Art and Sacred Places is a UK-based national

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

in London working in the field of commissioning

visual art The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and texti ...

for sacred places. Its work includes both temporary and permanent commissions and projects which bring together communities of people from both

faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...

and non-faith backgrounds.

Mission statement

Art and Sacred Places – Creative Conversations – Commissions exciting and innovative work from contemporary artists for sacred places. – Stimulates creative dialogue through encounters with art and the sacred. – Widens vision through education and participation.

History

Art and Sacred Places was founded under the auspices of the Rt Revd

John Gladwin John Warren Gladwin (born 30 May 1942) is a retired Anglican bishop. From 2004 to 2009, he was the Bishop of Chelmsford in the Church of England. He stands in the open evangelical tradition. Early life Gladwin was born on 30 May 1942 in Hertfo ...

at that time the Anglican

Bishop of Guildford The Bishop of Guildford is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Guildford in the Province of Canterbury. The title had first appeared as a suffragan see in the Diocese of Winchester in 1874. The Bishop suffragan of Guildford assi ...

. The organisation, then known as Art 2000, formed in 1998 and became a Charitable Unincorporated Association in May 2001 under the name Art and Sacred Places. In June 2014 it became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. The Very Revd Stephen Waine, Dean of Chichester, became President in 2015. The organisation's patrons include the broadcaster

Andrew Graham-Dixon Andrew Michael Graham-Dixon (born 26 December 1960) is a British art historian, art critic, author and broadcaster. He is chief art critic at ''The Independent'' and ''The Telegraph'' newspapers, and presents art documentaries for the BBC, as w ...

Development and projects

Since its formation Art and Sacred Places has had several notable programmes of work. The first programme was the 1999 'Seeing the Light' exhibition organised, using existing work, in

Portsmouth Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, commonly known as Portsmouth Cathedral, is an Anglican cathedral church in the centre of Old Portsmouth in Portsmouth, England. Since 1935 the historic church has been the cathedral of the Dioc ...

Guildford Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit, Guildford, commonly known as Guildford Cathedral, is the Anglican cathedral in Guildford, Surrey, England. Richard Onslow, 5th Earl of Onslow, Earl Onslow donated the first of land on which the cathedral ...

and

Chichester Cathedral Chichester Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in West Sussex, England. It was founded as a cathedral in 1075, when the seat of th ...

. The Chichester exhibition included Jerwood Sculpture Prize 2004 short-listed artist Simon Hitchens. In 2000 'Projects in Sacred Places' was organised with specially commissioned work. For this initiative, which took place across four Cathedrals and a Brighton Church, of particular note was the Richard Wentworth work 'Recall' for

Winchester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...

. A catalogue was produced with essays by Sacha Craddock and Father Friedhelm Mennekes. For the 2003/4 series

Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award). ...

2007 nominee Nathan Coley exhibited 'Black Tent' in

; Lithuanian

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

2001 artist Deimantas Narkevicius exhibited 'The Role of a Lifetime' in

St Peter's Church, Brighton St Peter's Church is a church in Brighton in the English city of Brighton and Hove. It is near the centre of the city, on an island between two major roads, the A23 London Road and A270 Lewes Road. Built from 1824–28 to a design by Sir Char ...

and Rose Finn-Kelcey created 'Angel' for St Paul's Church in Bow Common in the East End of London. Sarah Wedderburn, writing in the ''

Church Times The ''Church Times'' is an independent Anglican weekly newspaper based in London and published in the United Kingdom on Fridays. History The ''Church Times'' was founded on 7 February 1863 by George Josiah Palmer, a printer. It fought for the ...

'' reported the incumbent of St Paul's saying 'the work succeeds because it captures so many different aspects of the culture of this community.' 'The Role of a Lifetime' provoked international publicity in magazines such as '

Flash Art ''Flash Art'' is a contemporary art magazine, and an Italian and international publishing house. Originally published bilingually, both in Italian and in English, since 1978 is published in two separate editions, Flash Art Italia (Italian) and ...

Italia' and 'Untitled' and a copy of the film was subsequently purchased by

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

Galleries. 'The Role of a Lifetime' has since been exhibited internationally and featured at the 2009

Istanbul Biennial The Istanbul Biennial is a contemporary art exhibition that has been held biennially in Istanbul, Turkey, since 1987. The Biennial has been organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) since its inception. Istanbul Biennial p ...

. Rose Finn-Kelcey's 'Angel' was a 2008 recipient of the ACE Award for 'Art in a Religious Context' It also featured as a best practice project in the

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council o ...

Central London Partnership publication 'Open space'.Montague, Jemima Ed (February 2007) ''Open space: Art in the public realm in London 1995–2005'', Arts Council England and Central London Partnership / 97807287 Catalogues were produced for 'Black Tent' Wade, Gavin Ed (2003) ''Nathan Coley: Black Tent'', Art and Sacred Places and 'The Role of a Lifetime'Gleadowe, Teresa and Barratt, Paul Eds (2003) ''Deimantas Narkevicius: The Role of a Lifetime'', Art and Sacred Places but 'Angel' has a website publication. In 2005 Art and Sacred Places embarked on 'Six Sacred Sites', its first interfaith project. This was a collaborative initiative working with 'aspex' gallery in Portsmouth and 'The Winchester Gallery' on the production and exhibition of site related artists' books. The project, which was designed to explore the range of ways in which a location may be regarded as sacred included communities and sites associated with Portsmouth Anglican Cathedral, Wessex Jamaat Mosque, Basingstoke Hindu Society, Newport Quaker Meeting, roadside shrines with

RoadPeace RoadPeace is the national charity for road crash victims in the UK. Overview It supports the people affected by road crashes with emotional and practical support and advocacy. It operates a help line and provides practical support to people ...

and

South Wonston South Wonston is a village on the outskirts of the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. The population of the parish of South Wonston was estimated in 2017 to be 2,870. Governance South Wonston is part of the Wonston and Michel ...

's ancient

long barrow Long barrows are a style of monument constructed across Western Europe in the fifth and fourth millennia BCE, during the Early Neolithic period. Typically constructed from earth and either timber or stone, those using the latter material repres ...

. 'Six Sacred Sites' artists included Sam Winston, Jimmy Symonds and Ansuman Biswas. A copy of ''Census'', the book produced by Glenn Boulter and Chris Maxted for the ancient long barrow, was purchased by

Galleries for their library. During one of the many exhibitions of the 'Six Sacred Sites' work the

University of the West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a Public university, public research university, located in and around Bristol, England, UK. With more than 39,912 students and 4,300 staff, it is the largest provider of hi ...

Bookarts co-organised with

Winchester School of Art Winchester School of Art is the art school of the University of Southampton, situated 10 miles (14 km) north of Southampton in the city of Winchester near the south coast of England. History Winchester School of Art (WSA) was founded in 1 ...

library an

artist's book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that engage with and transform the form of a book. Some are mass-produced with multiple editions, some are published in small editions, while others are produced as one-of-a-kind o ...

conference held at The Winchester Gallery. In 2009 Art and Sacred Places was retained by Bristol City Council Art and the Public Realm as the consultant curator for two permanent commissions for Roman Catholic Secondary Schools. The artists selected for the commissions were Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva and Michael Pinsky. Heather and Ivan Morison were commissioned by Art and Sacred Places to work in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

as a result of a 'Faiths in Action' award, also in 2009. Their interfaith work with

Manchester Cathedral Manchester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George, in Manchester, England, is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Manchester, seat of the Bishop of Manchester and the c ...

and Manchester Islamic Centre and Didsbury Mosque was continued by Nicola Dale. Dale's delicate entrance-exit ways, entitled 'Between' and exploring the notion of passage, became a physical link between the two places of worship. A catalogue was produced with articles by members of the communities and Dr Jacques Rangasamy MBE, a conversation between the artist and curator and poetry.Peagram, Angela Ed (2013) "Nicola Dale: Between", Art and Sacred Places Dale reminisces about this commission in.Rosen, Aaron (2015) "Religion and Art in the Heart of Modern Manhattan: St Peter's Church and the Louise Nevelson Chapel", Ashgate Press Art and Sacred Places has also curated and supported the work of 10 days in Winchester during three of its iterations. 'Companion of Space' was performed by emerging artists forma in response to the rhythm and symbolism of the ceremonies of

in 2011. 47 artists from all disciplines working on 30 projects carried out work for 'Creative Collisions' again in Winchester Cathedral in 2013. Included among the artists were Professor Alice Kettle and Stephen Cooper with their work 'The Offering'. In 2015 CHALK was the foundation, material and inspiration for work which ranged from the openly exquisite to the deeply reflective with 20 projects across both Winchester Cathedral and Winchester City Museum.

References

External links

Art and Sacred Places website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Art And Sacred Places Charities based in London Arts organisations based in the United Kingdom