The first fruits of Arts 4U, in 2010, were to photograph the demolition of the old hall, the construction of the new one and the completion of the cross that now hangs outside our new centre. This was shortly followed by an exhibition of paintings, by Dee, entitled Angels, Wings and Other Things. The event was a great success and formally launched the new arts ministry.

Dee says: “The art exhibition made all the hard work worthwhile. I spoke to so many people about so many things, but specifically issues relating to art, faith and life. The prospect of future art events was greeted with genuine enthusiasm. This was a great encouragement. Over the years of art making and exhibiting I have experienced the power of art as a Christian witness. I continue to marvel at the way God uses this to gently reach down and take hold of someone's hand".

"Thanks Be..." was a community-based installation of clay objects, made by different people, and brought together to form one huge cross of thanks in August 2011.

Some of the people who made clay objects also wrote down their thoughts expressing thanks to God for what He has done in their lives.

Some observations from one of the helpers at a children's workshop are also available to read.

An electronic book was compiled with photographs of the clay objects and the associated writings. Click on this link to download the book in PDF format.

In Easter 2012, we ran a photography exhibition entitled “From the Sun’s Rising...”.

The exhibition featured photographs taken by Paul Bundle, and showed the glory and drama of light through the day and seasons.

Over 40 images of international, British and local scenes. Sunrise and sunset sequences showed how changing light and conditions create different moods and reveal subtle detail in the landscape.

Originally trained as a chemical engineer, Paul Bundle worked for 33 years in the chemical industry.

Over recent years he has pursued his love of landscape photography, particularly of remote places reached in his campervan.

This is his first exhibition and the images are as captured on film and digital cameras with minimal post processing.

Paul comments:

"To see the sun appearing and lighting the landscape when you may be the only person around makes for very special moments. These give me a greater appreciation of God’s creation and love and it is fitting to share these images when we celebrate God’s Son rising".

Some pictures taken at the opening ceremony the photography exhibition are shown below.

If you're interested in the relationship between Christianity and art, you can still listen to a recording of one of our Real Issues services, entitled "Christianity and Art", preached by George Crowder in 2010 - click here to go to play or download the talk.

We had a talk in Summer 2011 by Sophie Rigby about Rembrandt's Return of the Prodigal Son - a transcript of her talk is available as a PDF document here.

To see the picture itself, check the Google Arts and Culture page for the Return of the Prodigal Son.