SALT LAKE CITY — Ana Maria Ravines de Schur is an anachronism. A gifted artist of wildly eclectic taste and talent, this undergraduate student at the University of Utah doesn’t seem to fit into today’s consumerism-obsessed milieu. From the two-bedroom unit she shares with her three sons in the university’s family student housing complex, de Schur turns out bronze pieces, paintings in oils and acrylics, hand-crafted sweaters, the patterns of which she makes up as she goes along, religious icons, and music. The apartment walls double as easels, and tubes of oil paint are strung from thumbtack to thumbtack like Christmas tree lights. A native of Peru, where her family "of humble origins" fostered her talents by sacrificing greatly to send her to the best schools they could, de Schur married a German citizen and became a naturalized citizen of Germany. She had three children, all sons, Nathan, now 22, Aaron, 18, and Jordan, 16, before the marriage collapsed. Tormented by her former husband and troubled by many people of the newly reunified Germany’s negative attitudes toward people of color, de Schur was granted asylum in the United States, the first person of color to win asylum from Germany based on racism. She lived first in New York, then Montana, and now in Utah. The page that features de Schur in the university’s Undergraduate Research Abstracts is titled, "Anthology of a Vagabond." In every place de Schur and her sons have lived, they have tried to set down roots. Love of art and concern for her sons is prompting de Schur to think about returning home – not to Peru, but to Germany, where her sons were born and raised and where Jordan can get the cardiac surgery he needs without cost. "If anything should happen to me here, they would be lost, completely lost," she told the Intermountain Catholic. "And life here is very hard. At least in the E.U., I can get some support for my work." What work she does! The images on this page show just a fraction of what de Schur has created, a tiny piece of what she is capable of. De Schur has dreamed of teaching art in a private, Catholic school where she can pass on to her students her own respect for diversity, culture, and tradition that is expressed in her art. "To create a diptych, I have to purchase the wood, and it is very expensive," de Schur said. "Sometimes I need to import wood from Venezuela." At heart an optimistic person despite life’s challenges, de Schur has seen her art passed over in favor of more commercially appealing work. "I work very much in the classical tradition in which I was raised," she said. "I love Rembrandt and DaVinci. My madonnas are created in the traditional Italian classical style. Some art departments don’t want that style." Still, de Schur goes on creating what is in her heart. Now, she is not so much interested in selling her art as she is building her portfolio. Living on student loans and doing independent study in a new program offered at the university, de Schur revels in each new project, going into great detail, guided by painstaking research. Each peace reflects her concern for social issues – human rights, the plight of women and children in a violent world, and basic survival. "I dream of dancing in a castle in Bavaria," she said. "I dream of survival." De Schur’s hands are never idle. When this woman, who speaks five languages fluently, ever sits down, she knits. Creating colorful sweaters and hats, she then writes the patterns down, translates them into numerous languages, with plans to teach the patterns to the poor, giving them valuable skills and possibilities for independence. "My art is a gift from God," de Schur said. "I want to use it for healing. If I don’t, I’m afraid I will lose it. The beauty I see is beyond my experience. I thank God for it."
Stay Connected With Us