PORT TOWNSEND — An art show that commemorates Holy Week is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a move to a downtown location that sponsors hope will bring in more people.
“We want to broaden our spectrum,” said Skip Cadorette, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Port Townsend.
“We are trying to get people to reflect on Holy Week and think about sacrifice.”
The show, “Crossroads 2014: Where Art and The Passion Meet,” includes work by 14 area artists, each portraying events told in the Bible about Jesus that are remembered at Easter.
The exhibit is open from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Pope Marine Building, 603 Water St., but could open earlier in the day if there is enough demand, Cadorette said.
“If we think that we need to expand the hours we will decide that day and put the signs out,” he said.
This year’s participating artists are Roberta Bymers, Earl Kong, Jan Shadburn, Lynn Rideout, Tye Hillger and grandchildren, Ray Grier, Elizabeth Harmon, Acacia Cadorette, Glora Sutton, Trent Shadburn, Rosmarie Magary, Nina Daily, Patt Roche and Barrett Macfarland.
The media is mixed, including sculpture, painting and collage.
Since its inception, the exhibit has taken place in the basement of the church at 1202 Lawrence St., a place Cadorette characterizes as dark and somewhat depressing, although decorations have managed to improve the mood.
This year’s move to the Pope Marine Building gives the exhibit more space and access to passersby.
Holy Week is the last week of Lent that immediately precedes Easter, which this year falls on April 20.
“During Holy Week a lot of people want to get through the cross and to the resurrection as soon as possible, get past the pain and into the happy stuff,” Cadorette said.
“People walking through will have different interpretations and I’m happy to see people go through and grasp whatever aspect of sacrifice means something to them.”
With the Stations of the Cross, the process is represented in churches worldwide, often providing a scriptural background for each step.
In Port Townsend, each artist chose a station and created representative artwork that reflects their individual interpretation.
While many depictions of the stations are architecturally or thematically consistent, the results are diverse, Cadorette said.
Cadorette, 53, a 1979 Port Townsend High School graduate, has served as pastor of the church for 13 years.
The pieces are usually not repeated from year to year, although there are exceptions, such as a wooden beam that Cadorette found on a beach and used to imagine what it felt like to touch the cross.
For more information, call 360-385-2752 or see www.facebook.com/FirstBaptistChurchofPT.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
