Another city - another exhibition
Jenny Long : Cityside : New Zealand
[06.04]

Another city -another art exhibition! This year it was Wanganui a small city with a developing arts community in the Lower North Island. The previous 5 Easter Art Exhibitions had been held in Dunedin a vibrant city at the bottom of the South Island.

In 1998 Soul Outpost, an alternative worship group describing itself as “a bunch of people exploring issues of faith and spirituality” hired a public gallery space from the Dunedin City Council situated on the main street where they held their 1st Easter Art Exhibition.

Mike Riddell and Jen Long had previously worked together with Mark Pierson as team members of Parallel Universe an alternative worship group in Auckland, and part of Cityside Baptist. They share a similar vision to support artists and the arts. On moving to Dunedin Jen joined the Soul Outpost team and took a year off ministry to complete a Fine & Visual Arts Diploma through which she come to know a number of people in the arts community. Jen decided to hold an Easter Art Exhibition and invite both community artists and professional artists to exhibit side by side.

Jen and Mike wanted to make the Easter story accessible to the general public. They made the decision at the outset that they would welcome all artists and hang or display what ever art turned up on the day. This held some elements of risk. For one thing it often meant they had no idea what type or how much art would arrive on the set-up weekend and this called for skilled curators to work within a limited time frame to give the exhibition it’s form and space. This commitment also meant that the team might have to display what Jen would describe as having a ‘Xtian cringe element.’ For others the risk was that they could get controversial art that might offend - and at times they did! However the mix of community and professional artists has worked extremely well over the years and all of the art has been of an incredibly high standard.

By the 2nd year Jen was working as an advocate for people with intellectual disabilities - among this group were a couple of exceptionally talented artists. One of the artists, Grace Rosenbrock exhibited with them every year from 1999 and her work ‘Manakau Trinity’ hung next to works by Graham Sydney, one of NZ’s leading and well known artists.

Both Jen and Mike had a number of friends who either came from different faith backgrounds or who wouldn’t consider themselves to have had any connection to the Easter story. What they all had in common was a strong sense of spirituality and creative gifting. They expressed an interest in becoming involved with the project and creating work with a distinct Easter theme. This has always been a really important aspect of the exhibition and has provided some fantastic works of art. The relationships that have developed amongst these artists and the team has also encouraged some stimulating discussion around the Easter story which has led to some deep and thought provoking art. All this enhances the concept of making the Easter story accessible and out in the market place.

By 2001 Soul Outpost had come to it’s natural end as the planning team took up new directions and challenges in their lives. However that left a gap for people who found they didn’t easily fit back into their traditional faith backgrounds or didn’t have one to go to! Jen was asked to start another alternative worship group and ‘Soulplex’ came into being. This involved monthly worship services in pubs and cafes around the city, including poetry and storytelling nights, discussion nights around topics like “Light and Dark within NZ Art and Society” with guest speakers, poets and artists such as Mike Riddell, Mark Pierson, Simon Brown, Scott Malcolm, Arthur Amon and others well known in NZ’s alternative worship scene. The Easter Art Exhibition continued to be a highlight of the year.

This year Jen moved to Wanganui and was keen to carry on the tradition of the Easter Exhibition. With the support of her local Anglican Vicar she formed a group called ‘Soul Space’. Just weeks before the exhibition, a young Christian art student who had been to one of the exhibitions on a visit to Dunedin, contacted Jen by email. They met for coffee and decided that between them they had enough contacts to hold Wanganui’s 1st exhibition. Jen managed to get funding from the Wanganui Council and made contact with a local business man who generously supported the project by allowing the group to use a building he had recently purchased on the city’s main street, free of charge. While chatting to the person who printed off the posters for the exhibition, Jen discovered the young woman had completed an arts degree the previous year and while not a Christian had worked on a project where she explored Mexican art and had created some stunning icons depicting Mary and Christ. The artist was delighted to put these icons into the exhibition and brought her friends along to preview the works on the opening night.

The exhibition generally runs for the week leading up to Easter and is set up in a way that enables the paintings, prints, sculpture, glass works, video and interactive installation pieces to tell the story of Easter, generally from around the time of Peter’s denial through to the resurrection. Each year is different and yet holds it’s own perfect balance says Jen. While some Christians have described the exhibitions over the years as being ‘dark’, and ‘not telling the whole story’ or not having enough ‘resurrection’ art, the response from the public indicates that people have experienced God in some deep and significant ways and have appreciated the chance to come to know something of this incredible story as they journey towards Easter.

Jen credits her interest in the arts to her involvement with Cityside Baptist. Jen and Mark have been friends for a number of years and have often worked together on ministry projects. Jen says “Mark gave me the opportunity to discover some hidden creative talents, particularly in relation to creating visual environments and services that encourage people to use all their senses. From there I developed a passion for painting, print making, sculpture, computer and industrial art. All these things have become part of who I am and shape the types of creative worship that I’m involved with.”