Shelter Art Show

Thursday night was the opening of the Shelter art exhibition at St Michael’s church. Shelter was conceived as a way to bring together our artist friends from the market and help raise money for the cold weather shelter we’re involved in. Artists submitted pieces on the theme of shelter (some stuck closer to the theme than others). They will donate a portion of each sale to the cold weather shelter.
We had been running around like crazy for the last week picking up art, fixing lights at the appropriate angle, and hanging pieces. It was great fun and hard work, culminating in our opening night.
A good number of people came to the opening, mostly friends and invitees of the artists. Somer and Kathy kept the mulled wine flowing all night, which helped compensate for the cold in the building (it was warmer outside than it was inside, as St. Michael’s can't afford to turn on the heat).
So why did we do something like this? Aside from the obvious answer that it takes money to run the cold weather shelter, and this is one way to raise money, there's a bigger picture. Our vision for bringing people close to God who wouldn't ordinarily set foot in a traditional church means that we look for ways to include them in projects that are close to God's heart. God loves art, he loves artists, and he loves the weak and needy in Camden. This show brings those things together, and does it in a beautiful building that has been used to worship God for over 100 years. We want to help people experience God as they rub shoulders with his people and participate in his mission to shelter the homeless. And we hope that they have helped us better to know the shelter that God provides us as they've expressed the theme in their paintings, photographs, and sculptures.