A VICTORIAN church in Hartford has been transformed into a immersive collaborative art installation.
Between Friday, March 1, and Thursday, March 7, St John’s Church Hartford is hosting CREATED, described as ‘an immersive, community-led installation of paintings celebrating the corporate coming together of the church and its neighbours’ by its arts ministry team.
St John’s held workshops over summer 2023, where members of the church and wider community were asked to indulge their creativity by making an image inspired by the natural world.
The result was 83 images, all on 48 by 24-inch pieces of raw, unprimed calico, using pastels and watercolours, created within a space of two hours.
The church was then cleared of all its pews, and the canvases were suspended across the width of its soaring Victorian nave on wires to create a space which visitors can wander through, free to brush the canvases as they pass.
An original soundscape and perfumes complete the installation, and curators encourage visitors not to think too hard about what they encounter, but should put their trust in the experience itself.
St John’s arts ministry team creative lead, visual artist Dee Rollinson, says the exhibition celebrates ‘the created – that’s people - working in common purpose creatively’.
Dee, who has macular degeneration, meaning she can only see what’s in her peripheral vision, said: “We knew it was all going to look fantastic when the pictures were all put together as an installation.
“Probably our greatest task was getting people to trust that intuition.
“When the three of us were running the workshops, we noticed there was a lot of trepidation. But once people got in there and started to get involved in the processes, they absolutely loved it.
“There were one or two people who didn’t like their artwork, but we tried to instil in them the idea that it’s not about making a tree look exactly like a tree.
“It’s about their interpretation of that tree, and every single person's vision, along with their work, has a real and unique value.”
The arts are an important aspect of worship at St John’s, which celebrates its 200th anniversary in 2024.
The arts ministry team includes Dee, as creative lead; Vicar, Rev Mike Smith; arts facilitator, Judi Rigby, and art historian, Sophie Rigby, who edited the exhibition's catalogue.
Rev Mike said: “I’m delighted with how the old church is looking. The team have done an amazing job in creating it and bringing us to this point.
“There was a huge amount of planning, and the contributions of so many people in the church and community, of all ages, was amazing.
“Art is definitely one of the ways we can respond to God and his goodness, and his love, by using the gifts he’s given us.
“We are creative because we were created by God, the creator, in his own image. Our creativity is a reflection of God who made us."
CREATED runs from Friday, March 1, to Thursday, March 7, 2pm to 7pm.
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