INSPIRE ME! Artist, Harry Bertoia

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

Sculptor Harry Bertoia

By Ernest Disney-Britton

With an infectious smile, Robert “Bo”, a 42-year-old former Roman Catholic, took my arm and led me on a tour of his church sanctuary's art collection at Saint John's Unitarian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. “Let me show you [Harry] Bertoia’s 'Tree of Life'” he said. “It’s worth more than the entire church and at the winter equinox, it lights up,” and as he searched through the tiny copper branches of the tree, he excitedly pointed out a tiny red “apple” hidden at its center.

Section of construction for a Bertoia tree

You could tell from Bo's giddy introduction of this giant wall sculpture, of at least one thousand copper tendrils welded one rod-at-a-time, that this was a man who took his religious art seriously, and who had found a church where he could connect to that passion. I later learned that he had been a faithful attendee since 2005, and that our art tour was going to make him late for his choir meeting. I am grateful to Bo for taking the time.

The Unitarian Universalist tradition is a uniquely American experiment. Rooted in the Christianity of New England Pilgrims, today's Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) resulted from the 1961 merger of the Universalist Church of America (1793) and the American Unitarian Association (1825). Today, the UUA is a spiritual community without a single unifying creed, and that embraces all spiritual paths including atheists, Jews, and Roman Catholics like Bo.

It's universality is represented in its deep commitment to the visual arts but also in this day's musical selections which included a Sufi chant (branch of Islam); Helen Reddy’s “I am Woman,” and the closing song, “We are Dancing Sarah's Circle” but sung to the tune of “We are Climbing Jacob's Ladder,” an African American spiritual.

The Cincinnati congregation's first church building was built in 1824 on Arch Street, but in 1868 St. John's moved to the corner of 12th and Elm Streets in Over-the-Rhine, the heart of Cincinnati's German community. The mid-20th century brought the new church, where I visited, on Resor Avenue in the Clifton neighborhood of Cincinnati near the University of Cincinnati.

Today's congregants fill Saint John's Unitarian Church assemble, as they did in the 1800s when led by a Moravian minister, “seeking their moment with God.” “A time,” as another member explained, "when the individual and the community become one.” For many, such as Bo, the arts and architecture are an integral part of how they make that connection, and also part of the congregation's allure.

Illustrating this point during the sermon, the minister holds two religious artworks and says, “In the beginning, God was a woman (raises the fertility goddess artwork higher) but men didn't like it, and so they invented Christianity” (then raises the crucifix). It's a powerfully illustrated point made by feminist preacher, Rev. Denise Tracy, Interim Minister, and one of the denominations 60-percent female clergy force.

To her left is a burning chalice; the informal symbol of the church (similar to the Disciples of Christ logo) and near it is the towering “Tree of Life” sculpture by Bertoia. To her right, and the congregation's left is another chalice symbol, a series of concentric gold circles set into the wall.

This Sunday's sermon was based on the life of radical theologian Mary Daly. The Reverend Tracy described her as, “the woman who started it all.” The sermon was creatively introduced, beginning with a short play about Daly entitled, “Cate/egorial Appendix” and followed by a powerful poem, “Did Jesus Have a Baby Sister” written by Dory Previn (1974). It was all quite compelling.

As a relatively new religion, the UUA has not been fettered with the mostly Protestant insecurity of connecting art and faith. Instead, they embrace it richly. In fact, they seem to go out of their way to connect at every level. “The aim behind the art is to enrich the spiritual experience,” said Mira, a congregant seated next to a large Op art painting in the rear of the sanctuary. She continued, “We hope the art inspires our guests” and then she invited me to make sure I saw the gallery show adjacent to the church lobby.

Saint John's is a welcoming place that envelops you through its art akin to, but different from the very focused approach of the Roman Catholic Church. Where the Catholic church uses art to assert the trinity, the UUA drapes you in painted quilts, sculpture and paintings that reflect a diversity of unique pathways: spiritually, culturally, economically, ethnically and in terms of age and physical ability (one congregant suffered from Tourettes Syndrome, and while his vocal outbursts disturbed me, none of the UUA congregants seemed to even notice, such was their focus on diversity). The sanctuary is also filled with origami cranes reflecting on the loss of life in the current Middle East wars.

This was my fourth UUA worship service, and by far my most enriching because I finally felt I got the point. I will never forget however my first UUA worship encounter in 2008, while living in New York City. I kept trying to see the crucifix in an abstract fabric artwork over the pulpit, and it just wasn't there. This was coupled by my puzzlement over the absence of Bible scripture readings during the service, and the large contingent of ethnically obvious Jewry in the pews. As a Christian, both spiritually and culturally, I felt disjointed that first day but I nevertheless felt God's presence in the sanctuary. Before that day, I had no idea that Unitarians were not just another one of the 1,000s of Christian denominations in rhe USA or that “church” didn't literally mean “Christian house of worship. “

Harry Bertoia's "Tree of Life" and Bo's inspiring tour revealed to me that Unitarian worship is simply a different pathway to God, and Saint John's Unitarian Church is another wonderful example of the miracles that happen artistically at “God's Art Museums.”