Churches can often be a focal point for rural arts activity says Terry Miller.
Rural arts activity in the UK is on the increase, yet there is a common assumption that most art happens in towns and cities. A quick list of some of the more well-known rural arts venues Hay Literature Festival, Glyndebourne Opera House, Compton Verney, Glastonbury Festival, the Bowes Museum reminds us of the scope of rural arts, and there are many others besides. In the rural context, it may also come as a surprise how much churches are proactively involved in promoting the arts.
In Sussex, churches are among the major music performance venues. Lincolnshire, sometimes thought of as dull and conservative, its cultural life confined to folksongs and pig-breeding is, in fact, a national leader in the number of arts events per head of population. That quotation was from François Matarassos report Arts and Rural England Discussion Paper of September 2004 prepared for Arts Council England, East Midlands. It describes a rural scene with plenty of opportunity and support for the arts. In Lincolnshire, North Kesteven District Council, just to the south of the city of Lincoln itself, has a reputation for its community-based arts programme: putting sculptural pieces into village greens, running Music in Quiet Places and more recently for the Hub, the new contemporary craft centre at the heart of the cultural renaissance of the town of Sleaford.
Nocton in North Kesteven set up the Nocton Arts Trail Association in 1999, and its latest production is a mosaic path at All Saints Church, which has won a 2005 Art and Christianity Enquiry national award. There are over 650 Grade I and II* listed churches in Lincolnshire of great variety and beauty, and many are venues for performance arts as well as installations: large churches, like St Marys in the market town of Long Sutton, puts on a regular programme of arts events.
Churches are attractive venues for the arts, often sought after by artists. The Journey in 1990 brought together contemporary explorations in spirituality with the arts, and works were installed in Lincoln Cathedral and in rural locations including the great Saxon minster of Stow and land art at the ruined Tupholme Abbey. The connection with the environment and the arts is another rich rural theme. Art and Christianity Enquiry often supports contemporary arts in churches as does the Churches Conservation Trust, which has responsibility for 335 redundant churches in England and relies on over 1,000 volunteers. In the past year it has put on a wide range of arts events from circus schools to concerts and community arts.
A Lincolnshire highlight of 2005 has been the Lincoln & Lincolnshire International Chamber Music Festival, Joseph Haydn Genius running in August and September. Of 35 performances over four weekends, 17 were in churches, including St Johns Church (pictured), and 12 were in particularly rural locations. The response was tremendous, with many venues full.
There is no doubt that parishioners have been preparing their church buildings to be useful for cultural activities with kitchens, lavatories and disabled access. Nevertheless, a cultural survey carried out in 2000/01 by the East Midlands Churches Forum (a regional umbrella Church body) found that most churches were still unaware of the opportunities that now exist and the potential support in the form of grants, publicity, etc. There is still much to be done, but the eagerness is evident. The Yorkshire Churches Regional Commission has created a cultural project entitled Treasures Revealed to facilitate, signpost and showcase good practice. The benefits to local communities are considerable, with economic regeneration and community cohesion just as important in rural as in urban locations. Churches are increasingly alive to the value of the arts.
Terry Miller is an adviser on sustainable development to churches in Lincolnshire.
e: terryemilleruk@aol.com