The Stations of the Cross at St. Philips In The Hills, Tucson

Between Ash Wednesday (Feb 10) and Easter (March 27) my fourteen paintings of The Stations of the Cross will be on display in the sanctuary of St. Philips In The Hills Episcopal Church. This has been an annual tradition since 2005 when the paintings became part of the church’s permanent collection. Two of these paintings, Christ Falls and Christ is Lowered from the Cross, are on permanent display in the sanctuary. The entire ensemble is hung in the appropriate order on Ash Wednesday, and remains on display through Good Friday.

These paintings were originally made between 1993 and 1996 when I lived in St. Paul, Minnesota, and was part of a project underwritten by Messiah Episcopal Church. They were painted for a multi-media presentation that included four elements: painting, music, writing and dramatic reading. It was a collaboration between me and three other artists: classical guitarist David Crittenden, writer Mary Ellen Ashcroft, and actor Letha Bernard-Wilson. The event included both a display of the paintings and a performance, and it was presented at numerous churches and two seminaries over the course of four Lenten seasons.

With the culmination of the project in 2000 the paintings were released to my ownership. When St. Philips expressed an interest in making them part of their impressive collection I was happy to donate the paintings as a group and give them an ideal permanent home.

They are now part of an historic collection of art at St. Philips that includes 13 works from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. These are primarily Italian and French paintings, sculptures and icons that date from the 14th and 15th centuries.