Run with the Fire update

Run with the Fire has entered a new and really exciting phase with a series of initiatives around the country. Read about what is happening in Streatham and Plymouth and see more of the RWTF artwork in our newsletter - click here! Then go to the Run with the Fire blog for the latest stories such as Colours of Life, Inflame and God in the Park.

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

The Visitor and Reaching Beyond

The Visitor, by Smith and Moore, is a small, sturdy sculpture which draws its inspiration from the ancient Jewish story of the Burning Bush. This tells of a trigger moment when a device (the Burning Bush – see Exodus chapter 3, verse 2) led to liberation from slavery. This device, The Visitor, seeks to stimulate people to reach beyond existing expectations, boundaries and relationships.

Some people find contemporary art remote. The Visitor was made to be touched, handled, moved around and photographed. It is not exactly a flame, a leaf, or an eye. That is the point; what you see or think or feel is what The Visitor is for you.

From early 2012 The Visitor has been on an uncharted journey via churches and other organisations through five London boroughs (Greenwich, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest)  with photographs, videos, poems or notes of what happens being posted at http://www.reachingbeyond.co.uk/ and due to be used in the Reaching Beyond exhibition along with the Visitor, if it survives the journey!

The Reaching Beyond exhibition at Bow Road Methodist Church (2 Merchant Street, London E3 4LY) will include the work of about twenty artists, with works in various forms including paintings, icons, sculptures, mosaics, cartoons and fabrics. The works will be augmented week-by-week with the winning works of the young people’s art competitions and the poetry competitions. Admission free. Normal opening hours 12 noon to 6.00 pm Monday to Saturday. 23 July to 1 September 2012.

Reaching Beyond is coordinated by Colloquy, an art and theology project which is part of the Methodist Church. The group has an inclusive remit, and welcome involvement from people of all faiths and none. We are very pleased to be able to provide information about this exciting project as a result of recent contact with Colloquy.

'Run with the Fire' on YouTube

A promotional presentation for 'Run with the Fire' is now available to be viewed on YouTube. The presentation outlines the project, shows examples of work included and gives information for ordering copies of the 'Run with the Fire' pack.

  

Every 'Run with the Fire' pack includes:

·        a digital exhibition on DVD with a 2 year licence for use in the purchasing church

·        an electronic book and planning aid produced by three experienced Christian event organisers, with samples and templates to save you time and effort

·        telephone, skype or e-mail support to help you use the pack effectively

·        access to a large pool of Christian artists who you may wish to involve in your project   

Each 'Run with the Fire' pack costs £50.00 (any profits, go to Oxfam) and can be bought from http://www.veritasse.co.uk/ or by contacting Sue Newham on 01686 626228.

Run With The Fire

‘Run With The Fire’ is an arts project for the London 2012 Olympics, organised by CANA, commission4mission and Veritasse, based on the image of fire which links the Church’s Pentecost celebration with that of the Olympic runner. 24 international artists were selected by a jury which included Dianne B. Collard (Director of Ministries - Europe for Artists in Christian Testimony International), Martin Crampin (Artist, researcher and designer), and Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker (Editor-in-Chief of ArtWay).

The project began with each artist writing a statement to describe their vision of ’Running With The Fire’ for the other artists involved. Each artist is creating an artwork, using the idea of another artist as a starting point. This aspect of the project simulates the idea of a relay, with ideas being passed from one artist to the next. The final product will be a virtual exhibition on DVD/CD-Rom for display on large scale HD TV or monitor, or for projection using a digital projector. This virtual exhibition of international artwork can then be presented alongside arts events, exhibitions or other Olympics-themed events organized by local churches during 2012.

Run with the Fire (3)

45 artists have asked to be considered to take part in the Run With The Fire project, which is a collaboration between CANA, commission4mission and Veritasse. Their submissions are now with the jury members who are finalising the list of artists they wish to see included. We are very privileged to have Martin Crampin, Marleen Henglaar– Rookmaaker and Dr Dianne Collard as our jurors.


We hope to be notifying artists of the jury’s decision by mid– February.

Run with the Fire will run alongside the London Olympics in 2012. This summer, we will be publicising the project to churches and encouraging them to sign up for a Run with the Fire arts event in their area, with the digital art exhibition acting as a catalyst for art workshops, exhibitions and community events.

If your church would like to receive more information about this, please e-mail Sue Newham on membership@veritasse.co.uk and express an interest.

Update: commissions and projects

'The Baptism of Jesus' by Rosalind Hore has been installed at St Edmund Tyseley and a date is being sought for the dedication of the painting which has been donated to the church by Jonathan Evens in memory of his father, Rev. Phil Evens, a former Vicar of the Parish.

Caroline Richardson has begun work on the windows which she has designed for St Peter Harold Wood. Her two windows show complementary images containing John 10.10 (I have come that they may have life and have it to the full) and in the other, John 8.12 (I am the light of the world).

The faculty has been obtained for the etched glass windows designed by Henry Shelton for All Saints Hutton. Each window will celebrate a different saint using Shelton's trademark minimal but flowing lines to form symbols of each saint.

A faculty is being sought for a sculpture in the new community garden at St John Seven Kings. This sculpture which has been designed in discussion with the community garden planning group incorporates a mosaic which will be created by Viki Isherwood-Metzler.

Mark Lewis has had an initial design for a holy water stoup approved by St Margaret Great Ilford and is also undertaking research for the Art Trail which commission4mission is creating for the Barking Episcopal Area. Mark has identified 40 churches in the Episcopal Area with artworks which may feature in the Trail. These include work by artists such as Hans Feibusch, Eric Gill, John Hutton and John Piper.

Submissions are being sought for Run with the fire, an Olympics-themed art project instigated by CANA, commission4mission and Veritasse. The project will create a virtual exhibition of international artwork for presention alongside Olympics-themed arts events or exhibitions organized by local churches in 2012. The closing date for submissions is 19th November and each submission will be considered by a jury/selection committee invited by the steering group which includes Dianne B. Collard (Director of Ministries - Europe for Artists in Christian Testimony International), Martin Crampin (Artist, researcher and designer), and Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker (Editor-in-Chief of ArtWay).

Run with the fire (2)

Run with the fire, the Olympics-themed project on which we are collaborating with CANA and Veritasse, is featured in the current edition of Mosaic, the e-zine from StoneWorks. Click here for a link to their piece highlighting our call for submissions.

The closing date for Run with the fire submissions is 19th November. 

RUN WITH THE FIRE: Call for Submissions

‘Run With The Fire’ is an arts project for the London 2012 Olympics organized by CANA, commission4mission and Veritasse based on the image of fire which links the Church’s Pentecost celebration with that of the Olympic runner.

The images that seeded this project come from the celebration of Pentecost, with its tongues of fire, new languages, and promise of dreams and visions, plus the Olympic games, with its running messenger carrying forward the burning torch and its dreams of cross cultural harmony. The vision of Pentecost, and also of the Olympics, is one of celebration and cross-cultural understanding. As a result, our title ’Run With The Fire’ emerged.

PROJECT

Artists and designers, selected to be part of the project, will begin by writing a statement to describe their vision of ’Running With The Fire’ for the other artists/designers involved. Each artist/designer will then create an artwork, using the idea of another artist/designer as a starting point. This aspect of the project simulates the idea of a relay, with ideas being passed from one artist/designer to the next.

Artists will make their work available electronically for use in the project, so that the mapping of ideas as they travel from one artist to another can become part of the final product. The resulting virtual exhibition will be available on DVD, for display on large scale HD TV or monitor, or for projection using a digital projector. This virtual exhibition of international artwork will be presented alongside arts events or exhibitions organized by local churches.

’Run With The Fire’ also aims to provide an electronic resource package, to accompany the virtual exhibition, which will give ideas for churches on how to organize and facilitate community arts events. These local events will enrich the experiences of those attending and will provide a context for the ’Run With The Fire’ exhibition in each venue.

Optimal exhibition spaces are churches, community centers, open air venues (with some covered space), local art galleries etc.

Once churches sign up to the event, they will need to pay £50 to cover the cost of the DVD and other materials. Any profit on the sale of resources will be donated to Oxfam. Churches will also bear the cost of actually putting on the ’Run With The Fire’ event, including venue hire, additional publicity and resources used at the community events.

INVITATION

You are invited to apply to join the project by submitting samples of your work (website link or e-mailed images in jpg format) and your CV (consisting of education, awards, solo and group show exhibition history) to Sue Newham at membership@veritasse.co.uk by 19th November 2010 at the latest.

All submissions will be considered by a jury/selection committee invited by the steering group which includes Dianne B. Collard (Director of Ministries - Europe for Artists in Christian Testimony International), Martin Crampin (Artist, researcher and designer), and Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker (Editor-in-Chief of ArtWay). All entrants will be informed about selection by the end of January 2011. Successful applicants will then be asked to submit their completed artwork electronically by the start of August 2011.

Artists will be selected based on: submitted samples of their work (website link or e-mailed images in jpg format); their CV (consisting of education, awards, solo and group show exhibition history); and their geographical location (in order to have a genuinely international spread of artists).

Successful applicants are asked to make a firm commitment to complete their artwork by the August 2011 deadline. We are aware that unforeseen personal circumstances can make it impossible to fulfill a commitment at times, but we are keen that the integrity and impact of the project should not be jeopardized by a high drop-out rate. We ask every applicant to count the cost and time implications of involvement in this project, before submitting their name and work for inclusion.

STEERING COMMITTEE

Three arts groups with international connections (commission4mission, CANA and Veritasse) have come together to organize this project which celebrates creativity, cultural exchange and hope for the future. More information about these groups can be found at: http://cana-arts.blogspot.com/; http://commissionformission.blogspot.com/; and http://www.veritasse.co.uk/.

Regeneration arts project

Fr. Benjamin Wallace

Jonathan Evens has begun a new public art project in collaboration with Fr. Benjamin Wallace, Vicar of St Georges Barkingside.

The project involves photographing and painting the Gants Hill area on a roughly monthly basis during the period of its current regeneration. Jonathan's photographs will be posted on his blog and both their work will also be displayed at St Georges.

There is an open invitation to others to join them and their approach involves conversations with any local people known to them or showing interest in what they are doing while out and about photographing and painting the area. The next project date is Wednesday 21st October at 3.00pm - meet at St Georges Barkingside.

Alphabets of the World

Alphabets of the World is a textile and design project based in Manor Park and run by Celia Ward (who is a Commission For Mission artist). The aim of the project is to make a series of hangings based around the different alphabets in the area. The Roman alphabet has been the first, with Arabic, Hindi and Romanian hangings in progress. Most of the sewing is done by a group of women from diverse backgrounds who meet every Wednesday morning at St Barnabas Manor Park.

This Alphabets of the World hanging is currently on display as part of the West Ham Festival at All Saints West Ham.