WEST BRATTLEBORO — The gallery spaces in All Souls Church Unitarian Universalist in West Brattleboro are hosting Stu Copans' annual exhibit of paper cuttings and other artwork with a peace theme through the end of October.
Images in this show, as in previous years, include paper cuttings containing the word “peace,” in English, Arabic, or Hebrew.
The cuttings have been inspired by a range of sources, including Copans' work with children at Peace Camps; brass lanterns in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City; and flowers, trees, oriental carpets, and designs on the tiles of Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan's (c. 1489-1588) many mosques.
In many societies, spiritual values are carried not in the mind or in words but in physical objects such as beads, spirit houses, amulets, or icons. The role of the artist is to convert the spiritual into the physical, to rework and alter the physical object so it contains and is inhabited by the spirit. In this show, four artists embody their yearnings for peace in works of art.
• Copans' papercuttings are the latest in his ever-expanding body of creative expression, sometimes grouped in visually pleasing “sets.”
• John Vincent's Revolutionary Press has created several “broadsides” - letterpress-printed inspirational quotations.
• Peter Dudley is showing paintings and drawings.
• Dotty Seiter is hanging poem/prayer mobiles overhead.
The public will have a chance to meet the quartet of artists at an Opening Reception hosted by the All Souls Arts Committee on Sunday, Sept. 10, from 2 to 4 p.m. Otherwise, the exhibit is open for visitors from 9 a.m. to noon on weekdays and during other public events in the building or by appointment.