Page 16 - PC Fall 2023

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PRESBYTERIAN
FALL 2023
presbyterian.ca
The Positivity Mural Missional Project
in Calgary
By Dr. Heather Bryant, Clerk of Session, Westminster Presbyterian Church in Calgary, Alta.
How do you create a positive relationship with neighbours and bring a gift to the community at the same time? Over the past year, Westminster Presbyterian Church in Calgary, Alta., and the middle school next door (Tom Baines School, grades 6 through 9) have worked together to do just that. Through collaboration with other partners and some com- munity outreach, we’ve created a conversation piece that brings forward the themes of positivity, community and inclusion.
The first seed for this was planted when several Westminster members attended the cer tificate course in missional leadership through the Vancouver School of Theology. During the sessions, we learned of churches that had used their church proper ty to reach out to their neighbourhoods. It was also clear that the strongest pro- jects came when the community was consulted and worked with the church on a project, rather than a church just deciding on its own what projects were needed.
We were fortunate that we could build on a 2022 community consultation that the Edgemont Community Association carried out in collaboration with students
from the Urban Studies/tactical urbanism program at the Univer- sity of Calgary. It had suggested that more community art would be appreciated. Two other needs were identified, and as the asso- ciation decided to prioritize work on fellowship around a commu- nity ravine space, we decided that perhaps we could work to bring the community art idea to life.
Knowing that our post-and- cable fence around the parking lot, which abuts a major traffic route in the community, was not an asset to the community aes- thetic, we developed the idea of a new fence around the property that could become the canvas for a beautiful community mu- ral. And because we were next door to Tom Baines School, we wondered if the students would welcome an opportunity to share their art in a very public way. So last June, Heather Bryant, an el- der at Westminster, approached Lily Chow, the art teacher at Tom Baines School, to see whether she and her students would want to team up on creating a mural that expressed the key values of positivity, community and inclu- sion. The answer was yes—and the project was born.
Over the next few months, we developed a proposal to the Cal- gary Foundation to support a por- tion of the cost. As we developed
our timelines, it became clear that we’d need to put the posts in be- fore the winter so that the fence could be completed and ready for painting in May. As we didn’t know whether we’d receive fund- ing in the early fall, we took the idea to Session to see whether they’d be willing to take the risk of putting posts in without knowing how much support we’d receive to complete the fence, if any. This led to a commitment from the Randy Jaggard fund, a memorial fund in memory of a Westmin- ster man who loved youth, com- munity and building projects, as the family thought this project would be a perfect match for his interests. This allowed us to move forward without knowing whether the grant application was suc- cessful; when we learned that it was, we knew we could complete the fence without a challenge to the regular church budget.
In the fall, the school and West- minster engaged the students in the project and planned how to allow for community and church input on the proposed designs. The students submitted 18 de- signs for fence panels that were then posted in our narthex in early April, along with descriptions of what they represented. Many of us were touched by how deeply the students understood the theme and tried to bring it to life.
Photos of the Positivity Mural at Westminster Presbyterian Church.
We hosted two parking lot events in May to involve the com- munity in celebrating the work. In early May, students and folks from Westminster painted the fence background white so it could be the “canvas” for their designs, while others from Westminster prepared a hot dog lunch for them and anyone else from the com- munity. And on a Saturday late in May, 47 students gave up a weekend day to paint their mural designs, as people from the com- munity came by to cheer them on and have a burger, again prepared by our team, in the parking lot.
The result has been positive. We see many people, including daycare students, come by to look at the colourful designs. We’ve posted the students’ descrip-
tions of their designs, along with photos of the panels (wpchurch. net/collections/positivity-mural) so that everyone can understand their messages. And once it was done, both CBC and the Calgary Herald came out to interview students and talk about the mu- ral. While the kids made the front page of the Herald, we were even happier with the headline that accompanied the online article: “Everyone is Welcome, Everyone is Loved.” What better message for youth—or a church—to send out to their community?
Connection
Earth Art Message
By Varsity Acres Presbyterian Church in Calgary, Alta.
Sunday school art can carry a message! An art piece made by the children at Varsity Acres Pres- byterian Church in Calgary, Alta., now hangs in the sanctuary and
conveys an ongoing message about our environmental crisis. The piece was part of a Sunday school project designed for the church’s Earth Sunday service. It is made entirely from garbage and recycling. Carefully put together by the elementary age kids in the
Sunday school, the project came from an idea by interim Faith Edu- cation Coordinator, Jo Colgan. With the support of the Rev. Greg Smith, the kids worked on their creation in the weeks leading up to the service.
The art was part of a lesson about biblical outsiders. During the lesson, the kids learned about “outsider art”: art that is made by people who are “outsiders” in the world of professional art. Learn- ing about outsider artists using scraps of material in their artwork was the inspiration to make an Earth-themed piece of art using garbage and recycling.
The final creation, titled “Our
Planet,” was used as a backdrop to a video prayer, narrated by the children, which opened the Earth Sunday service. The fin-
ished piece now hangs in VAPC’s sanctuary, continuing to carry its message to those attending and watching each week.