Hundreds share talents through churchwide art exhibition

Hundreds of members of the LCANZ family – from small children to the elderly – have shared their creative talents through the Living Water Churchwide Simultaneous Art Exhibition this month.

There are 15 exhibitions being staged across Australia, with six in South Australia and four in Queensland, while Western Australia and New South Wales have hosted two each and there has been one in Victoria. Some have been staged purely for online viewing due to COVID-19 restrictions, while others were able to open to in-person visitors and one has been postponed until September. The members of Immanuel Lutheran Church North Adelaide even took their exhibition to their local streets!

All addressing the theme ‘Living Water’, the exhibitions are being held and contributed to by members of congregations, Lutheran schools and early learning centres, and aged-care communities. The event, which was deferred from last year because of the pandemic, welcomed artists of ‘all ages, stages and media’ and was staged by the Commission on Worship’s Visual Arts Working Group.

Commission Administration Coordinator Libby Krahling said Visual Arts Working Group members were thrilled by the ‘excellent response’ to the inaugural churchwide exhibition project.

‘The standard of work has been exceptional, and some great connections are being made between creative people around the church through our new LCA Visual Arts Facebook group’, she said. ‘Most exciting has been the opportunity to reach out into local communities with the good news of the Living Water. It’s very exciting to see people of all ages, from early learning centres to aged-care facilities, sharing their talents and their faith. We are already hearing from groups looking forward to getting involved next year. Keep your eyes peeled for the next theme – it’s coming soon!’

Libby also said that participating artists had told her how important being creative had been for them ‘during all the tensions and anxieties of the past couple of years’. ‘Some mentioned to me that dwelling in this theme has really helped them to hold close to their faith’, she said.