“John de Menil wrote, “The split that now exists between the Church and creative art is of a concern to many. It is also a challenge … I have promised myself to encourage, within my means and reach, any attempt made to keep up the great tradition of the Church.”

That  opportunity came in 1959, in the New York studio of artist Mark Rothko, where the artist was working on a group of paintings for the Seagram building.  As Dominique wrote after the visit, the artist’s work would be “remarkable… for a chapel… so beautiful and religious.” In 1964 the de Menils asked the painter if he would be willing to design a suite of paintings for a Catholic chapel for the University of St. Thomas in Houston. Architect Philip Johnson agreed to collaborate with Rothko on the project.  

As it evolved, the de Menils and the University of St. Thomas diverged on the purpose of the chapel. The Basilian Fathers’ ideas were more traditional than what the de Menils envisioned, and in 1969 the couple redefined the chapel as a non-sectarian worship space, siting it on land one block west of the university campus.”