The Arts at St. Paul’s
Art, religion and spirituality have forever been entwined with one another. Music, drama, painting, sculpture and poetry have all been ways to explore the mysterious experience of what it means to be human and, more specifically, to express the mystery of life lived in relationship to God. And so it’s no surprise that the roots of drama are religious, that music and the visual arts have flourished within the Church and that poetry both abounds in Scripture and has been created by many of the Church’s people.
At Saint Paul’s the arts abound. Whether in the prayerful quality of our music, the use of poetry and fiction in preaching, the art in our worship spaces, the Umbrella Theater Arts group, musicians using our space for performances, or the number of artists who are active members here: we are formed here by the arts and are committed to nurturing them and those drawn to the creation and performance of art.
Anglican and Anglo-Catholic Sensibility and the Arts
Anglican and Anglo-Catholic spirituality are world-embracing and incarnational, meaning that they affirm the body and human experience as a pathway to God. Anglo-Catholic liturgies, therefore, are full of elements and actions that stimulate the senses: images, statues, incense, chanting, singing and listening to beautiful music, flowers, candles, living water, crusty bread and fragrant wine, the movement of the body in prayer through gestures that are meant to express the inexpressible.
 Anglican and Anglo-Catholic heritage are full of men and women dedicated to the arts—poets George Herbert, John Donne, T. S. Eliot, Christina Rossetti, Lucy Shaw, translators and hymn writers John Henry Neale, Samuel Crossman, John and Charles Wesley, John Newton, and Timothy Smith; writers C.S. Lewis, Madeleine L’Engle, and Charles Williams, priest Stewart Headlam who, contrary to Victorian norms, worked to connect dancers and actors of the day to the Church and its riches. All of these people are witnesses to the interweaving of the arts with the religious sensibility and the use of the arts to bear witness to God.
 Explore poets.org for biographies and samples of poetry.
St. Paul’s Worship and the Arts
Music
Music is one the most powerful ways through which the people at St. Paul’s experience God. Our traditional sacred music repertoire as well as the use of chant, silence, and full congregational singing all provide an opportunity to enter into music that reflects a reverence for and adoration of the God “in whom we live and move and have our being.”
Poetry and Literature in Preaching
Our preachers regularly use poetry and literature in their proclamation of the Gospel. We use literature to deepen our exploration of the intersection of the Gospel with the people’s lives and because the works of poets and writers often convey the mystery inherent in the spiritual life.
Artists’ Work Performed at St. Paul’s
 The Umbrella Theater is St. Paul’s very own theater troupe. Begun in 2006, the group has performed plays in our Labyrinth Garden, has hosted play festivals and has performed short pieces for children and for our Foundations Courses. Professional actors as well as actors from the parish have participated in this group’s work.
Dulces Exuviae (Sweet Reminders), comprised of soprano Linda Tsatsanis and lutenist John Lenti, perform many of their season's concerts at St. Paul's. As a duo and with the occasional addition of other musicians, they perform a repertoire ranging from Medieval chant to Renaissance lute works to high Baroque masterpieces (from their website). They were called “the best new concert series in the city this year” in this 2007 Seattle Times review.
Artists at St. Paul’s and Their Work
At St. Paul’s we believe that the creative process opens us to a realm of imagination and mystery and invites us to into a process of waiting that participates in God’s own creativity. We are blessed with a number of artists in our congregation, including musicians, composers, singers, filmmakers, actors, harpsichord builders, graphic artists, writers, poets, painters, puppeteers, potters, textile artists, set designers, and dancers.
Art in our Worship Spaces
Crucifix in the Church
The crucifix in our Church was carved by John Anderson, a former parishioner. Using a relative as a model, the artist sought to create a crucified Christ that communicated the victory of the cross. Thus our crucifix depicts a Christ who is very much alive and is looking toward heaven.
 Crucifix and St. Peter
Statues in the Chapel
Created by renowned Southwestern artist George Lopez, both statues are representative of the Cordova, New Mexico school of woodcarvers that emphasizes simplicity of form.
You can learn more about Lopez and his style of work on the NEA or Smithsonian websites.
Pulpit
The pulpit design and metal work was done by Deborah Mersky and represents the role of a proclamation as well as a source of ‘the water of life.’ The woodwork was done by John Ehrlick.
Vestments and Frontals
Our vestments and frontals were created by textile arts Brian Potts and Father Ralph Carskadden. Check back for more about both Brian Potts and Father Carskadden and their art at St. Paul’s.
View photograph of Festive Red Frontal created and stitched by Father Ralph Carskadden
Art Outside our Building and in Our Common Spaces
Fence
Bordering St. Paul’s on Roy Street is a decorative fence designed by Seattle artist Deborah Mersky, which contains symbols reflecting the life of the parish community (see section of fence on this page's banner).
Prints by Kathleen Frugé-Brown
 Seven original linoleum block prints by Kathleen Frugé-Brown hang in our St. Francis Room. They depict seven germinal scenes from the life of Francis of Assisi from the perspective of Francis himself.
These seven prints were reproduced in the novella And I, Francis: The Life of Francis of Assisi in Word and Image, text by St. Paul's parishioner Lauren Glen Dunlap. The book is available in our library.
Domestic Madonna paintings
Nance Parker is perhaps best known as the master puppet builder at Shoestring Theater in Portland, Maine. Her vibrant Domestic Madonnas paintings contrast with the serene and contemplative images of women in a domestic moment. Mother Melissa, discovered them at Trinity Parish’s gallery in Castine, ME, and brought back five paintings, which now hang in the parish office.
Read her impressions in this August 2005 sermon.
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