Work

The Artist as the Church’s Mouthpiece: The Cultural Witness of Church Art and Its Patronage

Year: 2023

Type: article

Abstract: This article explores how art installed within a church space contributes to the church’s cultural witness, drawing from the contemporary example of Alison Watt’s Still, installed in Old Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church in Edinburgh, Scotland. While the object’s capacity to proclaim is present, this case study extends the exploration of art’s cultural witness to include imaginative participation in the Gospel narrative as well as its transformation of the space in which it is installed. Focus then turns to the Church’s patronage of the visual arts, arguing that this is another example of cultural witness. In this case, one finds a relationship between church and artist that is marked by trust, collaboration, and protection.

Source: Religions

DOI: 10.3390/rel14050561

Author: Sara Schumacher

Language: English

Topic: Religious and Theological Studies

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,557

Funders: University of St Andrews, Economic and Social Research Council

Award: Creative Industries Scotland: Capitalising on Creativity