William Hart McNichols

Early life

He was born to Marjory Hart McNichols and Stephen L.R. McNichols on July 10, 1949 at St. Joseph's Hospital in Denver, Colorado. McNichols' childhood was dominated by American politics and religion. His grandfather was city auditor for 30 years and by 2nd grade his father Stephen was elected as Colorado's 35th governor and his uncle William was mayor of Denver for 14 years. The family lived at the Cheesman-Boettcher Mansion in downtown Denver and as an 11 year old McNichols attended the 1960 democratic convention in Los Angeles, California. Later in 1962 his family would personally meet President John Fitzgerald Kennedy in Pueblo, Colorado.

Education

McNichols went to Christ the King and St. John the Evangelist Catholic schools before attending Regis High School in Denver, Colorado. After attending Colorado State University for one year, he entered the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in 1968 and studied philosophy, theology, and art at California College of the Arts, St. Louis University, Boston College and Boston University. He taught art at Boston College High School for 1 year and then founded the art department at Regis High School in Denver and taught art and theology there for 3 years. He received a Masters of Divinity from Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a Master of Fine Arts from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. He was ordained in 1979 as a Roman Catholic priest by Archbishop James Casey in Denver, CO.

Vietnam Draft Card Refusal

In 1971, McNichols was a member of a group of 27 Jesuit seminarians who denounced the Selective Service System in a joint statement. In solidarity with other young men being drafted they publicly turned in their draft cards stating they would no longer accept their 4-D exemptions as ministerial students. Each Jesuit knew they were risking being drafted. They had been inspired by Catholic priest turned congressman Bob Drinan who was elected on a platform opposing the war as well as anti-war activist and fellow Jesuit prophetic writer and poet Daniel Berrigan.

The consequence of his actions led McNichols to be reclassified as 1A thus becoming eligible for the draft. However, when the draft lottery occurred he drew a high number, 284, which made the possibility of him being drafted very low.

Years later in 1997, at the request of a group of Vietnam Veterans Daniel Berrigan gave them a retreat in upstate New York and was accompanied by Father McNichols.

AIDS Hospice Work

From 1983 - 1990 he worked as a chaplain with the AIDS hospice team of St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan, New York. During this time he also illustrated 20 books, mostly children's books for Paulist Press. He got permission from the Jesuits to speak out publicly regarding the AIDS crisis. He spoke to numerous television news outlets including ABC World News as well writing an essay entitled A Priest Forever for a book Homosexuality in the Priesthood and the Religious Life edited by Sister Jeannine Gramick.

In his book Stations of the Cross for a Person with AIDS he featured drawings of the hands of Christ during the stations of the cross and included real life stories of AIDS experiences, the book's introduction was written by Archbishop of Seattle Raymond Hunthausen. Before leaving New York in 1990, McNichols published a book of poetry "Fire Above Water Below - Poetry for the Spiritual Children of St. Francis and St. Clare". The Spirituality of the AIDS period is further documented in the 1993 book "Aloysius" by Clifford Stevens and William Hart McNichols.

Apprenticeship and First Icon Commission

In 1990, McNichols moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico to study the technique, history and spirituality of icon painting (technically "icon writing") with Russian-American master, Robert Lentz. In 1991 he was commissioned by Cardinal James Francis Stafford to create an icon for Our Lady of the New Advent, an icon that would go on to receive its own feast day from the Vatican, December 16. Later in 1993 while St. John Paul II was in Denver for world youth day, McNichols would present the Pope with a second icon of Our Lady of the New Advent: The Burning Bush. The icon now resides in the Vatican Museum.

Time Magazine Controversy

In May 2002 just months after the Boston Globe broke the Catholic Church Sex Abuse scandal McNichols spoke out in an article in Time magazine, defending gay people who were being scapegoated by the scandal. The article states McNichols has been out as gay since 1983. “I felt I had to stand up for gay people and gay priests,” he said. “It turned into a huge thing.”

At the end of 2002 McNichols left the Jesuit order after 35 years but with permission from his Archbishop remained active as a priest. He would remain at San Francisco de Asis Church in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico for 14 years and continue painting with non-stop commissions, completing hundreds of icons for churches and colleges around the world.

Icon Body of Work

McNichols has been heralded by Time magazine "as among the most famous creators of Christian Iconic imagery in the world" his icons encompass an eclectic mix of Catholic saints and other spiritually symbolic individuals.

In September 2015, the Jesuits of Loyola University Chicago unveiled McNichols largest icon to date. Viriditas: Finding God in All Things stands 5 feet by 10 feet in the Hank Center for Catholic Intellectual Heritage.

Film

In 2016 McNichols granted filmmaker Christopher Summa permission to produce an independent film on his life and art, The Boy Who Found Gold (running time 108 minutes) focuses on McNichols life as an iconographer and journeys deep into the prayers and stories behind his prolific body of work.

William Hart McNichols had a small speaking role with Academy Award Winning actor J.K. Simmons in the 2003 film "Off The Map".