By emphasizing the texture and color quality to create a personal representation, not a photographic likeness, his interpretation is of the experiences with the elder and monastery through his painting style. The style is in the details. The wrinkles, the moles, the gray hairs, and the shiny glasses give each portrait a personal touch that portray them so realistically. The backgrounds, which McGinnis said he adds later, reflect the environment and city of the Benedictine. There is a lone tree in a field from Watertown, SD, an apple tree in Crookstown, MN, and a palm tree and cactus in Tucson, AZ, with an added texture that looks like still-wet liquid paint.
Visitors can also sit on the benches and read the interviews of the elders.
McGinnis said there is transparent goodness displayed by the many women and men he spent time interviewing and painting. I felt their goodness, their humbleness, their dedication to a life of serving God. I walked away humbled and at peace.