkin
Photography by Denise Barnes Walker

     Charles Reeves loves to tell stories. As he talks, he strokes his white beard, then his eyes widen and if it’s a particularly funny story, he’ll throw back his head and let out a hearty, infectious laugh. It’s not unusual to find Reeves, 83, surrounded by a group of eager listeners as he shares tales of skiing in Austria, exploring in Ecuador, climbing the Matterhorn or growing up in Baltimore. But ask him to tell the story about his generosity towards the Jesuits, and Reeves becomes uncharacteristically reticent.
     In his many years of philanthropic work, Reeves, a lawyer retired from the notable law firm Venable, Baetjer and Howard, has donated generously to his parish, St. Ignatius Church in Baltimore, Md., where he was baptized, and to the Maryland Province Jesuits. Most recently, he donated $25,000 to the Maryland Province Jesuits to commission a bronze floor seal for the newly restored Baltimore Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
     Completed in 1821, the Baltimore Basilica was the first major cathedral built in America and came to be known as a symbol of the country’s religious freedom. For the past two years, work has been under way to restore the basilica’s impressive original features, designed initially by Benjamin Henry Latrobe. The Jesuits have a close bond with the Baltimore Basilica because Archbishop John Carroll, who had been a Jesuit, was the first archbishop in the United States. Archbishop Carroll planned the construction of the basilica and is buried there.
     November 4, 2006, will mark the grand opening ceremony for the Baltimore Basilica followed by a week of celebratory events.
     When Reeves heard that the Jesuits were considering some sort of lasting testimony to their Baltimore Basilica connection, he was intrigued.
     “When I saw the drawings for a bronze seal that would be placed in the floor of the basilica, I liked it at once,” says the ebullient Reeves, known as “Charlie” to his friends. Because of his fondness for art and for the Jesuits, Reeves said he knew it was a project he wanted to sponsor.
     Reeves’ enthusiasm for the Baltimore Basilica seal comes in part from a family connection to the basilica. His grandfather was a parishioner at the basilica and his parents were married there in 1920 by Cardinal James Gibbons.
     The basilica floor seal isn’t the only time world traveler Reeves has combined his love of art with his faith. He was instrumental in helping to finance the restoration of several historic religious paintings at St. Ignatius Church, which is also home to an art gallery named in honor of Reeves. The Charles B. Reeves, Jr. Esq. K.M. Gallery gives parishioners and friends a space to view art, and it features a new art exhibit every month. The K.M. in Reeves’ title stands for Knights of Malta, a lay religious order of the Catholic Church, founded in Jerusalem during the 11th century.
     As a young boy, Reeves was brought up to appreciate art and music, and that passion has never dimmed. Inside his home in Baltimore’s Guilford neighborhood, he displays an eclectic mix of traditional, modern and international art. Some of it he has picked up in his extensive world travels and some has been given to him. In turn, Reeves has been generous in giving gifts that reflect his Catholic faith, his respect for the Jesuit order and his love of art. Providing funding for the basilica floor seal seemed to Reeves like a creative and unusual way to give to the Catholic Church.
     Bob Copskey, local artist and faculty member at the Maryland Institute College of Art, was commissioned to design and create the floor seal, and the entire process took more than a year to complete. Copskey based his design on earlier Jesuit seals but incorporated a more dynamic, modern feel to it.
     Sculpted onto the seal are three dates important to Jesuit history: 1540, when St. Ignatius Loyola founded the Society of Jesus; 1634, when the Jesuits first landed on the shores of southern Maryland; and 1805, when three men renewed their vows as Jesuits after the order had been suppressed for decades, a move that led to the restoration of the Jesuit order. The IHS symbol is a monogram of the Greek spelling of the name Jesus. Surrounded by the rays of the sun, with the cross and three nails, it was adopted by St. Ignatius Loyola as the emblem of the Society of Jesus, and remains so today.
     Reeves got a first look at the finished product last spring, when Copskey brought the completed bronze seal to the basilica.
     “When I saw it, I just loved it,” he exclaims, his blue-green eyes turning wide and serious. “The seal is part of an incredible history, not only of the Jesuit order, but of the Catholic Church,” says Reeves.
     The 36-inch, 120-pound bronze seal is positioned just inside the basilica doors and to the right of the center aisle. A long, translucent, southern-exposure window casts light on the seal for most of the day, making it almost shimmer.
     Reeves says the seal is the culmination of many things he holds dear: his Catholic faith, his family, the Jesuit mission of being “men and women for others,” his love of art, and love of his Jesuit-run parish.
     “The seal is a remarkable pulling-together of several strands of my life,” says Reeves. “My hope is that this [gift] and others like it will expose people to art and to the many ways God is present in art.”