Churches see benefits in sponsoring art shows
Gillian Ross recalls a time when visual art largely wasn’t welcome in the churches she knew.
“There was just that general feeling that the arts were a little bit risqué and maybe not appropriate for the church to be involved with,” said Ross, an artist and gallery owner who directs the Grace Chapel Art Gallery in Lexington, Massachusetts, which is connected to an evangelical megachurch.
Today many churches again want to support artists. With a few moves to turn bare walls into venues, some displays complement lessons taught in worship: one church asked members to submit art pieces in response to a sermon series on thriving. A show at a Fort Wayne, Indiana, church featured local artists’ creations from discarded objects and materials.
