Sacred & creative space

Love & Light

Newlands Park community mural with graffiti artist AKS

RE:Generation

Hertford stns

Advent Art Installation

Yesterday evening I gave a presentation to the Social Regeneration Network conference entitled Sacred & Creative Space: public art as spiritual regeneration for communities.

The presentation included discussion of the following public art projects: A13 Artscape, Barking Town Centre Artscape, Love & Light, RE:Generation, Newlands Park community mural, The Cabinet of Sin & Salvation, Hertford stns, and the Advent Art Installation.

Through these projects, I suggested, local people have been engaged by a range of approaches including: performances in public spaces; being filmed and those images projected onto public buildings; personal stories and memorabilia featuring in a film; learning skills and creating a community mural; commenting on the development of an artwork; encountering art in a town centre; and coming in to a contemplative space.

Through these projects we have explored: the diversity of the community; continuity within change, concepts at the heart of community; ideas of sin and salvation; epiphany and pilgrimage; and reflections of light and peace.

Benefits from involvement in these projects have included:

• improving streetscapes and creating local landmarks;


• encouraging congregations and local people because they have been able to contribute to the projects and see their contribution in the finished artwork;


• raising the profile of churches locally because the projects have each made very visual stories that the local press wanted to feature. The projects have each generated considerable interest and comment locally and have featured in the local, church, arts and regeneration media;


• either bringing people into church to see the project/exhibition or taking the church out into the community; and


• on occasion, leaving something of permanent benefit to the community created through the church and community working together.

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Albert Ayler - Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen.