On the way on the 100 Castles Route
When thinking about what should become of the former Cistercian convent Gravenhorst, acquired in 1937 for 30,000 Reichsmarks, in the district of Tecklenburg in 1947, the district director pointed out that – no matter how Catholic the region may be – the solution found must not give any confession a feeling of being marginalized.
That was easy to say. A children's rest home was planned, but children did not move in Hörstel. Then sisters of Divine Providence were in discussion. However, they were never allowed to manage the facility. The elderly did not find a home there either, nor did the curtain manufacturer, who also had toys in his range. The already dilapidated walls continued to deteriorate, as it took until 1954 for the derelict facility to be sold to a innkeeper and a miller.
However, it took another 50 years until the former convent, reacquired by the district of Steinfurt in 1986, could be assigned to its current use. This use is now again spiritual, yet confessionally unblemished: the convent has been a place for the arts since 2004.
Where nuns lived off their own labor for almost six centuries, there is now – as the name "DA Kunsthaus Kloster Gravenhorst" already suggests – a program for showcasing. The aim is to also provide a forum for visual artists from the region. Those who think of representational things like willows and meadows in the gentle autumn light of rising and setting suns, and similar treasures of home-connected kitsch craft, are mistaken. Because the word "regional" is interpreted by "DA" as globally and broadly as possible.
Monastery Gravenhorst
The by no means self-evident ambition of the art house, which is supported by the Regional program and is now predominantly supported by the district of Steinfurt, can also be seen in the fact that a scholarship program has been specifically established for the promotion of artistic innovation under the title "Art Communication." Unlike many municipalities that present themselves as art promoters for little money or modest to embarrassing artist accommodations, the funds that "DA" provides to the scholars are exclusively project funds. The jury desires "community-oriented" works, and the projects should "not be planned exclusively for a museum art space."
