In addition to its fine architecture, Grace Church on-the-Hill
houses a number of other works of art. Paraments (ornamental
ecclesiastical hangings and vestments) have been commissioned of
various Canadian artists. Contemporary sculpture and magnificent
stained glass windows may also be found.
By Her Own Radiant Light, a wall sculpture by Catherine
Widgery,
1999, depicts the phases of the moon over water. Given in
memory of Peggy Reuber, the sculp-ture acknowledges that she
and other Christians become
at best reflectors of the Greater Light. The moon is the
reflector of the sun's greater light, and has long been a
symbol of the feminine, whose subtle force pulls the tides.
The phases of the moon suggest an eternal cycle of life,
death, and rebirth. Loss returns to fullness; darkness
becomes light.
Untitled Banner, designed and crafted by Marion Spanjerdt, 1981. Out of the
darkness and chaos at the bottom flows the river of life, through hordes of
people, rising to eternal light and hope of God at the top.
Triptych depicting the
history of Grace Church
on-the-Hill, designed by Willem Hart and crafted
by members of
the
Cariboo
Group, 1999 -
view on the
left with
wings closed
during Lent
and Advent;
view above
with wings
open.
Crucifix, sculpture
created by
Mary Taylor
from found
objects on
her farm in
Vermont.
The sculpture
is now
located in
the Courtyard,
outside the north door of the Narthex.
Processional Banner, depicting the Holy
Spirit in the
form of a dove, crafted with permission of the artist, Barbara LeSueur, by
members of the Cariboo Group after The Giving of the Gifts, a banner
created in 1989. This banner now hangs above the Chapel door when not in use for processions.
Windows
| Grace Church on-the-Hill has many beautiful stained glass windows, most of which were made in the McCausland Studios. Thirty-three windows were installed between 1918 and 1957. |
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Almost 50 years later, a new memorial window sponsored by
the Imperial Officers Association of Canada was dedicated on
November 12, 2006. This window, entitled A New Dawn, is the
work of Sarah Hall, a Canadian and one of the most accomplished
stained glass artists in the world today. The window suggests the
four elements: earth, fire, water, and air, and symbolizes the
operations of the navy, army, and air force striving towards peace
and "A New Dawn."
"On to the Fields of Praise", a window on the south-west facade of the narthex at Grace Church on-the-Hill, was designed and created by Sarah Hall, RCA, in collaboration with craftsman Bernhard Viehweber, and dedicated on Easter Sunday, March 23, 2008. It is created using flashed antique glass with etching, sandblasting and hand engraving, and is constructed with the traditional leaded technique. The window has a painterly quality and is intended to be a companion for Sarah's other narthex window "New Dawn".
Sarah was first inspired by a meditation she had read on the teachings of Jesus:
Enter the Kingdom,
Become a child.
Become a child,
Enter the Kingdom.
Her second inspiration came from the Dylan Thomas poem "Fern Hill" of which she writes, "I felt a resonance between the biblical teaching and the words of the poet 19 centuries later, which seemed to capture the same sense of innocence and grace:
And then to awake, and the farm, like a wanderer white
With the dew, come back, the cock on his shoulder:
it was all
Shining, it was Adam and maiden,
The sky gathered again
And the sun grew round that very day.
So it must have been after the birth of the simple light
In the first, spinning place, the spellbound horses walking
warm
Out of the whinnying green stable
On to the fields of praise.
In the window, the kingdom of God encompasses both heaven and earth. The heavens spiral downwards. The sun warms the land and wheat grows joyfully and abundantly. Streams of water flow through the lower panel. The wheat provides a reference to the Sacrament of Eucharist. ___________
The six works of liturgical fabric art that follow were all
created and worked by Canadian artist Helen Fitzgerald:
Altar frontals and vestments for every church season have been
designed and crafted by Helen Fitzgerald, one of Canada's
leading textile artists.
Advent
Frontal, 1988
Star-like forms represent the drawing near of light through the dark firmament,
the fore-runner of wondrous happenings. It announces that the time for
preparation and new beginnings has arrived. It suggests great hope, a fanfare
for the time of joyous celebration, just as Advent allows us to prepare for
Christmas and the joy of the birth of Christ.
Lenten Frontal, 1984
Based on the penitential Psalm 51:2 “Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness and
cleanse me from my sin,” the time passage of the season is shown by dark colours
that move from each side through the days of Lent to the centre panels of red
representing Passion week, culminating in the white cross of sacrifice and
atonement above the waters of baptism.
Festal Frontal, 1975
Inspired by
the name of the Church itself, it depicts seven doves representing the seven
Gifts of Grace–"power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and
glory and blessing" (Revelation 5:12).
Pentecost Frontal, 1977-78
Crimson
background frames a vision of cloven flames in orange and yellow and white, to
illustrate: "And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty
wind...and there appeared to them tongues of fire...and they were all filled
with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues." (Acts 2.2-3). The
seven flames represent the seven gifts of the spirit given in Isaiah 11.2:
wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the
Lord.
Trinity Altar Frontal, 1999,
for the green
seasons of Epiphany and the Sundays after Pentecost. It portrays a wide range of
green tones, with plant growth in varying stages emanating from a central circle
of white, with symbols of Christ's body in the eucharistic bread in the centre.
The essential message in this “everyday” frontal is one of Celebration, of the
triumph of life and light over darkness and death, of spring over winter.
Triptych/Chapel Hangings, 1981
The
centre panel depicts the Chi-Rho, the monogram of Christ portrayed by the first
two letters of Christ in Greek (X and P). The left panel depicts the Greek
letter alpha, and the right panel depicts the Greek letter omega, first and last
letters of the Greek alphabet. As Jesus said, "I am the apha and the omega, the
beginning and the end."
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