‘Spirit Touches Art’ at Trinity United Church

October 30, 2014 · 0 Comments

“Art is the reproduction of what the senses perceive in nature through the veil of the soul.”
– Edgar Allan Poe
On October 18th, Trinity United Church in Shelburne welcomed the community to enjoy artists and performers at the inaugural event of “Spirit Touches Art, Art Touches Spirit.” The outreach experience included a variety of visual artists and artisans free of charge, a concert hall with local performers and a newly renovated gallery for displaying visual art.
Trinity Church has some of the best acoustics for music in the region and also boasts a beautiful, raised, open oak stage with semi circle seating. Surrounded by stunning stained glass windows it is an appealing location for concerts, forums and weddings. Most recently, the lower level meeting room was renovated to a rental gallery to display art on an on-going basis. The church council hopes to reach out to the larger Shelburne community and a small committee, led by Ann McAlpine, was formed in April. With the church council’s blessing the “Spirit Touches Art, Art Touches Spirit” event came into being.
The event featured five hours of non-stop entertainment upstairs on the performance stage including local favourites: Murray and Ruth Irwin & the Shelburne Fiddlers, Luthier Daniel Clark, singer Gary Heaslip, the Bassically Sound quartet, female harmony group Candescence, and folk duet Ian and Ingrid. Accomplished pianist Jennifer Smele accompanied Paul Boon and the Trinity Choir, as well as young violinist and singer Darcey Baker. Gifted organist Keiko Yoden-Kuepfer filled the sanctuary with the wonderful strains of the church’s beautiful pipe organ. Story tellers and speakers included Dick Byford and Jennifer Johnson. Wayne Townsend, who was finishing his last week as the Curator of the Dufferin County Museum, gave a fascinating run down of the famous of Dufferin County.
The highlight of the event was award winning musical performer Ed Roman of Shelburne; he surprised and delighted the audience with his incisive lyrics, comic timing and natural performance style – one of those performers who leave the viewer feeling like they were very lucky to have been his audience.
In the new gallery on the lower level, Hands on Catering served a delicious light lunch while visitors took a look at the art space. There were 16 visual artists and crafters showing their work in the larger downstairs room including: Ken Topping, Rosemarie Armstrong , Linda McLaren , Darlene Hassell, Benitta Wilcox, Beth Grant, Bob Dunn, Dr. Wilfred Goodman, Ken McGee, Juliet Jancso, Dan Sinclair, Sue Miller, Jill Pringle, Kim Harcourt, Susan Desanto and Paula Cameron. Wine and cheese served on the side encouraged mingling; groups scattered across the room – viewing with surprise and wonder – works of gifted local artists that filled both the space and their spirits.
The “Spirit Touches Art, Touches Spirit” Concert and Art Gallery were extremely well attended, and Ann McAlpine says, “the artists and musicians were impressed by the day and suggested we offer this type of event again.” Presently, the committee is collating the feedback from all the performers and artists and already has a waiting list for next year on the same weekend after Thanksgiving.
“Interesting to note,” says McAlpine, “this was not a fund raiser for Trinity, but an opportunity to showcase our beautiful building. Due to the generosity from many of the participating artists, and those enjoying the luncheon, we covered our expenses. Thank you to all who were touched by the Spirit.

By Marni Walsh