On June 1st and 2nd, 2017 Epiphany Sacred Arts Guild Executive members Chris Kielesinsky and Patricia Ballard represented the Guild at Fr. Brioux’s prayers and solemn funeral mass held at St. Augustine’s R.C. Church in Vancouver.
ESAG Executive members were present to pay respects at Father Brioux's Funeral
Fr. Brioux was a patron of the arts and greatly helped with our first exhibition at St. Augustine’s church with funding and art work. Fr. Brioux also donated an historical rosary for our archives collection, A working artist himself, and musician, he had a soft spot for our Guild and was always interested in what we were doing. He will be greatly missed.
Archbishop Miller embraces Apostolic Nuncio, The Most Reverend Luigi Bonazzi
On June 6, 2017 Steve Knight and Patricia Ballard represent the Epiphany Sacred Arts Guild at the John Paul 11 Pastoral Centre special reception to welcome Pope Francis’s Representative
to the Church and Government of Canada, His Excellency, The Most Reverend Luigi Bonazzi, on his Vancouver visit.
Steve Knight, ESAG President, at the welcome reception on June 6th
On Saturday, June 10, 2017 fourteen Guild members and associates enjoyed a Day Retreat for Artists at Westminster Abbey. Kicking off the morning sessions, Father Abbot Braganza posed the question ‘Why do you make sacred art?”
Food for thought and a lively discussion during the talk by Father Abbot Braganza on June 10th
Everyone responded in a different way which shaped a very deep and informative discussion about the purpose and nature of making sacred art and architecture. We touched on its analogical nature (lifting us up to God), its sense of placement in the whole of time (past, present, future), art as sign with Christ as the ultimate sign, and much more.
Morning mass said by our Guild chaplain, Father Donnelly, in the chapel during the retreat
Father Donnelly, our chaplain, said mass and gave us an enlightening talk on the Holy Spirit as ‘helper’ for artists. He spoke about the importance of silence and gave us other insights to help us in our personal prayer life.
Father Donnelly explains the Stained Glass commission project he has initiated for his church
Father Dunstan Massey, master artist of Westminster Abbey, a number of monks, Archbishop Michael Miller and other visitors came through to see our current sacred art work which was on display throughout the day.
Father Dunstan Massey (seated), master artist of Westminster Abbey, visits the exhibits on display
Many Guild artists are already working on their entries for the 15th anniversary exhibition. This retreat closes our 2016-17 year and we begin meetings at St. Jude’s church hall again on September 9, 2017.
Alina explains the cartoons for the three Icons that she will be working on for the 15th Anniversary Exhibition
Several enthusiastic Guild artists signed up for John Suter’s Celtic Knot Drawing Workshop which took place on Friday, June 23 and Saturday, June 24th (from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) at Patricia’s home.
Students Ana Maria, Alina and Christine listening to John's lesson during the Celtic Workshop
Finally, on June 25 the ESAG Executive met at Patricia’s home again for a barbecue and planning meeting. We discussed our speakers for the 2017/2018 season so we will be ready to start in September. We also looked at the exhibition hall plan at the John Paul 11 Pastoral Centre, the venue for our special 15th Anniversary Exhibition.
The Executive Committee gets to work at the Planning Meeting for the 15th Anniversary Exhibition
We discussed the best placement of the works, the movement of crowds, the various components of the events and many more things. It was a very productive session and we will continue to meet over the summer as we work out the plans.