commission4mission's new website

See a fantastic variety of artwork, of which the above is a sample, on our new website. The site is up and running with artist's profiles combined with information on: our commissions; the commissioning process; online sales; background information; events; and our charitable donations.

commission4mission has worked with freshSPRING to develop this website showcasing our work. 

The website also has all of our posts from this blog. In future, our posts will all appear on the website blog rather than this blog. As a result, if you wish to stay up-to-date with commission4mission's news please bookmark http://www.commission4mission.org/blogs/. 

New website for commission4mission

commission4mission has been working with freshSPRING to develop a website showcasing our work.

Our new website is now up and running with artist's profiles combined with information on: our commissions; the commissioning process; online sales; background information; events; and our charitable donations.

The website also has all of our posts from this blog. In future, our posts will all appear on the website blog rather than this blog. As a result, if you wish to stay up-to-date with commission4mission's news please bookmark http://www.commission4mission.org/blogs/.

Members' update: Andrew Vessey and Ken James

Andrew Vessey is part of an exhibition at the Aldeburgh Gallery from 21-27 November. The  group of artists showing together had a successful show in the Pears Galley earlier in the Autumn and this is another chance to tap into that town's celebration of the Britten Anniversary Year.

Ken James has a watercolour exhibition through December at the Bishop of London's old residence, Fulham Palace, on the River Thames at Putney Bridge. Many attending will also enjoy the Tudor building and paintings at this Palace which was the Bishop of London's summer residence from 700AD. The Private View is on Sunday 24th November, 2-4pm, and 50% of all sales go to the Palace's charitable trust. Prints will be available too.

Charitable donations - Rejuvenate Worldwide and St Francis Hospice

Each year commission4mission makes a donation to a chosen charity with the money donated having been raised through commissions and sales obtained in the preceding year. This year our committee members have asked that our annual donation - which amounts to £676 - be given to Rejuvenate Worldwide and St Francis Hospice.

Rejuvenate Worldwide is a non-denominational Christian charity working in the UK, Africa (Uganda) and other countries. Their vision is to give young people the opportunities to reach out to other across the world less fortunate than themselves. This vision is a pragmatic response linking the issues facing young people from deprived areas in the UK and people, mainly young people, in the developing world to help bring about hope and change in the lives of those we work with.

Saint Francis Hospice is a centre of excellence in the care of those with life limiting illnesses.  Their team of specialist consultants, doctors, nurses and health care assistants provide practical and emotional support for adults of all ages and give specialist bereavement support to family members from as young as 20 months. Their teams provide care in the home, inpatient care at the hospice, day care at our centre together with a full range of therapies and treatments.  This care extends beyond physical treatment of symptoms; we consider the emotional, psychological, spiritual and social needs of our patients, their families, children and carers.

Over the first four years of our existence we have been able to donate £5,612 to charities, with our earlier donations going to Haven House, Sightsavers International, Smile Train UK, and Safer Places.

Annual Report 2012-13

Incarnation exhibition at Wimbledon Library Gallery

In 2012/13 commission4mission has made a significant contribution to the mission of the Church during the Olympic and Paralympic periods through our involvement in the ‘Run with the Fire’ project. We have also held a launch event in South London, exhibited at venues across London and collaborated with a wide range of visual and performing artists. Our committee has also prepared plans for commission4mission to have a greater online presence from 2013 onwards.

During 2012/13 commission4mission has:

• completed our ninth commission, heads of Christ and Mary Magdalene as painted wooden reliefs, by Peter Webb for Dagenham Park Church of England School;
• exhibited at All Saints West Ham, the Strand Gallery as part of the Pentecost Festival, All Saints Woodford Wells as part of the Barking Episcopal Area Arts Festival and at Wimbledon Library Gallery for a Christmas show entitled ‘Incarnation’ curated by Wendy McTernan;
• contributed to Run with the Fire, in partnership with CANA and Veritasse, which saw events run using the digital exhibition in Aldersbrook, California, Devonport, Harlow, Leicester, London, Sacramento, Streatham and Woodford;

Steve Scott performing at the Run with the Fire exhibition’s launch night

• organised art talks (by Jonathan Evens, Mark Lewis, Glenn Lowcock and Steve Scott), an art demonstration by Harvey Bradley, a Big Draw workshop led by Mark Lewis, Francesca Ross and Peter Webb, and performance evenings featuring Colin Burns, Tim Cunningham, Jonathan Evens, Jane Grell, Malcolm Guite, Alan Hitching, Jenny Houghton, Tamsin Kendrick and Steve Scott;
• published, through Seed Resources, a collection of images and meditations on the Passion of Christ by Jonathan Evens and Henry Shelton; 
• contributed articles by Jonathan Evens, Helen Gheorghui Gould and Steven Saxby to a special arts edition of franciscan magazine; 
• donated £668.46 to Safer Places, in support of their work with victims of domestic abuse, this being the charitable element from our third year of operation. 

We are very grateful to: all members for their support and involvement; all committee members (Harvey Bradley, Rev. Helen Gheorghiu Gould, Mark Lewis, Wendy McTernan, Henry Shelton and Peter Webb - Chair) for their direction and guidance; our Patron, Bishop David, for his ideas and interest; and Ranjit Solomon for his independent examination of our accounts.

Rev. Jonathan Evens, Secretary – June 2013

Newsletter No. 13 – August 2012

Steve Scott performing at the Launch Night for the 'Run with the Fire' exhibition



Running with the Fire – events, exhibitions & coverage

California, Devonport, Leicester, London and Streatham. ArtServe, ArtWay, Church & Art Network, Down The Line and Transpositions. These are just some of the places and publications where Run with the Fire, the arts project for the 2012 Olympic year organised by CANA, commission4mission and Veritasse, has featured to date.

c4m organised a Run with the Fire exhibition at London’s Strand Gallery for the Pentecost Festival.  Original work by 17 c4m and invited artists complemented the Run with the Fire digital exhibition (featuring the work of 25 international artists) to create a stimulating and exciting show with an eclectic mix of styles and media which explored the broad theme of running life's race with passion and spirit.

The exhibition also included a day of art talks (by Jonathan Evens, Mark Lewis, Glenn Lowcock and Steve Scott), an art demonstration by Harvey Bradley and a packed Launch Night performance evening featuring Colin Burns, Jonathan Evens, Malcolm Guite, Tamsin Kendrick and Steve Scott.

Tamsin Kendrick performed vibrant, earthy poems based on the parable of the Prodigal Son and Psalm 139, Steve Scott shared work in progress based on incidents from John's Gospel, Colin Burns played three pieces from his debut CD Emerald&Gold, Jonathan Evens read his Run with the Fire poem and a Mark of the Cross meditation, while Malcolm Guite made a great job of linking themes from the artworks and other performances with poems from his sonnet sequence for the Church Year and from his CD Dancing through the fire.

Oak Hills Church in Folsom, California has shown the Run with the Fire digital exhibition at their Art&Soul Gallery throughout the Olympic period. Oak Hills wrote that they were "pleased to be a part of this international event [showing] the amazing works of Christian artists from around the world." The digital exhibition also featured at the Inflame exhibition organised by Love Streatham for this year’s Streatham Festival and at Colours of Life, an assembly for the Diocese of Leicester held at Samworth Enterprise Academy.

Run with the Fire has also stimulated a community art exhibition with creative workshops project organised by Army of Artists. Joy Lawrence wrote in the ‘Plymouth Herald’ of this project – “This is my kind of art: beautiful, touching, stunning, understandable ... If you want to be inspired, encouraged, uplifted, dare I say – touched by the presence of God, take a visit to the Run With The Fire Exhibition at St Aubyn's in Devonport.”

Articles about the Run with the Fire project have featured in the publications of ArtServe, ArtWay, Church & Art Network, Down The Line, and Transpositions. In these pieces Steve Scott of CANA has said that an event like “Run with the Fire” creates opportunities to build partnering relationships, while using a “current event” (like the Olympics) as a platform for engaging and working with artists and communities. When we combine [the digital exhibition] with an opportunity for local or regional response in the form of an accompanying exhibit of artwork, we are building bridges between cultures using the latest technology and creating space for local artistic response. An exhibit like this not only opens the door for mission but also represents, via the arts and cultural diversity, something of the expressive and learning life of a healthy church.

Copies of the Run with the Fire DVD can be purchased via http://www.veritasse.co.uk/cards-prints/most-popular/run-with-the-fire-dvd-pack/. A preview of the Run with the Fire digital exhibition can be seen at  http://youtu.be/nFBGZDgFaw4, while for up-to-date news of the project see http://runwiththefire.blogspot.com/.

AGM: The c4m AGM was held in June at All Saints West Ham. The evening included: a drinks reception; viewing of the c4m exhibition located at All Saints; Colin Burns performing tracks from his debut album Emerald&Gold; a talk by Mark Lewis on 'Stanley Spencer - A visionary of our time' followed by personal reminiscences of Spencer as art tutor at the RCA from Joy Rousell Stone.

Charitable donation: This year our annual charitable donation - which in 2012 amounted to £668.46 – has gone to Safer Places in support of their work with victims of domestic abuse.

Member profile: Ken James Ashby

Ken studied Fine Art at Camberwell School of Art and considers himself to be of the romantic school of art, responding to the beauty he sees around him and painting in different styles depending on the subject itself. He draws influences from many different quarters, also painting in response to modern ugliness, whether it is torture, terrorism or environmental disaster/global warming.

Charitable donation - Safer Places

Each year commission4mission makes a donation to a chosen charity with the money donated having been raised through commissions and sales obtained in the preceding year. This year our committee members have asked that our annual donation - which this year amounts to £668.46 - go to Safer Places in support of their work with victims of domestic abuse.

Safer Places is an independent domestic abuse charity dedicated to supporting adults and children affected by domestic abuse. They are able to provide a wide range of services to support users and respond to individual needs and circumstances, whether it is in their refuge accommodation or in the community.
All their services work in a holistic and empowering way to help enable users to live independent lives free from domestic abuse.

Over the first three years of our existence we have been able to donate £4,936 to charities, with our earlier donations going to Haven House, Sightsavers International, and Smile Train UK.
 

AGM & Annual Report

The AGM for commission4mission was held today at All Saints West Ham. The evening included: a drinks reception; viewing of the c4m exhibition located at All Saints; Colin Burns performing tracks from his debut album Emerald&Gold; a talk by Mark Lewis on 'Stanley Spencer - A visionary of our time' followed by personal reminiscences of Spencer as art tutor at the RCA from Joy Rousell Stone. The evening concluded with the AGM itself.

Annual Report 2011-12

Commissions at All Saints Hutton, St John’s Seven Kings & St Margaret’s Great Ilford

In 2011/12, our third year of operation, commission4mission has continued to develop its work, made key decisions for its future, and undertaken work in partnership with other arts and faith organisations.

During 2011/12 commission4mission has:

·        completed commissions for artworks at All Saints Hutton, St John’s Seven Kings and St Margaret’s Great Ilford;

·        gained commissions for artworks at Christ Church ThamesView and Dagenham Park Church of England School;

·        maintained a changing display of member’s work at All Saints West Ham and organised exhibitions at Holy Trinity with St Augustine of Hippo Leytonstone, St Martin-in-the-Fields, St Mary Magdalene Billericay and Tokarska Gallery;

commission4mission exhibition, Crypt Gallery at St Martin-in-the-Fields

·        held an evening of art talks by Dr Graham Gould and Mark Lewis, led with Dr Philip Jenson an art workshop at St Paul’s Harlow which produced a design for a frieze, and organised a Study Day on the value of public art (also at St Paul’s Harlow);

·        worked in partnership with CANA and Veritasse (Run with the Fire, an international art project for churches in the 2012 Olympic year) and also with Art & Christianity Enquiry and Harlow Art Trust (Study Day on the value of public art);

·        completed the Run with the Fire digital exhibition and event guidance materials and produced a DVD containing these materials; and

‘Running Towards The Goal’ by Erland Sibuea,

part of the ‘Run with the Fire’ digital exhibition.

·        produced Condemned, a creative reflection for Lent  illustrated with contemporary art works by seven member artists, accompanied by the words of Isaiah 53;

·        donated £1,568 split between Sightsavers and SmileTrain, this being the charitable element from our second year of operation.

We are very grateful to: all members for their support and involvement; all committee members for their direction and guidance; our Patron, Bishop David, for his ideas and interest; and Ranjit Solomon for his independent examination of our accounts.

Rev. Jonathan Evens, Secretary – May 2012

Brighter futures through charitable donations

commission4mission recently made its annual charitable donation from the charitable element in its commissions and sales. £784.00 was given to both Sightsavers and SmileTrain.

Sightsavers write: "Thank you very much for the generous donation of £784.00 from commission4mission and for choosing to support Sightsavers ... Seven-year-old Murtaza Mir, from Pakistan, was born with cataracts in both eyes. He had never seen his village or his family clearly. It was a 645km bus trip for Murtaza and his mother to reach the Sightsavers-supported Korangi Hospital for cataract surgery. The day after surgery some of his sight had started to return and he could see his mother's face. Your support will ensure a brighter future for more people like Murtaza."

SmileTrain write: "SmileTrain would like to extend a big thank you to all those involved with this special fundraising effort!

With your help, we will provide more free cleft surgeries this year than we ever thought opossible. The surgery you are helping us provide is really a modern day medical miracle. In as little as 45 minutes, for as little as £150, this surgery gives a desparate child not just a new smile, but a second chance at life!" 

2011's charitable donations

commission4mission has recently made its annual charitable donation accrued over the previous financial year from our commissions and sales.
Following our first full year of operation we were able to make a donation of £2,700 to the children's hospice, Haven House. This year we have been able to donate £1,568 split between Sightsavers International and the Smile Train UK.

Sightsavers International is a charity which works with partners to eliminate avoidable blindness and promote equality of opportunity for disabled people in the developing world.

The mission of Smile Train UK is focused on solving a single problem - cleft lip and palate - by providing free cleft surgery for millions of poor children in developing countries and free cleft-related training for doctors and medical professionals.