Melbourne Uniting Church Schools 2024 Exhibition

 

The Uniting Church Icon Schools annual icon exhibition of icons and religious art, 2024, “The Beauty of Holiness”, runs from 1 October to 4 November 2024 at the Centre for Theology and Ministry, College Crescent (Melbourne University), Parkville.

It features icons and religious artwork by students of the three Uniting Church icon schools. All the exhibits are panel paintings and most are in egg tempera, though very few are painted in acrylics or are mixed media (ie some parts tempera and some parts acrylics). Some icons are for sale.

Melbourne Uniting Church Schools 2024 Exhibition - flyer

 

 

The subject matter ranges from studies of Byzantine icons, to Spanish panel painting from 12^th century Catalonia, to contemporary interpretations of religious figures from the British Isles, to a painting by Fra Angelico and many more intriguing motifs.

Students range from newbies (like my husband David, who picked up a brush for the first time after several decades), to accomplished iconographers who have decades of experience and study (in iconography, gilding, woodwork and theology) behind them.

The exhibition features four icons which I submitted too, I shall post photos below, but provide a detailed explanation on them in a later post.

For anyone who is unable to make it to the exhibition, here is a short sample of what is on offer  - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLl_FQrjpBI&t=8s . The video is made by Rev. Dr. Peter Blackwood who runs all three schools on behalf of the Uniting Church, Melbourne. (Btw you do not need to belong to have any affiliation with the church to join any of the three schools)

This post is to tempt anyone who would like to dabble with iconography not to think twice. If you are Melbourne based, I cannot recommend our school highly enough. Why? It is made up an unlikely group of very different people who because they share this particular interest, have become friends. The group consists mainly of women – though there are a few men. Ages range from the late twenties to over 70 (I am guessing).  It includes people of diverse ethnicities and professional experience – from students, journalists, IT workers, lawyers, museum curators, Doctors of Divinity, academics, retired folk, professional artists, sculptors, teachers, housewives, pastoralists - (and these are just the range of people I have been lucky enough to interact with – there are more).  It is a meeting place for people of different religious backgrounds – Orthodox Christians, Catholics, Protestants (from various denominations), Jews and perhaps a few others too.  Topics around the lunch table are as wide-ranging as the people and the food – thought-provoking, informative and sometimes challenging, but mostly fun, especially since they are digested along with coffee, sweet treats and snacks brought in by the students who attend.

Our teacher Rev. Dr. Peter Blackwood is a retired Anglican minister who intersperses practical advice regarding art, with short talks on theology, the history of religious art, basic and advanced art tips and hints, anecdotes and so, much more. Check out his YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@PeterBlackwood to get an idea on what’s on offer.

 

 Here are images of the icons which I contributed to the exhibition:

Christ Pantocrator - Tempera on wood

Our Lady of Czestochowa, Poland - Tempera on wood

Neo-Coptic icon of "The Good Shepherd" (acrylics on wood panel)

 

Guardian Angel - Tempera on wood