Procession (detail) by John August Swanson
serigraph, 2007 

The Rev. Tim Hart-Andersen has selected a cast of characters from the Bible who demonstrate faithful living. This exhibition features a variety of these and others characters illustrated in art drawn mostly from the Westminster Collection. 
 

The Icon of the Archangel Gabriel, by Debra Korluka
egg-tempera and gold leaf on panel

The year of worship will begin with old testament characters who practice the faith in response to God. During Advent the focus is on men responding to the incarnation. The time between Christmas and Lent will look at the characters in Jesus’ early life.

Pentecost (detail), by Sadao Watanabe
stencil print, 1975

The practices of faith as demonstrated by women will be examined during Lent. After Easter, we will learn about the people who played a role during the resurrection. The early church members will be the theme after Pentecost, and the year ends with considering how living faithfully is our job.

The members of Westminster Presbyterian Church are very talented and this exhibition features art work created by 22 members around the theme of With Hearts and Hands. Some have interpreted the theme very literally and others have found a more casual relationship between their work and the concept.

A view of the exhibition 

Hearts and Hands, by Anna Futterer, acrylic on canvas, 2009 

 
City Safari, by Dureen Anne Ruff, miniature room, 2005 

 
The Open Door, by Bess Marmas, watercolor  

Moses and the Burning Bush, by Isabel Hart-Andersen, found objects, 2008 

Another view of the gallery with John Heefner describing his series of paintings
from the choir's Scotland tour in 2008, The Hearts of a Musical Treasure 

Now that you have seen a teaser of the artwork of Westminster's members, please come to see the exhibition where you can enjoy this diverse collection of photographs, paintings, sculpture and surprises for yourself.

 
 Exhibition in the Great Hall

SIDEWALKS SAVING LIVES
June 14 - September 14, 2009
 

This exhibition features photographs of HIV/AIDS awareness messages painted on sidewalks in 2008 in North Minneapolis. The Sidewalks project included young people from Kwanzaa Community Church and Westminster.

Artistic Statement: HIV/AIDS respects no boundaries. It is a disease which devastates communities everywhere throughout the world. Our northside village is no different. In planning this exhibition, those of us working on it agreed that matting or framing the images would present a distorted view of what the project, the sidewalk messages, tell us. Instead, we felt the raw edges of the photographs, bleeding across the wall space and into one another, would better suggest the truth of this illness and its perilous potential.

 
The Kwanzaa Church site.

Exhibition in the Westminster Gallery

Forty Days of Rain: the Westminster Collection of Noah's Arks
May 3 - June 21, 2009

The members of Westminster Presbyterian Church have begun to collect Noah's Arks and this small exhibition shows the early development of their effort.

Haiti, hand-painted tin

Noah's Arks are made of many types of materials and by many cultures and ethnic groups around the world. One purpose of this new collection is to illustrate that diversity and to demonstrate how various peoples depict the form of an ark, choose representative animals, and indicate the appearance of Noah and his family.

Mexico, hand-painted cast plaster

Please come to Westminster to see this exhibition and our collection of art which tells many Biblical stories from a variety of the world's view points. Following this exhibition, the Noah's Ark Collection is now on view in the Hunter Room.

 
Peru, Cudro (cotton applique, trupunto, embroidery)

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 Special Exhibition at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities 

 

The Continuing Collection of the Rev. Liz Downing Heller
April - May, 2009

 

A special exhibition of the collection of the Rev. Liz Dowing Heller was on view through May at United Theological Seminary in the Bigelow Chapel and the Classroom Gallery. Heller is Associate Pastor Emerita of Westminster and co-founder of the Westminster Gallery.

 

 

 
A view of the installation

  

 

"Liz Heller's life as an art collector began while she was a student at McCormick Thological Seminary in Chicago. Heller credits Hulda Niehbuhr, professor of Christian Education at McCormick, as the person who inspired her lifelong passion for collecting art. Throughout her life since then, Liz has integrated the arts into her ministry. That passion has culminated in a vast collection of religious art. Her collection has several themes, including numerous works on the washing of the feet by Japanese artist Sadao Watanabe, who was once Liz' house guest.

 

In her sermon and lunch discussion at United in April of 2009, Heller reflected on the numerous ways in which she has integrated the arts into her ministry. She invited the arts to play a role in her pastoral care by bringing along cloths, prints, or three-dimensional objects when serving home communion to somone in the hospital or visiting a shut-in. In church Bible study classes, Liz made art central to those classes by utilizing prints or other visual works to supplememt the discussions. And her worship services were never complete without care and attention to the environment, be it a piece of pottery, a framed picture, or some other artistic addition to the worship space.

 

This exhibition includes favorite works collected by Liz over the past 50 years. A reception honoring Liz was held on April 23, and featured remarks by Rodney Allen Schwartz, Wilson Yates, and Liz."

 

Comments by Cindi Beth Johnson, Director of Community Programming in the Arts, Religion and Spirituality at United Theological Seminary. 

 

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Exhibition in the Westminster Gallery 

Understanding Icons: windows into the mystery
 February 1 - April 26, 2009 

As human beings we encounter God on many levels of our lives, generally through the veil of a mystery. Our human experience is guided through an evolving relationship with God and each other. Prayer and meditation are vehicles for us to engage with God in conversation. Icons are Byzantine images that represent God in heavenly and earthly form, Mary the mother of God, and numerous saints and Orthodox patriarchy. These images of Holy persons provide a window into the mystery by stimulating meditation. Icons are symbolic representations which seek to reveal the divine through visible and familiar content. Icons are used in Orthodox worship during the liturgy and in private daily prayers.

View of the exhibition

This exhibition featured icons gathered from local collectors and created a church-like ambience.

The Old Testament Trinity or the Hospitality of Abraham

The icon of Christ the Comforter was commissioned for Westminster Presbyterian Church and makes its debut in this exhibition. The words of Jesus found in Matthew 11:28 Come onto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, were chosen for the theme of the icon because they speak so well to Westminster’s missions of hospitality, pastoral care, and social justice. 

The icon of Christ the Comforter written by Debra Korluka egg tempra and gold leaf, 2009   Symbolism of the Icon:   Gold leaf: the radiance of the light of God   Halo: three part Greek cross   Greek text in halo: The Being or I am who I am or He Is   Greek text on either side of Christ: Jesus Christ   Red Chilton (tunic): divinity   Blue himation (cloak): humanity   Christ’s robes shine: inner spiritual light   Large eyes: the lamp of our soul   Small lips: no need for earthly nourishment   Long nose: to breathe in spiritual senses   Thick neck: fullness of the Holy Spirit   Outstretched arms: welcoming us in   Green earth: life

 I invite you to spend some time with icons, contemplating the image or story illustrated, and to seek a meditative approach in your conversation with God. 

 

The Westminster Gallery ~ Come for the Art, Stay for the Grace

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For additional information contact

Rodney Allen Schwartz
Director, The Westminster Gallery & Archive

612.332.3421, ext 227