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Venite
Adoremus—O come let us adore him. These words from
an ancient hymn bid us to enter anew into worship of
our Lord during the cycle of seasons of the church
year from Advent through Christmastide to Epiphany.
The hymns we sing during these seasons are so much a
part of our experience of the church year as their
words and music have settled into our bones through
years of singing in anticipation and joyful
celebration and deeper awareness which comes through
this time of the year. Can it be Advent without
singing O Come, O Come Emmanuel? Or Christmas
Eve without singing Silent Night or O
Little Town of Bethlehem? And can Epiphany come
and go without singing, We three kings of Orient
are? To this short list we could add many more
favorite songs.
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Rondo
Christine Nicoll Parson |
We asked artists to respond to the challenge to let
the hymns of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany serve as
their muse in both creating and selecting the art
for this exhibit. The resulting exhibit offers an
interesting array of thoughtful works in varying
artistic styles and media.
Of
the work featured at right, Christine Nicoll Parson
writes, "Rondo is my paean to Christ—from infant to
adult - the ages and stages that make Him a man and
God, and the ages and stages that make us the
reflection of Him - infancy, childhood, young adult,
adult."
The
Rev. Nancy Mills found inspiration in hymn 125 of
the Hymnal 1982,
"The
people who in darkness walked
have seen a glorious light,
on them broke forth the heavenly dawn
who dwelt in death and night."
To
show that glorious light breaking in, she used
gold leaf as a symbol of the Kingdom of God the same
way gold leaf is used as a symbol of the Kingdom on
halos or icons—illustrating the presence of the
glorious light referred to in the hymn as being all
around us. Mills notes, "If we could see it, this is
what it might look like. As it is, we can just
glimpse the Kingdom of God around the edges of
things."
Quoting the text of hymn 64 in the Hymnal 1982,
Gracie Bell wrote,
"O
heavenly Word, eternal Light,
begotten of the Father’s might,
who in these latter days was born
for blessing to a world forlorn."
and
then added, "The hymn captures the importance of
light during the Christmas season and how we are all
waiting for the light of the world. For me, light
has always been an important aspect of the Advent
season. As a child, we gathered around the lit
Advent wreath and sang songs of the Christmas
season. Following a German tradition, a candle was
lit in our window patiently waiting the coming of
Jesus."
These
are just a few of the ways in which the artists
featured here have found inspiration through the
hymns of the seasons. As you explore the exhibit you
will discover others and hopefully you will find the
songs of the season rising within your heart as
well.
Perhaps Roger Hutchison captured the feeling of
these seasons best when he wrote, "This painting,
for me, came out of a sense of waiting – of
expectation. Mary is soon to give birth to Jesus.
She is searching, watching, waiting. The star in the
sky is also watching – waiting. The world is in a
place of waiting – a place of fear and war. We await
the Christ-child. We are hungry for peace and
understanding."
We
wish you all anticipation, joy, and awareness as you
wander through the exhibit.
Venite Adoremus,
Griffin Logue
The Reverend Frank Logue
Curators
Griffin
Logue and her father, The Rev. Frank Logue, are the co-curators
for
this exhibit. Their primary means of artistic
expression is through photography and writing,
though each occasionally branches out into other
forms of visual arts. The Logues live in South Georgia,
where Frank is the Vicar of King of Peace Episcopal
Church and Griffin is a student. You
may visit them on the web through Griffin's website
at
http://planetanimals.com and
http://www.kingofpeace.org/ |
