Artists in the Episcopal Diocese of New York represent a broad spectrum of the visual arts, including varying levels of experience and a wide range of formats: painting, drawing, graphics, photography, sculpture, vestment design.

“Front On Woods” by the Rev. John Moody
“Most of my work is from nature, the raw material of creation, and the Holy Spirit I think is part and parcel of the God who creates,” says the Rev. John Moody.

In mid-career in the ordained ministry of the Episcopal Church, Moody received a Master’s Degree in painting and sculpture. His work eventually took him into parish and community arts administration and program direction at Trinity Church, Wall Street and elsewhere. 

“Lost In Thoughtfulness”
by the Rev. Phillippa Turner
“Faith calls me into community; challenges me to find and make connections with others, finding a sacred space of common ground,” says the Rev. Pippa Turner. “It informs my appreciation of the beauty and complexity of God’s creation in all its forms. As a photographer, I seek to document frame by frame, those moments recognizing and celebrating our diversity within our human oneness, and hope to bring into focus that instant where God’s presence and love is revealed.”

“Magnificat (2004)”
by Caroline Coolidge Brown
“For the past two years, I have been working on a series of large paintings based on the Annunciation and the text of Mary’s Magnificat,” says Caroline Coolidge Brown, a temporary New Yorker while her husband studies for an M. Div. at General Theological Seminary. “In them I use Mary’s symbol of Easter lilies as an abstract, organic motif while incorporating the text as a contextual and design element.”

Altarpiece of the Virgin with Saints Lawrence and Stephen
by the Rev. John Walsted
The icons of the Rev. John Walsted are familiar to many in the diocese. Walsted’s work can be seen in parishes and church institutions throughout the diocese.

“Sacred art,” he says, “must speak to the people who come in contact with it. It has to be something that will relate to them, something that will put them in contact with an unseen dimension of heaven.”

Study for ‘The Songs of Travel No.9’: ‘I have Trod the Upward and the Downward Slope (1)’
by Caroline Jennings
Caroline Jennings is primarily a painter who has lived in New York since 1987 and is a member of the Congregation of St. Saviour at the Cathedral. Jennings is currently at work on a series of Annunciation paintings.

“I am a deeply religious person but struggle constantly with issues of doctrine and dogma,” she says. “I think that much of my work - and the tension in my work - probably derives, whether consciously or not, from this inward struggle. One’s own inner life and growth - these are issues of faith.

Chalice and Paten
by Melanie Barnett Wright
Melanie Barnett Wright is currently in her final year of MDiv studies at The General Theological Seminary. Although she works in a variety of mixed Media, her current emphasis is in clay.

“I find the process of doing creative work to be a spiritual exercise in and of itself. I think it is one of the ways that we are able to connect with the divine life within. One thing I find particularly powerful in working with clay is how the vessels and sculptures actually reveal the shaping of the potter’s hands. If you look very close, you can even see fingerprints that have been left behind. This awareness opens my eyes anew to look for the fingerprints of God that have been left behind on all that has been created.”

Rescue Workers from the“Courage” series
by Krystyna Sanderson
Krystyna Sanderson works at Grace Church, Manhattan. She is a fine art and commercial photographer and the chairperson of the New York Chapter of ECVA.

“I love Christ and I love art,” she says. “My brothers and sisters in Christ who are also artists understand me, encourage me and rejoice with me - no questions asked.”

“Mother of Tenderness”
by Ellen Francis Poisson, OSH
Sister Ellen Francis Poisson’s icons can be found in churches and private homes in the U.S., England and Ghana.

"During my novitiate at the Order of St. Helena it occurred to me that I could try to bring together my prayer and my art. I have found the time that I spend in the studio to be the time of deepest meditation that I can imagine."

“Speaking in Tongues of Fire” by Hal Weiner
With his photography, Hal Weiner found that “I could really express things like blessed are the peacemakers... that I could far more effectively express my faith through both photographs and text at the same time. Just deciding what to do with a given photo is a religious experience for me.”