Sabbatical art pilgrimage

I will be on sabbatical from 5^th May to 8^th August during which time I plan to visit significant sites connected to the renewal of religious art in Europe during the twentieth century. 

My programme will include two UK-based retreats, a series of visits to UK sites, and a pilgrimage around sites in Belgium, France and Switzerland. On the European leg of my sabbatical I plan to visit sites connected with the groups of artists surrounding Maurice Denis, Jacques Maritain, Albert Gleizes and Pere Marie-AlainCouturier. This will include visits to (among others): Sint-Martens Latem (Albert Servaes); Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Haut, Ronchamp (Le Corbusier); Churchof Sacré-Coeur, Audincourt (Various); Église de Saint Nicolas Semsales (Gino Severini); Eglise Saint-Paul à Grange-Canal, Geneva (Denis); Notre-Dame de Toute Grâce,Assy (Various); Moly-Sabata, Sablons (Gleizes); Notre Dame, Raincy (Denis); Denis Chapel, Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Denis). I will also visit some more contemporary sites and examples of good practice such as: Centre d’Art Sacré Contemporain, Lille (Various); Chapelle Sainte-Thérèse-de-l'Enfant-Jésus et dela Sainte-Face, Hem (Alfred Manessier); Metz Cathedral (Marc Chagall); and St Jean Baptiste, Bourbourg (Anthony Caro).

In the remainder of the sabbatical I intend to visit sites in the UK such as: Berwick Church East Sussex (Bloomsbury Group); Chichester Cathedral (Various); Coventry Cathedral (Various); Ditchling Museum (Eric Gill/David Jones); Eton College Chapel (Evie Hone); Lumen Church (Theisand Khan); Notre Dame de France London (Jean Cocteau); Sandham Memorial Chapel (Stanley Spencer); St Matthew Northampton (Henry Moore/Graham Sutherland); St PeterGorleston-on-Sea (Gill); Tudeley Parish Church (Chagall); Westminster Cathedral (Gill) and Worth Abbey (Francis Pollen). My retreats at Aylesford Priory (AdamKossowski) and Belsey Bridge Conference Centre (Alan Oldfield) will enable some of these visits to be made.

My intention is to reflect on the visits I make in terms of the significance of these sites both for art history and good practice for commissioning, as well as capturing my personal and spiritual responses to the artworks at the sites. I plan to photograph each site and its artworks, write journal entries (for posting to this blog - http://joninbetween.blogspot.co.uk/) and articles (for the ArtWay website - http://www.artway.eu/artway.php?lang=en) about my visits, and write a final report summarising my responses and general conclusions in terms of art history, commissioning good practice and implications for prayer/spirituality.

I make regular use of the visual arts within my ministry and the sabbatical will add to the image bank on which I draw to do so. The opportunity to post to my blog and write articles for ArtWay will also enable the wider church to benefit from the study element of my sabbatical. 

Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker of ArtWay has said, “This sounds a wonderful sabbatical plan and this is certainly of great interest to ArtWay. We will be very happy to publish your findings on our website.” Ed Knippers (CIVA artist) has said, “Your plans for a sabbatical sound remarkable. You have really done your homework and it looks to be a wonderful adventure.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Creed - Don't Stop Dancing.