Triptych for Advent adorns church

Last year, Christmas visitors to St. George the Martyr Church in Toronto’s downtown core were met by an unusual seasonal adornment: a triptych painted by three community artists during worship services over the first three weeks of Advent.

The painting was the brainchild of painter Sam Cavanagh, who has been part of liturgical painting events before, as both an artist and as a parishioner. With the blessing of St. George’s rector, the Rev. Simon Bell, Cavanagh recruited three young local artists in late October and publicized the triptych. The church neighbourhood is home to the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) and Toronto’s vibrant bohemian Queen Street West district, where many young artists live.

The church provided funds for the materials, “though some artists brought their own brushes,” says Cavanagh. “The piece was done over Advent during the worship services, and there was no official unveiling.” Stored in the sanctuary and the church office as a work in progress, the final four-foot by three-foot triptych was put on display the week before Christmas.

Week number one’s artist, Megan Hers, was an undergraduate student at OCAD, who got involved at the church through intervarsity student ministries, which met at St. George in 2010.

The second artist was Matt Rawlins, who works in the creative arts program “Sol Express,” which is run by the Toronto chapter of L’Arche, an international federation of homes and programs for intellectually challenged people. The third week’s young artist, Agnes Kenney, teamed up with Cheryl Zinyk, creative director of Sol Express. “Agnes participated as a person with a developmental disability,” says Cavanagh.

The triptych, yet to be named, was generally well received. “People really enjoyed the idea, the process and the final piece,” says Cavanagh, who concedes that some said it was a distraction. “Others, especially the children in the congregation, felt very invested in the work.”