Cornelia "Nena" H. Bryans

May 6, 1930 - March 26, 2019

Cornelia (Nena) Hale Bryans - Sculptor, Church Educator of Rosemont, PA. a native of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, died March 26, 2019 A graduate of Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, she received a Masters of Christian Education from the Presbyterian School of Christian Education (now Union Presbyterian Seminary) in Richmond, Virginia. She served as a church educator on the staff of several Presbyterian churches including the First Presbyterian Church of Las Cruces, New Mexico; First Presbyterian Church of Montgomery, Alabama; Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church and Gladwyne Presbyterian Church. She served as a Trustee of Union/PSCE, and as an adjunct professor. She was a Carl Howie Lecturer in 2000 and honored in 2002 with the Distinguished Alumni Award. Mrs. Bryans worked for eight years for the Foreign Policy Association both in the Atlanta Regional Office and in the national office in New York City before moving to Philadelphia after her marriage to Robert G. Bryans a Philadelphia native. She developed an ability and passion for figurative sculpture in her late thirties. She studied sculpture at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and many of her award winning sculptures are in churches, seminaries, colleges and private collections. In 1988 she authored a book entitled Full Circle - A Proposal to the Church for an Arts Ministry. She was also a founding member of AURA (Association Uniting Religion and Art), a Philadelphia based organization, which was active from 1985 to 2005. AURA sought to provide better understanding and cooperation between artists and the church. Mrs. Bryans was an active member of Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church since 1968 serving on the Adult Education Council and the Fine Arts Council. With her husband she served as a volunteer for many years on the Board of Chester Eastside Ministries, an urban ministry of Philadelphia Presbytery, retiring in 2005. Mrs. Bryans is survived by a son, Scott Harrison Bryans of Denver, Colorado; a daughter, Beth Bryans Laird (Joe) of Downingtown, PA. She is also survived by a granddaughter Eliana Bryn Laird. Her husband Robert G. Bryans, brother Dayton Foster Hale and a twin sister Frances H. Patterson, pre-deceased her. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to the Hunger Committee at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church or Bread for the World (bread.org).