Bubalo, Sylvia Gross (1928-2007)
Sylvia Gross Bubalo, artist and poet, grew up in the Franconia Conference of the Mennonite Church (MC). Her created art works and poetry reflect and interpret the Mennonite culture of her times (the 1930s and following). She was most likely the first visual artist to do so within the Mennonite Church. She was born in Doylestown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on 25 November 1928, and died on 30 October 2007 in Goshen, Indiana – at which time she was a member of the College Mennonite Church in Goshen. Her parents were Titus L. Gross (1902-1976) and Olive S. (Moyer) Gross (1903-1987). She was the second child of five. Her baptism took place around 1942 at the Doylestown Mennonite Church.
Bubalo started out in life with a handicap. She was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, and consequently, her highly developed intellect became her mainstay of life, which she used judiciously and effectively. She was destined to become an artist, in spite of her growing up in a traditional (old) Mennonite setting. She was ahead of her time on numerous fronts. She pushed back against the patriarchy of her time through astute biblical understanding, confounding many ministers whom she challenged with confidence. These experiences are reflected in two of her paintings, among others: The Last of the Red-Hot Papas and Martha Convent’s Cap Strings Keep Blowing in the Wind. Her life in the Blackstone community of Chicago, and her experiences in the intercultural church community of Woodlawn Mennonite Church in Chicago gave her insight into the racialization of African Americans, which also shows up in her art already in the early 1960s. She was also ahead of her time when it came to engaging with the Indigenous history and culture of North America. She was particularly interested in the Hopi Nation with their commitment to pacifism. Her Indigenous interests also show up in her art.
Bubalo enjoyed drawing and painting for as long as she could remember. At Doylestown High School, art teacher Melba Lukens mentored her, returning her work with carefully written commentary and critique. At Goshen College, she took all art classes offered at that time (1947-51) under artist Arthur Sprunger, completing an art minor. She also attended Mennonite Biblical Seminary, at that time in Chicago. She then attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago from 1955 to 1959, where she came into her own as an artist. It was during this time that she met, and married Vladimir Bubalo (b. 1934), in 1957. Tall and strong, she called him her “Abe Lincoln,” as he made up for her lack of physical strength. Vladimir Bubalo was a Chicago artist of Christian Serbian origin who was a convinced pacifist. They were married in Woodlawn Mennonite Church by Delton Franz.
Bubalo’s thick portfolio of work at the Art Institute illustrates her creative use of diverse media in two-dimensional works of art. Beginning in the mid-1950s, she produced profound works in oil or acrylic on canvas, watercolor or gouache and Sumi ink on rice paper, and numerous smaller works in watercolor, ink, and graphite. Her compendium of artwork reflects several recurring themes, including her belief that the universe and all living things recognize and praise Creator God. Many of her paintings include a moon that represents things eternal. Other paintings reflect her deeply held belief that all in the human family have access to the Light and salvation of God in Jesus.
Upon the death of her husband in 1989, Bubalo abruptly stopped painting and turned exclusively to the world of poetry. Her more than 250 poems encompassing close to 600 pages were written from the 1950s to 2007, shortly before her death.
Her poetry and art productions betray her intense interest in things spiritual, drinking deeply as she had always done from the stories of the gospels, combined with her love and knowledge of history, philosophy and literature. Central in her faith and life was the reality of the spiritual Christ, founded on the very human Jesus of history whom we are to follow.
Bubalo’s strong spiritual motif may have been inspired in part by her years of study at the Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Chicago (1953-1955), as well as by her Mennonite upbringing – although she considered herself “not a Mennonite artist, but an artist born into a Mennonite tradition.” Through her art and poetry, Bubalo interpreted life honestly, and with strong vision and idealism. She wrote, “My aim is for my work to be a window or door to the spiritual, and not an end [in] itself.”
Bibliography
Hostetler, Ann, Imagining Community: The Art of Sylvia Gross Bubalo (1928-2007) Exhibit Catalog (Goshen, Indiana: The Mennonite-Amish Museum Committee of Goshen College, 2013.) 69 pp.
Janzen, Reinhild Kauenhoven, “Art as an Act of Faith: Sylvia Gross Bubalo,” Mennonite Quarterly Review 72 (July 1998): 389-410. (Includes 15 color reproductions.)
Janzen, Reinhild Kauenhoven, “Door to the Spiritual: The Visual Arts in Anabaptist-Mennonite Worship,” Mennonite Quarterly Review 73 (April 1999): 367-390. (Includes four reproductions.)
“Sylvia Gross Bubalo,” Journal of the Center for Mennonite Writing 2.5 (Goshen College Center for Mennonite Writing) 19 September 2010 (On the Web): https://mennonitewriting.org/journal/issues/ (see: under “2010”). Includes:
“In this issue,” by Ann Hostetler, Editor
“Sylvia Gross Bubalo, Artist and Poet, Born in a Mennonite Tradition,” by Leonard Gross
“Artist’s Statement,” by Sylvia Bubalo
“Point of Entry,” by Sylvia Bubalo
“Selected Poems,” by Sylvia Bubalo
“Remembering Sylvia,” by Bob Regier
“A Conversation with Sylvia Bubalo,” by John Blosser
“A Response to the Art of Sylvia Gross Bubalo,” by Dawn Ruth Nelson
Archival Records
Sylvia Gross Bubalo Art Collection, Mennonite Historical Library, Goshen (Ind.) College. Includes over 200 works of art, and over 500 sketches and drawings.
Sylvia Gross [Bubalo], “The Relationship of Art to the Mennonites,” (A paper written for Dr. H. S. Bender, Mennonite History class, 1 June 1951. 15 pp. Mennonite Historical Library, Goshen (Indiana) College.
Sylvia Gross Bubalo Papers, 1934-2009. Mennonite Historical Library, Goshen College (Indiana). 12.6 linear feet.
| Author(s) | Leonard Gross |
|---|---|
| Date Published | April 2025 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Gross, Leonard. "Bubalo, Sylvia Gross (1928-2007)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. April 2025. Web. 17 May 2025. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Bubalo,_Sylvia_Gross_(1928-2007)&oldid=180609.
APA style
Gross, Leonard. (April 2025). Bubalo, Sylvia Gross (1928-2007). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 17 May 2025, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Bubalo,_Sylvia_Gross_(1928-2007)&oldid=180609.
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