Pilgrim Artists Festival 2016

We put on an arts festival last weekend! 

My husband was so flat-out setting up the exhibition that he asked me to make some welcoming remarks to the guests at our opening night event. (All events were held in the Lucaston Apple Shed, and you can see what a richly atmospheric venue it was.) So here are some quotes from my speech, interspersed with some lovely photos of that event, from one of our exhibiting photographers, Jordan de Hoog: 

Pilgrim Artists is part of the ministry of Pilgrim Hill. It exists to encourage and promote Christian artists. To encourage them to glorify God through their artwork and to assist in promoting that artwork to the general public. 

Art has always been part of the long term vision of Pilgrim Hill, and we felt there was an opening culturally right now for promoting a Christ-centred, outward-reaching approach to art in Tasmania.

 

Perhaps at this stage you are asking “why?” 

I’ll give you two reasons. One, we believe with the Westminster Confession that man’s chief aim is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Like Bach, we see the best art as being primarily aimed at glorifying the original artist, our creator God. It’s also excellent practise at doing what we’ll do for eternity: enjoying God, as we do when we explore the artistic possibilities he’s made inherent in His creation and offer up the results to Him. And this is something we can all do as we enjoy art, even those of us who like to call ourselves “uncreative” (I’ll argue with you on that later!).  

Two, we believe that good art in God’s service “adorns the gospel” (as the Westminster Confession puts it about our good works) and is a powerful apologetic for the Christian faith. "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father who is in heaven.” As secular society gets uglier, true Christ-lit beauty becomes even more powerful.

We were very happy with the feedback we got from artists and visitors alike. Now we are full of ideas for how to build on what worked (and what didn't!) this year and do even better next year, God willing.

Humans of Pilgrim Dinners: Luca, Italy

"I came in Tasmania because I knew this place was so wild...to be just inside the nature and to think a lot about my future. I think that I just found all what I needed. I think about a lot of things. I found really a new world with incredible people, starting with my farmer. The first day I came [to Tasmania] was December 3rd. It was a Thursday so I came directly to Pilgrim Dinners. So I was impressed! What you are doing is amazing. In this place - this little place - the people know the worth of the small things. That is the most beautiful thing that I can tell about this place. I saw this here, with my eyes.  First I was completely not thinking about my Christian background. Week by week I keep thinking about every topic. I think that I grow a lot in this place. I am always writing in a diary so I can remember. Thanks for this -- but it is not enough, because what you did is too much for me. I didn't expect to arrive here and find something like this."