The lobby of General Theological Seminary (GTS) resembled opening night at a New York City art gallery as patrons of the Episcopal Church and Visual Arts (ECVA) came out for the October 6 reception in honor of its first 'hard copy' exhibition titled "The Vision Glorious."
"Art and faith are intrinsically intertwined on our spiritual journeys," said Krystyna Sanderson, chair of the New York Chapter of ECVA. "God calls artists to be his eyes and fingers, hearts, and souls -- to express what must be said, but what cannot be said in words, to utter the unutterable. Artists make the invisible visible in the world."
Sanderson, a fine art and commercial photographer, whose work also was on display, said the rationale behind doing the 'hard copy' show was to show the art in its original size. "Being able to see the texture, [to] see the art and speak with the artist ... there's nothing like it," she said.
Now in its fifth year, ECVA, the brainchild of Phoebe Griswold, started in cyberspace. Griswold said it was born out of a conversation she had with sculptor Gurdon Brewster about encouraging the visual arts in the Episcopal Church.
She said that her expectations for ECVA are to "be a catalyst for the creation and implementation of the visual arts in the life of the Episcopal Church."
In his welcoming address, GTS dean Ward Ewing said, "GTS has a growing commitment to theology and the arts."
Many of the 20 artists whose work was on display -- some of which was for sale -- were present to explain their pieces.
Amy Real Coultas, a GTS seminarian in her senior year, displayed her work titled "In Every," where fabric, paint, thread and wire were used to depict Mary and Elizabeth. She said her inspiration was drawn from "a recent class I took on the Gospel of Luke."
"God gave us a special gift of creativity to express human pain, sickness, death and broken relationships, but also his grace, mercy and healing, peace and hope and beauty," Sanderson said. "We do this with oils, acrylic, watercolor, Pearl Iridescent pigment, egg tempera, pastels, pencil, wood, stones, bronze, 24-carat gold, fiber, silk, silver gelatin, emulsion transfer, computer images, digital photography..."
Sanderson thanked Caroline Coolidge Brown, artist and wife of a GTS seminarian, for suggesting and securing GTS for the exhibit. Brown's work, titled "Annunciation," was a mixed media on paper and canvas.
Sanderson said that Christian artists are spreading the fragrance of God everywhere "because 'we are the aroma of Christ.'"
To date ECVA has had 17 online exhibitions that can be viewed at: http://www.ecva.org/exhibition/exhibition_archive.htm.
The exhibit continues at GTS through October 28.
ECVA has chapters in New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, Philadelphia, and Texas. For further information visit http://www.ecva.org or call Krystyna Sanderson at 212.673.5430.
