Five Reasons To Have An Art Gallery in Your Church

Oak Hills Church in Folsom has quietly operated a working Art Gallery on their campus for the last twenty years. The Art & Soul Gallery—about fifty linear feet of gallery space located in the Lobby of the Main Auditorium—typically exhibits a new show every 6-8 weeks, featuring mostly local artists of faith. Over the last twenty years, scores of artists of faith have exhibited their work to tens of thousands of people in this space.

I admit that it’s not normal for a church to have an art gallery. But we would contend that it’s not only appropriate—it’s essential. Let me explain.

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you’re familiar with the assertion that beauty and the arts are necessary aspects of living out our faith. More specifically, I contend that true beauty is not in the eye of the beholder, but is defined according to God’s original intention of creation. And we, as humans made in the image of a Creative God, have the privilege and cultural mandate to express this beauty through the arts for His glory.

So a long time ago, we decided that we would create a space where Christians throughout our community could express themselves and their faith artistically. So we designed the gallery space right into the building, right into the hub of our church’s community life. Because we want beauty and art to be a constant and normative part of how we live out our faith. And twenty years later, we’re still showing, still expressing, still pointing people to God through the arts.

The following are five reasons why you might consider having an art gallery, or at least an art space, in your church.

1 | Beauty. An art gallery promotes beauty in the church, and points people to God. Sadly, one of the greatly misunderstood aspects of God’s nature is that He is both the author of beauty and that He takes great pleasure in beauty. I’ve blogged on this many times so I won’t repeat myself. (Please check out this blogpost on how beauty is misunderstood in the church or this blogpost on a classical understanding of beauty and its importance to humanity. Or just read my book.) Unfortunately, we’ve inadvertently abdicated the power of beauty to the world. Suffice it to say that art regularly displayed in a church reminds people that God is the author of true beauty, and He reveals this through the artistic gifts of His people. And to quote Dr. Dallas Willard, “beauty is goodness made manifest to the senses.” In a very real way, every painting or sculpture or other artwork displaying Godly beauty can be a sermon onto itself.

2 | Creativity. An art gallery is a reminder that we are creative beings, made in the image of God. We’ve had artists share portraiture, plein-air landscapes, Scripture art, abstracts, botanical art, graphic art. We’ve had oils, pastels, watercolors, quilts, tapestries, pysanky art, mixed-media, poetry, sculpture. We’ve had professional world-class artists and skilled hobbyists and even children’s art (through our annual children’s Arts Camp.) And through this diversity of styles and mediums and themes, there is a continuing sense that God is bigger and more imaginative than we think He is.

3 | Testimony. An art gallery gives artists of faith a voice to share their faith through their art. At our church, scores of artists have displayed their unique testimonies through many different mediums. We encourage all artists to share some aspect of their story—an inspirational thought or a Scripture verse to accompany every piece of art—and this has allowed the casual viewer a peek into the heart of each artist. And that’s not all. We’ve had visiting missionaries sharing their original street art from far-off places. Art shows that increase awareness for local and international ministries. Student photographers sharing how young people see their world. Craft artists commemorating the seasons of Lent and Eastertide and Advent. All of these actions testify to the goodness and grace of God.

4 | Community. An art gallery can bring people together in a variety of ways, from community art projects to open-themed galleries to art receptions to outreach. Recently, one of our church artists had the idea to have an open gallery based on birds of the Bible, which has inherent poetry and symbolism. About twenty local artists shared art of different bird species along with Scripture (from Isaiah 40:31 to Matthew 6:26 to Matthew 13:31-32). Concurrently, we had an ongoing craft project during the services where children and adults were invited to color in birds and paste them to a large tree backdrop. This was in keeping with a “Birds of Different Feathers” theme, based on Galatians 3:26-28. It was a beautiful sight seeing everyone working together to create this community art piece, a visual reminder of the beauty of the church.

Here’s another example. One of our ministry partners, Artisan Mind, works directly with those dealing with memory loss. Interestingly, one of the powerful ways that they can help improve these patients’ lives is through engagement with the arts, both as spectators—and as participant artists. The Art & Soul Gallery has featured two of their memory-challenged artists in shows to display their work (so far). We always strive to have an art reception during a gallery show, so it gives the artist a chance to be around people and have them celebrated. To see the joy exuding from these folks as they show their work, and describe their paintings, is beyond words.

5 | Glorifying God. I’ve given you several reasons why you should consider an Art Gallery at your church. But ultimately, we believe that the Art & Soul Gallery puts a smile on God’s face. Like a parent with a child, our Father God loves the imperfect but unique artwork of His children. In the movie, Chariots of Fire, Eric Liddell proclaims, “God made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.” We are God’s artwork, and we are blessed to have the opportunity to publicly give God pleasure through our art.

[Photos: All photos are of various shows in the Art & Soul Gallery.]

Side Note: The Art & Soul Gallery was dedicated to one of the founders of the gallery, Teresa Mihalko Harbert, who passed a few years ago. You can check out her work here.