Sister Paula Turnbull's sculptures
The legacy of the Holy Names sisters is manifest in the works of several regional artists, including Sister Paula Turnbull, whose sculptures grace many public and private spaces in Spokane. The whimsical goat, which was funded by the Spokane Women’s Council of Realtors, was a children’s favorite during the fair. “Any child who grew up in Spokane since 1974 probably knows the goat,” Turnbull said.
Section:Picture story
December 9, 1959 photo: Sister Paula Mary, Holy Names college art instructor, shows the two-foot crucifix she sculptured for the chapel of St. Aloysius parish convent. The birch figure is mounted on a mahogany cross. Some of the artist’s other works in progress include a pair of ceramic sculpture holy water fonts, two walnut statues and a set of outdoor stations for the cemetery of the Holy Names congregation’s provincial house, Marylhurst, Ore.
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April 24, 1974 photo: A hand-eating goat? Actually it is a trash barrel that Sister Paula Mary Turnbull, Fort Wright college art department chairman, is testing. Her unique welded weathering steel sculpture, commissioned by the Women’s Council of Spokane Board of Realtors in cooperation with the City Park Department, was installed on the Expo ‘74 grounds. A vacuum will draw litter from the goat’s stomach into a barrel behind a stone wall and the goat will ask for trash from a hidden recorder.
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File photo: Central Valley High School’s bear mascot, captured permanently in metal sculpture by Sister Paula Mary Turnbull of Fort Wright College, was presented to the school by the Bearette’s marching unit. From the left are Mrs. Tomi Zografos, Bearettes, advisor; Sister Paula Mary; Anne Erickson, Bearettes vice president, and Janet steward, president.
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Oct.5, 1989 photo: Sister Paula Turnbull poses for a photo with one of her sculptures at W. 400 Randolph Road.
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June 20, 2002 photo: Sister Paula Turnbull welds a copper vine to an entrance gate to the Blessed Marie-Rose Garden of Life at the Convent of Holy Names.
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April 18, 2006 photo: Sister Paula Turnbull works on the shoelaces for the memorial sculpture of Mike Cmos Jr.
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April 18, 2006 photo: Sister Paula Turnbull checks to see if the shoe fits on a memorial statue of Mike Cmos Jr. at the Sisters of the Holy Names art studio.
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Sept. 27, 2006 photo: Jennifer Cmos, right, alongside her mother Kathy, take in the statue of Mike Cmos, Jr., and Jennifer during a ceremony at the Riverside Park Reclamation Facility to dedicate a memorial to the City of Spokane employee who was killed at the plant in May 2004. The statue “Fish On” by artist Sister Paula Turnbull depicts Mike Cmos, Jr., and his daughter Jennifer doing what he liked to do best, spending time with family and fishing.
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April 14, 2011 photo: Sister Paula Mary Turnbull has produced many scultpures throughout the Spokane area, including this piece at her convent, the Blessed Marie-Rose Durecher, Foundress of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary.
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Sept. 21, 2011 photo: A statue of Father Cataldo is blessed by Fr. Tom Lankenau, S.J. at Gonzaga Prep after an outdoor mass. The statue was created by Spokane-artist Sr. Paula Mary Turnbull and commissioned by the parents of three Gonzaga prep students: Tom Keefe and JoAnn Kauffman.
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Aug. 12, 2013 photo: Sister Paula Turnbull has created a statue of Eddie Gaedel, a person with dwarfism who played major league baseball in the 1940s, for Tom Keefe, left, who plans to display the artwork at O’Doherty’s Irish Grille in downtown Spokane.
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June 21, 2014 photo: Sister Paula Turnbull, creator of the trash-eating goat was on hand for the fortieth birthday of garbage eating goat.
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