by Bonnie Fuchs

The sanctuary of the Community Church of Chapel Hill Unitarian Universalist has gained recognition among artists as an exhibition venue.

Three years ago I was the newest member of its "Worship+Arts" committee, with few credentials to offer the "worship" side of the committee. I began to take notice of the area's rich cultural diversity and started exploring those opportunities that might benefit both artists and the Unitarian Universalist congregation.

Showing art at the Community Church was not a new idea. Prior to my involvement with the project, the congregation had, on several occasions, exhibited art work. Much of the congregation's interest in art was inspired by the sanctuary's inviting architectural space.

The church is built on a square plan with 150 feet of uninterrupted wall space, lit both by artificial lights that wash the pale gray walls and skylights that permit a flood of natural light over the whole sanctuary. This makes for a perfect space for displaying art.

The congregation had long felt that introducing visual art into these intriguingly lit spaces would enhance the sacred resonance of the sanctuary.

Early attempts by the church to attract artists had not always been successful. The building was neither a well-known art space nor a retail gallery. If artists were to lend us their works on a regular basis, we had to make their efforts worthwhile. To that end promotion and publicity, two things I knew about, would make exhibiting in the sanctuary attractive to artists

even if nothing was sold during the exhibition itself.

We decided to devote serious efforts to promoting the artists as well as the exhibitions, and those efforts over the past three years have paid off enormously for the artists involved as well as for the various exhibitions in the church.

As the beneficiary of many art history courses, I have come to feel that the best way to understand art is to look at a lot of it. Furthermore, the more art you see the more involved you become. The artist creates a private space and invites you to look inside and observe visually something that cannot be verbalized. Art is a language of images and whether or not you like those images is not the issue. The issue becomes 'what thoughts and feelings does the image stir up in you?"

The success of the Community Church as an exhibition venue has largely been due to those artists who have lent us their works. Nancy Marple, a painter with expertise in wet-media techniques, brought us an outstanding exhibition early in the schedule. Members of the congregation

Susan Neulist, Carol Owen and Leslie Palmer -- have hung their works in the space.

The Pastel Society has presented the best of that group's works. Figure painter and teacher Linda Passman has brought local scenes of Chapel Hill and Carrboro to the walls. Marni Goldshlag, an art quilter, has shared her wall hangings comprising complex cloth with multiple textile techniques. John Shillito of Fearrington has brought a photographer's perspective to the space.

More recently Shirley Little's bold over-scale paintings brightened the space immeasurably during the mid-winter months.

Our current exhibition, "A Summer Garden," was conceived as a timely match for the season's floral bounty. Initially, we did not have enough pieces for a full exhibition. Then, much to my surprise, something happened that was unprecedented. Artists started calling to ask if they could participate in the show. Fifteen artists joined to exhibit 35 works of art in mixed media, including ceramics. The very fact that they were anxious to exhibit told me we were doing something right. Recently, I have been asked by other congregations in the Triangle how to set up similar programs in their places of worship.

Not everyone likes all the art we show. Does everyone like the Chicago Cubs? Or Wagnerian operas? But if we follow the path of the artist's imagination we may be surprised to find an unexpected new vision, guided by the artist of the web of existence that interconnects all living things.

Cutline(s): Art quilter Marni Goldshlag explores the surface of textiles by quilting, stuffing, cutting and creating multiple layers of meaning.