Tree of Life

Tree of Life exhibition

The Tree of Life art exhibition by professional and local artists is currently at St Barnabas Walthamstow. Two workshops, a launch event and a dialogue discussion have already taken place in relation to the exhibition. 

Tree of Life is an interfaith art exhibition inspired by the Christian and Islamic traditions. It includes new artworks by Christian and Muslim artists, responding to the theme The Tree of Life and the Eternal Garden. The artworks explore the shared heritage of, and commonalities between, the two traditions.

St Barnabas is also expecting a bigger neighbourhood presence for the E17 Art Trail this September with various residents and institutions planning to exhibit. A very exciting and varied line-up is being planned for St Barnabas itself.

Passion at the Cafe

Seeds of Life at St Andrew’s Leytonstone is the second phase of a creative project, The Tree of Life, working with community groups and local artists to celebrate life in Leytonstone in the run up to Easter.

As part of this a programme of drop-in sessions and recitals by local artists, craftspeople and musicians has been organised in St Andrew’s community café, Cafe Refresh.

Called Passion at the Café the programme will feature a musical recital by Latin American harpist and poet, Ricardo Curbelo; a felt-making workshop with Leytonstone craftswoman, Lizzie Houghton; a drawing workshop with Mark Lewis, environmental art with Wendy le Ber and a Salsa dancing taster session with Jane Kendrick, as well as mandala making.

Other Seeds of Life events at St Andrew’s this spring include the St Andrew’s Youth Group producing a decorative collage in partnership with local artist Peter Webb, and the church’s Lent group making Christian mandalas.

Passion at the Café will run from Tuesday 23rd March until Wednesday 31st March (excluding Sundays) between 12 and 2pm. The full programme is as follows:

Tuesday 23rd March
Mark Lewis - drawing
12.30-2pm

Wednesday 24th March
Lizzie Houghton - feltmaking
12.30-2pm

Thursday 25th March
Wendy Le Ber - environmental art
12.30-2pm

Friday 26th March
Ricardo Curbelo - Latin American Harp recital
1-1.30pm

Saturday 27th March
Jane Kendrick - Salsa taster class
12.30-1.30 pm

Tuesday 30th March
Mandala making
12.30-2 pm

Wednesday 31st March
Lesley Palmer - seed pot planting and making
12.30-1.30 pm

For further information, email Helen Gheorghiu Gould (Development Worker) at hsgheorghiu@btinternet.com or tel: 07866 451744.

Seeds of Life

Seeds of Life is the Lent/Easter arts programme at St Andrew's Leytonstone. The programme is being devised and organised by Helen Gould and is a follow-on to the earlier Tree of Life programme.

Seeds of Life will include arts activities with the Seniors, Youth, Lent and House groups at St Andrew's. In addition, there will be two weeks of drop-in session at Cafe Refresh encouraging people to write or draw on the theme. It is also hoped to create a living cross and hold a creative event for Mothering Sunday.

Helen Gould

Helen Gould with Michael Creasey and Henry Shelton

Helen Gould will begin working on events and strategic development for commission4mission this month.

Helen is currently an ordinand at the North Thames Ministerial Training Course and will be ordained as a Deacon in June. We have gained funding from London over the Border to enable us to employ Helen on a part-time basis from February - April and then, once in her curacy, she will continue to be able to give time to work for commission4mission.

Before beginning ordination training, Helen was Director of Creative Exchange, a charity which for ten years researched and advocated for the role of culture in development. The organisation built up an international network and completed projects exploring the role of culture in international development, HIV/AIDS, conflict and in the inclusion and integration of refugees and asylum seekers.

Creative Exchange was launched in 1998, following a meeting of artists, development practitioners and policymakers in London in May 1997 which called for the establishment of a network to share information about the role played by arts activities in international development and social policy.

It gained charitable status in 2000. Its charitable mandate – to advance public education about ways in which arts and culture help poor and disadvantaged people improve their quality of life – was specially devised by the Charity Commission since no other charity had previously served to promote the social role of the arts.

Creative Exchange activities helped people connect and share ideas and skills, learn about the use of culture and arts in social settings, and change and influence policy and practice. Creative Exchange worked with local practitioners and grassroots organisations, listening to their knowledge and wisdom of how culture works and influences in people and communities. This work opened up new avenues for enquiry on the ‘Affective’ nature of arts and culture – the way culture engages with our emotional make-up and enables us to engage, participate and learn.

Since becoming an ordinand, Helen has been the Development Worker at St Andrew's Leytonstone where she has been involved in setting up Café Refresh and its Reflect Arts programme. Helen organised the commission4mission exhibition and artist's networking evening held at St Andrew's in 2009 and the Tree of Life Arts programme to which several commission4mission artists contributed.

Perspectives on commissioning Christian Art (4)

The Rt. Revd. David Hawkins, Bishop of Barking, spoke at commission4mission's recent Study Day from the perspective of those envisioning others on the commissioning of contemporary art for churches:

"All human beings are made in the image of God; everyone has creativity within them and, for Christians, that creativity becomes part of their worship whether conscious or not.

If we think of worship as liturgy, music, preaching etc, then we can see that much of the Church's worship and teaching has been through the visual arts. Teaching was, for example, read in stained glass, frescoes and mosaics. We need to help our congregations recognise that a large part of worship is non-verbal and that the visual arts and music often move people more than words. It is, after all, a visual world we live in.

commission4mission is deliberately saying that commissioning art is a mission activity and that is necessary because the narrative of the christian faith is no longer in people's heads. As a result, we need to make the story visual once again.

This Study Day has included discussions about finance and we need to face the question of whether commissioning art is an indulgent project in recession time. Times of recession, historically, have been when the Arts have flourished as we have a need for hope and inspiration. Modest expenditure can produce real inspiration.

Numbers 21. 4-9 is about the first piece of public art in the Judeao-Christian tradition; an artwork that was transformative and healing. The bronze serpent had a transformational integrity with the people of God in a particular place and started me thinking about God and context. It has similarities to the Angel of the North; which has been a symbol of inspiration in a depressed part of the country.

Two examples of collaborative commissions may help in taking these thoughts further. These were modest projects coming out of encounter with God and the people of St Georges Leeds. The first involved a major reordering during which Victorian balconies were taken out to reveal huge lancet windows with blank glass (where the balconies had been) above the stained glass (which had previously been all that could be seen of the windows).

I designed a panel to complete the Victorian stained glass which was contemporary but harmonising and worked with a stained glass artist to realise the design. The window was the culmination of a year of teaching to commemorate 150 years of the church. The theme for the window - the Tree of Life - was obvious because the theme of the year had been roots and shoots. The simple stylised design had a context and a sense of focusing and summarising an important year in the life of the church.

The second project involved the Crypt of St Georges which, since 1930, has been a night shelter and day centre for homeless people. Refurbishment of the Crypt involved replacement of the boiler and the clearing out of the old Victorian boiler room; a beautiful and still vaulted space. On seeing it cleared out, I immediately said it had to be a chapel and place of prayer for the Crypt.

Steve Simpson was the artist commissioned to create a work on a Last Supper theme with the work intended to be seen above a bench running all around the room and seating 12 comfortably. We envisaged a mural or a set of paintings but found that alot of collaboration - between the artist, Vicar and homeless users of the building - was needed to squeeze out something inspirational.

Steve brought cartoons of his ideas based on photographic images of the Crypt's users. These were rectangular paintings which made the space look like a gallery rather than a worship space. I suggested tearing the paintings up which he initially said he was not going to do but, after half and hour of debate, he started to tear around the images and they became like historical artefacts emerging as fragments from the walls. The time and agony of time taken on the problems of a committee relating to an artist; this process became part of the work of art. Because of the process, the work was altogether different but integral to the church space. It is therefore important to argue but to still stay friends.

These stories lead me to three final points:

1. The importance of collaborative process and finding real creativity which allows people to feel that their signature is there.

2. The scope for temporary art in churches which reflects a particular generation and period. We can all think of paintings or stained glass that have served their useful life but which can't be easily removed. Art can be for that time alone and can be created with the expectation that it will later be taken down. This approach can help to keep the relationship between art and faith alive and vital. It is similar to music, where some hymns go on forever while others go out of fashion.

3. Encouraging all kinds of people from our communities - not just Christians - to bring visual expressions into church, as a missional and outreach activity."

News update

Our catalogue of current commission4mission artists has just gone to print. The cover can be seen above. The catalogue features a foreword by our patron, the Bishop of Barking, an introduction to commission4mission, an article on 'Challenges of Church Art', profiles of each of our current artists, and a listing of c4m commissions and exhibitions.

Our showcase exhibition at Chelmsford Cathedral is featured in the December edition of The Month under the heading 'Ambitious artists' group celebrate cathedral show'. This edition of The Month also features the Tree of Life season at St Andrews Leytonstone as part of their Reflect arts programme. Tree of Life included workshops by c4m artists Mark Lewis and Peter Webb.

Peter Webb is also exhibiting in the 76th Annual Exhibition of the National Society of Painters, Sculptors & Printmakers at the Menier Gallery. The exhibition ends on Saturday 28th November and was opened by the Bishop of Barking.

Sarah Ollerenshaw is exhibiting in the Winter Open Art Studios Show at Wimbledon Art Studios from 26th - 29th November.

Jonathan Evens' talk on The Art of Life for the annual 'At Home' Service of the Mothers' Union and Women's Fellowship at St Margaret's Barking can be found by clicking here. The service included a collection which raised £45.00 for the work of commission4mission.

The Tree of Life

St Andrews Leytonstone are mounting a community art exhibition from 8th-22 November as part of their Tree of Life project. It's a programme to bring together members of their community to create art work and share memories at St Andrew's church - this also links in with the theme of Remembrance, and their Service of Remembrance on 8th November. Their Seniors Group, youth group and church group have been working with local artists on their art work for the exhibition, professional artists will also be exhibiting, and they will have creative drop-in events in Café Refresh throughout the exhibition period.

St Andrews describe this project as follows:

"The Tree of Life is a creative project, started by St Andrew’s Church, working with community groups and local artists to produce arts work that reflects and celebrates life in Leytonstone.

Participants will display work alongside professional artists in an exhibition, Roots and Remembrance, in the church and Café Refresh from November 8th – 22nd. There will be an exhibition launch on 8th November at 11.30 am - all welcome for tea and coffee after the annual St Andrew's Service of Remembrance.

The Tree of Life is a commonly used symbol across many different cultures, which suggests the idea that all life on earth is related and has common roots. Our Tree of Life project will connect people in our community, remind us of our roots and connections here, and help us grow relationships in the place where we live.

Local artists including Mark Lewis, Peter Webb, Wendy Le Ber and Sba Shaikh will be exhibiting alongside community groups. We invite all our community in to come and share a memory, write or draw, and connect with others.

Programme of Activities

• Sunday 8 November - St Andrew’s Remembrance Sunday Service, 10.00 am, and Exhibition Launch (all welcome for coffee and tea), 11.30 am.
• Tues 10th November - Creative Drop-in Workshop (Mark Lewis/Peter Webb), 12.30 pm.
• Tues 17th November - Share a local memory or story, 12.30 pm.
• Wed 18th November - Creative Drop-in Workshop (Wendy Le Ber), 12.30 pm.
• Thur 19th November - Brigantia Consort lunchtime concert, 12.30 pm.
• Sat 21st November - Forest Heritage Walk with Forest Keeper (Ian Greer), 11.30 am – 12noon.

Further information: 07866 451744 or refresh@standrewsleytonstone.org.