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The Biola University Library, La Mirada, CA
Andrew and Jennie Mitchell attended Biola University early in their marriage according to Jennie's biography Jennie and the Song of the Meadowlark. Fast forward 105 years later, and Biola is honoring A.E. Mitchell's artistry and ministry by accepting the "Victory Vase" as an addition to its collection of outdoor sacred art (proposed diagram below). The Biola library above in La Mirada, CA, is home to his archives as well.
The placement of the Victory Vase, created by Andrew in 1941 will cause visitors and students to look into the story of the artist...who was A.E. Mitchell and what did he do? They will find a wealth of info and will be blessed and inspired by his life's work and ministry. QR codes will be placed at the site of the vase directing the curious to a website about his life, ministry, and art, and more about the Victory Vase story and why it was dedicated to Andrus Merritt.
One of hundreds of Andrew's plaques above. This one was created for Biola with the old downtown Los Angeles building and school motto.
The campus will hold walking tours of all of the art, and they want the Victory Vase at the beginning or end of the tour. It will be the oldest piece on campus, and will be placed outside the Talbot School of Theology building, Myers Hall. Louis T. Talbot was a friend of the Mitchells, former pastor and former President of Biola.
This photo of Andrew, Jennie and Dr. Talbot was taken
for publication in the LA Times in 1957.
The Victory Vase was designed by Andrew in a mosaic style, with two lilies, one on either side. Several rocks in the piece are from mission fields all over the world, brought back by missionaries at Andrew's request. It is extremely heavy (several tons), and was moved by crane off of Andrew's sister Eva's property, next door to the Mitchell compound, in Los Angeles, in 2018 through donations from friends and family due to a property sale and new development.
Moving the vase from one side of the campus to the other, anchoring it in place, installing landscaping, creating a walkway around it, are plans detailed in the drawing below. They have removed the benches to allow for students to congregate more easily with the chairs and tables in that area. See the AI rendering below.
The stamped concrete walkways that Andrew originally placed around the vase will be replicated and the vase is surrounded by two very large pepper trees! As many family members know there was a much beloved pepper tree with swing on the original family property...photo below.
Andrew with the vase in the 1950s. The family home is in the background. The retaining walls seen here are still intact. In the drawing below, placement is right outside the Talbot School of Theology building, Myers Hall, a favorite place for students to gather and study.
Original pepper tree swing. The seating is for the many
Go-Ye Fellowship services held on the property.
Marietta, Andrew and Bryant in the photo.
AI rendering of the vase outside Myers Hall, visible from Biola's main gate. The cobblestone pattern around the vase is reminiscent of the pattern we see in the background of Andrew's carved plaques.
The amount of $29,000 will cover this design work, irrigation work, landscaping, benches around the vase, repairs to the vase, installation of a copy of the original plaque on the base, transportation of materials with equipment, signage, admin costs.
In the words of a family member, this project is part of A.E. Mitchell's desire to create spiritual products to build the Kingdom of God. He used his art from an early age to support his family and to evangelize, and placing the Victory Vase in a public place is an opportunity to continue his legacy of ministry with art.
Many images of Andrew's sacred plaques are at the end of this story.
To assist family members on the mission field, please consider a gift to them as well. They are on the front lines, sharing the Gospel. Here are their donation links and if additional family members should be listed here, please contact me.
Bryant and Anne Wilhelmsen
Joy Russell
Peter and Tammy Russell
GIVING NOTE: Your gifts for the Vase project can be anonymous and can also be made outside of this platform directly to Biola for a tax receipt at this link: https://giving.
Please contact me should you have any questions.
Thank you!
Lori Warner, great-granddaughter to A.E. Mitchell
For assistance and consulting through this 8-year project, thanks goes to Bryant and Anne Wilhelmsen, Wayne Warner, Avonna Lee Anderson, John Morken, Andrew and Dixie Mitchell, Anne Hanchett, George Merritt, Mary Morken, Joy Clancy, Joy Russell, Alice Jean Russell Williams, David and Synnove Mitchell, Ethan Mentze, Kelli Hendrickson, Janet Gagnon, the Art, Library Archives and Facilities staff members at Biola, and the staff at GlobalGrace Fellowship (formerly Go-Ye Fellowship, Andrew and Jennie Mitchell's missions organization, established in 1932.)
