Art and Christianity Enquiry (ACE) is the leading UK organization in the field of visual art and religion. ACE offers stimulating educational projects and publications, advice, information, and skills.
About ACE
In the late 1980s the late Tom Devonshire Jones (1934-2015), then vicar of St Mark’s Regents Park, began making formal connections between the individuals who he knew shared his passion for and knowledge of art and Christianity. These included Charles Pickstone (at the time a regular contributor on the subject to various journals), Erika Langmuir (National Gallery), Judith Collins (Tate Gallery) and Richard McLaren who chaired the board of trustees from its inception until 2016.
In 1991 ACE, as it had been named, hosted its first series of seminars entitled ‘Art – theology – church’. It also gathered academics, clergy and artists from around the world to meet in London for its first international conference.
By January 1994 the charitable trust had been formed and ACE continued with its well-received events and lectures, as well as the biennial international conference. In 1995 ACE began publishing its quarterly newsletter known as the ‘Bulletin’ which has grown from a black and white photocopy on a sheet of A3 to an internationally respected 20-page journal, now entitled “Art & Christianity.”
Art and Christianity Journal
Art and Christianity (ISSN 1746-6229) is the quarterly journal of ACE which since 1994 has published features, exhibition and book reviews, news and comment from the field of art and religion. Art and Christianity welcomes articles from all faith traditions.
The editorial board: Peter Doll, Graham Howes, Jonathan Koestlé-Cate, Inge Linder-Gaillard, Laura Moffatt, Charles Pickstone, Laura Purseglove, Frances Spalding, Kim Vrudny.
Issues are published quarterly at the beginning of February (Spring), May (Summer), August (Autumn) and November (Winter). The copy deadline is a month in advance. Proposals for articles and reviews are welcome and will be considered by the editorial board.
Join ACE for your quarterly copies. The current issue costs £3 (including postage) or you can request a free introductory back issue by emailing us with your postal address.
Art in Churches
Curating the Visual Arts in Churches and Cathedrals
The current focus of Art in Churches is a two-year initiative co-managed by Art+Christianity Enquiry and the ChurchCare department for the Church of England. This scheme will document some of the country’s most innovative and successful temporary art projects in churches in the form of a series of published case studies, alongside commissioning a series of new artist projects.
The first of these projects is a site-responsive artist-residency hosted by St. John the Baptist Church in Newcastle. Conceived in partnership with the Platforma Festival, Ritournelle is Katia Kameli’s response to an invitation to consider themes of residency, migration, and belonging within the context of this medieval church. Using the plain glass windows of St. John’s, Kameli’s intervention will deploy coloured film within the small diamond panes, in patterns that recall design and architecture motifs native to some of the primary countries from which refugees and migrants relocate to Newcastle. Kameli is also producing a sound work in which she has invited migrants and refugees from the city, as well as members of the church choir, to sing a song which reminds them of home. These songs have been recorded in situ at St. John the Baptist.
Laura Purseglove, Project Curator said: “Newcastle’s cultural diversity will be celebrated in this project. Churches provide so much support for migrants and asylum seekers, so working with St. John the Baptist on this project for the Platforma Festival feels entirely appropriate.”