In the Anglican tradition, we commemorate saints and feasts on certain days in our calendar... However, saints (from the Latin sanctus, ‘holy’) eternally encourage us to come into greater familial closeness with our Creator, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. - from the Introduction to Saints & Family, an exhibition of the Episcopal Church.
On View: St Joseph (Jubilee Icon) by Patricia Resmondo.
Exhibition
The Art of Forgiveness : Images of the Prodigal Son
October 4, 2007 - February 17, 2008
at MoBiA
The Museum of Biblical Art
1865 Broadway at 61st Street, New York City
More than 50 prints, sculptures, and paintings by artists including Rembrandt, Pietro Testa and James Tissot will provide a wide-ranging overview of the impact this theme has had on the history of art. ... ducational programs will include a lecture series discussing the impact of the parable on art, literature and theology, featuring Tobias Wolff, well-known author of This Boy's Life and other works and a lecture by Holly Flora, assistant professor of Art History at Tulane University and the exhibition curator. - from the MoBiA website
On View: "Return of the Prodigal Son" by Thomas Hart Benton, ithograph on paper, 1939
Solo Exhibition of Gerard Di Falco at DaVinci Art Alliance
November 1-30 | 2007 | DaVinci Art Alliance
One of Philadelphia’s most prolific, Episcopalian artists, Gerard (Jerry) Di Falco, will exhibit new works at the Da Vinci Art Alliance from November 1-30 in a solo show entitled, “QUANTUM CREATIVITY: RELICS OF THE OLD PHYSICS AND OF THE NEW ART”.
The gallery, located at 704 Catharine Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is just three blocks below South Street. Hours are: Fridays and Saturdays from 12 to 6:00pm; Sundays from 2 to 5:30pm; or, other times by appointment. An opening reception will be held in conjunction with First Fridays on Friday, November 2 from 5:00 to 7:30pm.
On Sunday November 11, Di Falco will present a slide-lecture at 3:00pm, “My Evolution in Art from 1977 to 2007”. A closing reception will be on Thursday, November 29, from 5:00 to 7:30pm, to honor this special artist. Di Falco has exhibited his liturgical and “Spiritual” paintings, icons, digital photos, and mixed media works at The Episcopal Cathedral of Philadelphia, The Pennsylvania Museum of Art, Show of Hands Gallery (shows at Show of Hands curated by Father Paul Harris), three of Box Heart’s Annual SPIRITUAL ART Exhibits, and at the final two years of the SACRED ART shows at the Coventry, Kentucky, Roman Catholic Cathedral. He will also have a solo exhibition of his icons at the CLOISTER GALLERY in Marblehead, MA, in 2008 (the art gallery at St. Andrew’s Episcopal). Read More >
Courtesy of The Philadelphia Episcopalian OnLine
About Words For Peace
Collaborative installation by Thomas Ingmire, Betsy Raymond and Kazumi Atsuta.
In March 2003, dismayed by both the imminent war in Iraq and ongoing U.S. defiance of the global community, Thomas Ingmire invited approximately eighty friends and colleagues to participate in a collective calligraphic project on the subjects of war, fear, and peace. Each person was asked to write out a statement on a 5" x 20" sheet of paper and send it to Thomas, who would then arrange these pieces into a work that would be shown as part of the Friends of Calligraphy exhibit, Kalligraphia X, at the San Francisco Public Library. Thomas also requested that the participants invite their friends, families, and colleagues to contribute statements; children, in particular, were encouraged to take part. To date, more than 750 people from twenty-eight nations have responded. This installation - Words For Peace - is the result.
With the invitations issued and pieces arriving daily in the mail, Thomas set about exploring various formats he might use as the unifying structure for the project. It soon became clear that creating a work whose "whole was greater than the sum of its parts" was going to be a challenge. Meanwhile, something unexpected was happening: Thomas began to realize that the participants' statements were raising questions for him which often felt as provocative as the statements themselves.
One such question was if a war is already in progress - or, in the case of Iraq, about to begin - then no matter how eloquent or heartfelt the protests against that war, do they come too late? A war does not simply start on one day and stop on another; its roots run wide and deep. If we truly want peace, Thomas reasoned, we must do more than protest against war at the eleventh hour. Instead, our day-to-day lives must reflect that desire. Thus the question "how do we achieve peace?" became for Thomas the more encompassing question "how are we to live - as individuals, as nations, as fellow inhabitants of the Earth?" and from that one question, not surprisingly, sprang many others.
Thomas decided to incorporate these questions into the work with the hope that they would prove thought provoking and even, perhaps, inspirational. Ultimately, he chose lanterns to serve as the structural heart of a sizeable installation. The lantern - a symbol not only of the desire to bring light into a world which seems so increasingly dark but also of the challenge which faces us to become more enlightened in and about the world-was a perfect choice.
Read more here>
So often lately I have been reminded of the multitudes of sacred circles that gather across the country. In homes, over coffee, at book clubs and in lunch rooms, people gather with those they know and those they don't know, spending time in silence, study and prayer. Sometimes the time is structured, or even designed around liturgy, like the Easter Vigil shown in Pat Smith's expert photograph above. To my mind, people who sit alone, going solo in prayer and meditation, form sacred circles also. Their invisible circles are joined together by angels and saints.
I predict that these sacred circles will evolve into a habit of active mindfulness. People pausing before actions, decisions or responses; pausing with an intentional listening, watchful of their own consolation and desolation; and, seeking to act fruitfully, with love, patience, generosity, kindness and self-control.
On View: "Easter Vigil New Fire", photograph by Pat Smith. Pat is a photographer resident in the Diocese of California. See more of Pat's photography here.
"Nestled in a scenic valley of the southern Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee in the small community of Sherwood is Epiphany Mission Episcopal Church. People from across the country would visit the little stone church and its walled garden with pools, bricked walkways, multitude of flowers, and open-air chapel. ...
"One of the visitors to Epiphany Mission in 1953 was an accomplished abstract artist named Philip Perkins. He was so taken with the place and its work that he wanted to paint a new altarpiece for the chapel – a gift.
"A native of Tennessee, Perkins was an abstract painter well known for his geometric, cubist influenced work of the forties. Although he was an abstract painter, for the new altarpiece he painted a triptych in a style reminiscent of El Greco's work. ...
"The center panel depicts the Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. Above Christ is the image of a dove representing the Holy Spirit, and the hand of God is seen reaching out to Christ. John the Baptist is holding a staff made of two branches that form a cross. On the right panel is the figure of St. John the Evangelist, the apostle of love. On the left panel is the figure of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron of gardening and wildlife." Text by Dan Hardison. Read more >
(Please note: The editor apologizes for the quality of the image, which is shown here for its historic value. - Mel Ahlborn)
On View: The study for the Epiphany Mission triptych by Philip Perkins, c. 1953, oil on canvas, center pael 40" x 28", side panels 30" x 10". Photo by Dan Hardison. The study is a half-size rendering of the triptych that was installed in Epiphany Mission in 1954. The center panel shows the same depiction of the Baptism of Christ that was in the final version. Read more >
As seen in: Art, Community Story, an Episcopal Church and Visual Arts online exhibition.
The artist writes, "Garden of Eden was commissioned by a clergy couple who wanted a visual reminder in their home of God's original blessing and friendship. I had fun with this painting using animals I was fortunate to see in their natural habitat during missionary service in Uganda (1998). While Eve is talking to the serpent, I continue to smile that the baboons are the ones eating the apple! (lower left)"
On View: Garden of Eden by Barbara Dee Baumgarten; Acrylic on paper, 1999, 58" x 50". The artist is a member of Christ Church, Kalispell, Montana.
As seen in Visual Preludes 2006, an Episcopal Church and Visual Arts exhibition, available in multimedia, DVD format.
God's Unknowableness
This work of art is titled 'The Spirit in Motion', and upon close examination we can see that it does a fine job of illustrating both the immanence and the transcendence of God.
Put simply, the concept of God as immanent speaks to the God of our intellectual and sensory understanding, and addresses those aspects of God that we as humans are able to discern and comprehend. Motion, the moving through time and space, is a quality that we are able to recognize, understand, and even reproduce with a fair amount of ease. The artists' use of 'Motion' in this piece suggests God's energies moving throughout the earth, evoking a clear understanding of God as immanent in the world.
God is both knowable and unknowable, and there are aspects and qualities of God that we are not able to assess, measure, or even describe. God's unknowableness can be thought of as the 'transcendence' of God, the 'transcendent' God, the ephemeral God of our faith beyond our human understanding. The artists' inclusion of 'Spirit' depicts the transcendence of God, through the use of a symbol for Spirit, the dove.
With this idea in mind that God is both knowable and unknowable, we can view art with room for faith to grow. God is both immanently present in our daily and at the same time is transcendently present. Art can assist us in cultivating a wholesome awareness of both.
On View The Spirit in Motion, sterling silver on cedar; collaborative work created by wood artist Margaret Bailey and jewelry artist Nancy Denmark. Both artists are parishioners at The Church of the Epiphany, Houston and are members of the ECVA-Texas Chapter.
On View: Saints Like You and Me
by The Rev. Nancy Mills
(Oil crayon on canvas board, 2006, 24" x 18")
Good Shepherd Episcopal Church - Thomasville, GA
nmills@rose.net
The artist, Nancy Mills, is an Episcopal priest in Georgia. She was featured in the Visual Preludes Resource Guide.
Mills writes, " My interest was to develop a primary image to illustrate the incredible variety amongst the enlightened beings we are each called to be, as we grow into the mind of Christ. I plan to continue to explore this iconic image using a wide variety of media and techniques."
As seen in: All Things in Christ, a Visual Preludes 2006 exhibition of Episcopal Church and Visual Arts. See more here>
For All the Saints
by Kathy Thaden
Mixed Media Mosaic, 2007
8" x 8"
Kathy Thaden is a mosaicist who has exhibited with Episcopal Church and Visual Arts since 2002. On her web site, www.thadenmosaics.com, Kathy writes, "In our throwaway society, Kathy is moved to reinvent and recycle discarded items - old boxes and chipped mirrors to name a few - into objects of art formed in prayer."
As Seen in : "Feasts for the Eyes", an exhibition of Episcopal Church and Visual Arts opening November 1, 2007.
Places of Light
As a child, it was the art in church that filled me with a sense of awe and wonder, due in large part to the fact that the art in church was far more beautiful than anything else in my small, young world. So naturally I grew up to associate beauty with God . And today I continue to seek out God by looking for beauty, in the ordinary and in the aesthetic.
My own knowledge of God is becoming more robust, as are my expectations for art and its capacity to give visibility to God whom I believe seeks to be seen as much as I seek to see. But am I placing responsibility squarely where it belongs? Who's job is it anyway, to 'give visibility to God', the artist, or the viewer?
My calligrapher friend Roy Parker, OHC, offers an answer when he quotes Emmanuel Cardinal Sumaro, " To be a witness does not consist in engaging propaganda, nor in stirring people up, but in being a living mystery."
Photographer Krystyna Sanderson captures a moment of 'living mystery' in her photograph above, 'Places of Light.' Krystyna is a founding member of the ECVA Board, and, with Jack Moody, leads the ECVA-NY Chapter.
On View: Places of Light #3, photograph. Also seen here.
Sanderson writes, "Light #3 is all about light pouring through open door to illuminate dark place. To be in darkness is to be without hope, to be desperate, to give up. But there is nothing more joyous than light when one is in darkness. Light means hope. Light means freedom. Light means life. Our Lord Jesus Christ is our hope, our joy, and our life." - from: It Was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God, Square Halo, 2007.
