A Holiday Tradition Returns!

For twenty years, the Loyola University Museum of Art has invited visitors to experience the beauty and meaning of the Nativity through Art & Faith of the Crèche. This annual holiday exhibition transforms LUMA’s galleries into a celebration of art, craftsmanship, and the spirit of the season.

In this 20th Anniversary year, Art & Faith of the Crèche honors the legacy of James and Emilia Govan, whose extraordinary collection of Creches from around the world continues to inspire reflection and connection across faiths and cultures.

About the Exhibition

Each December, Art & Faith of the Crèche presents an array of handcrafted Nativity scenes, sculpted from wood, clay, glass, and fabric, from the James and Emilia Govan Crèche Collection. Representing artistic traditions from more than thirty countries, the exhibition explores how artists worldwide interpret the Nativity story through their own cultural lenses, blending local materials and symbols with timeless themes of family, peace, and hope.

This year’s presentation includes crèches from countries across five continents. The Govans’ decades-long commitment to collecting crèches from diverse communities has created one of the most distinctive and inclusive crèche collections in the United States.

Among the collection’s most celebrated works is the “Chicago Nativity”, commissioned and designed by Mr. James L. Govan; the collector and benefactor LUMA’s crèches, created by artist R. Michael Palan. This Christmas season, a photo of this crèche will be on display as part of the 100 Presepi in Vaticano, an international exhibition of 100 cribs (nativities), held under the colonnade of St. Peter’s Square.