Linda Lovas Hoeschler is the match and the striker. She is an endless well of ignition. She has spent her life nurturing the world around her, from personally commissioning music to financially supporting those struggling across the sea to leading the boards of some of the nation’s most prolific enterprises toward success and goodwill. To meet her is to be confounded by how much one woman can hold. She is a writer. She is an entrepreneur. She is an arts leader, an advocate for social justice, a volunteer, a mentor, and the list goes on.
Vast and diverse as these titles are, they are all connected by one single thing: a sense of duty. In the words of Hoeschler, her parents grew up “quite poor,” her mother on a farm in Iowa and her father in New Jersey. So, when Hoeschler grew up in a comfortable, middle-class family, her parents imparted to her how lucky she was to have this upbringing. “Your education is your treasure, and you must use it to give to others in the world,” they told her. “Your obligation is to make this a better community.”
Since then, building up her community (which was originally New York, but now extends across oceans and airways) has been the central focus of Hoeschler’s life. This drive has manifested itself in many different ways, including a successful career as a freelance writer and critic, then a corporate and not for profit executive for institutions such as: Minnesota Governor’s Commission on the Arts, Dayton Hudson (Target) Corporation, National Computer Systems, Landmark Investors, Ltd., and the American Composers Forum.
“I love creation. I believe in adding beauty to the community,” said Hoeschler. “I commission music and furniture and nurture our garden. What I realized is I don’t like owning things. I like the creative process. Working with artists is a core value of mine.”
She serves, and has served, on the board of directors for more than 30 of the most prominent arts and educational organizations in Minnesota and the nation, including: the PBS Undertold Stories Project Advisory Board (Chair); St. Paul Chamber Orchestra Board; Saint John’s University (Chair, Student Development); Madison Council of the Library of Congress; Ordway Music Theatre; Regions Hospital Foundation (Trustee); and more.
Though she doesn’t consider herself an artist, she does have the eye of one. It is not an overstatement to say that everything Hoeschler touches turns to gold. So, when she first encountered The Saint John’s Bible, of course, she had that very same effect.
Turning Sparks to a Flame
Hoeschler’s journey with The Saint John’s Bible began in 2000, in the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean Sea. She was sailing with an old friend, Fr. Eric Hollas, OSB, monk and priest of Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota in the Greek Islands. Being modest, Fr. Hollas did not bring up the Bible for the entirety of the trip. But, when Hoeschler returned home, she encountered an article about The Saint John’s Bible in Smithsonian Magazine. She called Fr. Hollas immediately.
“I said to him, ‘This is a fabulous project. I think you are pretty smart, but it was pretty stupid to never talk about this on the whole trip,’” said Hoeschler. “I love working with artists. That’s what I do.”
Together with her late husband Jack, the Hoeschlers began hosting a series of breakfasts and lunches at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. They both used their extensive board connections to bring in guests who they knew had the means to contribute to the creation of The Saint John’s Bible. The Hoeschlers scheduled these events around times when artist and creative director behind The Saint John’s Bible Donald Jackson – a native of Wales – would be in Minnesota. Jackson attended and presented at every gathering, accompanied by a few of the original pages.
Hella Mears and Bill Hueg are one set of major donors who emerged from the luncheons. Together, the couple acquired an exceedingly rare Edition of The Saint John’s Bible. The gift propelled the project, then very much still in its infancy, to the next checkpoint. “Linda was instrumental to our success,” said Rob Culligan, vice president of institutional advancement at Saint John’s University.
Around the same time, the Hoeschlers were working many angles to try and get the project the funding and exposure it needed to continue. Though it seems unimaginable now, having to abandon a half-finished illuminated Bible was not entirely out of the realm of possibility at the time. Wouldn’t it be wonderful, thought Linda, if the Library of Congress hosted an exhibit of The Saint John’s Bible?
Enter Jim Billington, who had been a librarian for the Library of Congress for more than a decade and happened to be a good friend of Hoeschler’s. Serendipitously, Billington had just asked the Hoeschlers to serve on the Madison Council, a funding and advisory board for the Library. “Jim was very interested in the project. I mean, he was amazed,” recalled Hoeschler. So, in 2006, the two combined their resources to make it happen.
“The Library of Congress built this marvelous superstructure that looked like a monastery walk,” said Hoeschler. The exhibit helped garner national attention for the Bible. In turn, donors came. Later on, in 2015, The Library of Congress would even accept the gift of an Apostles Edition of The Saint John’s Bible in honor of Pope Francis’ visit to the Library.
The efforts continued, and Hoeschler even made multiple (modest in her view) personal financial contributions to the work. She sponsored the Creation Illumination, which she dedicated to her family. When her daughter Kristen Hoeschler got married in 2003, Hoeschler dedicated the Sower of the Seed illumination to their marriage. In the illumination, the artist left out a line. Instead of starting over, the artist drew a bird carrying the dropped line up to the original to mend the mistake – a common practice throughout The Saint John’s Bible.
“I said to our daughter and son-in-law, ‘That’s what marriage is like,’” said Hoeschler. “Mistakes will be made, but you can find ways to heal, and you may be stronger at the end because of it. You can correct mistakes beautifully.”
She made many dedications such as these during the making of the original pages – and her involvement didn’t stop there. When it came time to produce fine art facsimiles of The Saint John’s Bible, known as the Apostles and Heritage Editions, Hoeschler was right there to facilitate. In many cases, she watched Donald Jackson proof the Heritage Edition pages right next to the artist himself to ensure fidelity to the original.
“Music is healing, it’s inspirational, and it makes you think.” – Linda Lovas Hoeschler
The most recent flower to have bloomed out of the confluence of Linda Hoeschler and The Saint John’s Bible is a Missa Brevis by composer Dominique Le Gendre, who was born in Trinidad, educated in Paris, and lives in London. In 2023, Hoeschler and her husband Peter Blyberg joined The Saint John’s Bible 25th Anniversary Dedication Tour across England. Just before the trip, Hoeschler and Blyberg met Le Gendre at a dinner, through a mutual connection of Peter’s sister Ann Blyberg, who is a human rights lawyer.
“While Peter and I were meeting people from these renowned Cathedrals in England during the tour, behind-the-scenes, I would seek out the music director and tell them I’d found a brilliant composer, Le Gendre,” said Hoeschler. “I asked if they were interested in a piece of music that she would write and we would underwrite.”
As it turned out, Canterbury Cathedral was very interested. So, Hoeschler and Blyberg commissioned a piece by Le Gendre to be performed at the Cathedral. The Missa Brevis, titled Laudatoe Si’: in praise of the unsung who quietly labour for the good of all Creatures, Humankind and our planet Earth, Pope Francis’ Second Encyclical, premiered at Canterbury Cathedral on November 18, 2024. The piece was commissioned in honor of Ann Blyberg and a lifetime devoted to upholding human rights.Click here to watch the performance under the music direction of David Newsholme.
Hoeschler has commissioned 90 musical compositions throughout her lifetime. It’s how she shows her love for music and her appreciation for composers and musicians. She also spends her time inspiring others to commission pieces. In 1991, Hoeschler and her late husband started the Minnesota Commissioning Club (MCC), which just had its final performance after 33 years. The Hoeschlers commissioned 25 total musical arrangements through the MCC. Since its inception, the Club has become a model for other such patrons-driven commissioning groups.
“The privilege of working with a live artist rather than always listening to something safe and curated is what inspires me,” said Hoeschler. “I think it’s why I’m captivated by the Bible. It’s a living project. I am an art collector, but never an art collector for investments. When I look around my home, I see artists I’ve commissioned or people I’ve known. The story of how I got the piece and the conversations, that’s what I love.”
Giving Back and Back and Back
In her journey to uplift and nurture the soul of the world, the change that Hoeschler sought was both personal and structural. Hoeschler is a former president of the Delegation for Friendship Among Women.This relationship helped her make many friends in countries in the Global South to whom she offers advice, resources, or connections.
Hoeschler also makes a point to develop supportive relationships with folks who are struggling in her community of St. Paul, Minnesota. She underwrites YMCA memberships, birthday parties and vacations and helps people find homes and education.
“We have a lot of people who call us mom and dad,” said Hoeschler of her and her husband. “I really do think that each of us can look around and there are people who need help. You don’t have to take on 45 people. You can take on a family or two and just help them. It’s about helping people not feel so hopeless or like they’re not going to have a chance.”
This work isn’t new to Hoeschler. In the 1960s, Hoeschler and her late husband Jack Hoeschler were VISTA volunteers in Chicago, Illinois. Hoeschler ran a Hull House center in a Chicago housing project, while her husband, Jack Hoeschler, an attorney, fought for social justice. Hoeschler says the experience made them more conservative in some ways and more radical in others.
“Opportunities are all around us if we just take the time to look,” said Hoeschler. “So many people ask me, ‘How did you and Jack get involved in this or that? The answer is: I called. I met somebody. I think it was all because we were willing to roll up our sleeves and try to make things happen.”
The Saint John’s Bible: Igniting the Spiritual Imagination
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