wfn.org | [ENS] Visual Arts 'Hard Copy' exhibition on view at General Seminary

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

Daybook, from Episcopal News Service

October 7, 2005 -- Friday Forum

Visual Arts 'Hard Copy' exhibition on view at General Seminary

By Daphne Mack

[Episcopal News Service] 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 28 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 Martha. 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 and Texas.
For
further information visit http://www.ecva.org or call Krystyna Sanderson
at
212.673.5430.

-- Daphne Mack is staff writer for Episcopal News Service.

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