Arts and sacred places
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The sculptor Ian Judd beside his new statue of
Our Lady of the Crag inside her ancient shrine in
Yorkshire
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England is rich in sacred places, many forgotten or
little known by their communities. Other sacred places
are being created as new communities arise in Britain
with fresh spiritual outlooks. To commemorate the
Millennium, the Arts and Sacred Places project worked
with four such communities, two old and two new, to
create arts projects celebrating their sacred places and
encouraging local interaction with them.
The
project was funded by Arts For Nature and the Millennium
Commission, and supported and administered by Sacred
Land. Sacred Land networks with local communities in
Britain and Ireland to restore and conserve their sacred
places as a way of conserving the environment. It is
itself supported by ARC, the Alliance of Religions and
Conservation, which works internationally with WWF to
promote an active link between religions and
conservation.
The Sacred Places Writing
Competition, as part of the project, led to the creation
of a book of
Songs of Sacred Places. Children at schools in each of the four communities,
from ages 6 to 16, were asked to write about their
sacred places, after visiting them and finding their own
inner response to the sacred. The poet Blake Morrison
helped us choose the winners, and prizes were
awarded.
Arts and Sacred Places worked with
four communities, in each of which new works of art were
created to celebrate the sacred place:
>Our Lady of the Crag
>Buddhist Garden of Contemplation
>Vrindavan Garden
>The Ashbrittle Yew
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