Gertrud Mueller Nelson Papers

Gertrud Mueller Nelson is an artist, writer, lecturer, and educator. Born in Cologne, Germany and raised in Minnesota, she is a 1958 graduate of the College of St. Catherine. She went on to study printmaking at the Kölner Werkschulen in Cologne and psychology at the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich. Before raising her three children, she was a Montessori teacher and a high school teacher. She has served on the board of the United States Association of The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGSUSA).

As an artist Nelson is well-known as a book illustrator. She has been called the "mother of all church clip art," since the illustrations in her clip art books have graced the pages of countless parish publications. She has also designed church furnishings, stained glass, and silver jewelry.

A prolific author, Nelson has written about liturgy, ceremony, and sacred art. The role of ritual in family life and public worship is the subject of her book To Dance With God (1986), now a spiritual classic. In Here All Dwell Free (1991), she gives a Jungian perspective on two fairy tales that offer a prescription for healing the feminine elements in the human condition. Among her other books are a collection of prayers for every occasion, Pocket Prayers; a collection of readings and rites for the celebration of a wedding, Sacred Threshold; and a children's book, A Walk Through Our Church. She has also written many articles for Worship, Commonweal, National Catholic Reporter, and other periodicals. Familiar to many as a lecturer, she has presented retreats, keynote addresses, and workshops internationally.