Art Lives at Unity Church

Art provides another medium through which human beings experience gifts of the spirit. Response to a work of art may be on intense, profound levels. As with poetry or literature, theatre, dance or music, the visual arts provide meditative and emotional opportunities and appreciation of life's process, our cultures and society. Unity's Art Team serves the congregation by hosting exhibits in our Parish Hall gallery, cataloging and sharing information about Unity's extensive art collection, and inviting the congregation into art appreciation through various events and learning opportunities. For more information about the work of Unity's Art Team, please email artteam@unityunitarian.org.

Current Exhibits

January Parish Hall Artist: Heather Friedli
A reception for the artist will be held on Saturday, January 23, from 11:30a.m.-2:00 p.m., in the Parish Hall.

Heather Friedli was born in Los Angeles, CA, in 1982. She lived half her childhood with her mom and grandmother in Los Angeles, CA, and Albuquerque, NM, absorbing the colors, beauty and culture of the Southwest; then moved and lived her second half of childhood with her aunt, uncle, and grandmother (yes, same one!) in Luxembourg and Detroit, MI. She graduated with a fibers and textiles degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2005. In 2010 Heather through-hiked the Appalachian Trail, the completion of which inspired her to create a series of work highlighting her family’s native Odawa and Mexican heritages within impressionistic and dreamlike natural landscapes. She continues to explore the earth through artventures and wilderness travels both with her family and solo. She currently lives and works in Saint Paul, MN, with her husband and two children.

Recently, she has opened her own Friedli Gallery & Studio at 943 West 7th Street, St. Paul, where she hosts ever-changing exhibits of the works of many different artists plus art classes of varying types (www.friedliartsgallery.com).

Heather Friedli is best known for her contemporary impressionist oil paintings depicting the land in which she lives and explores. Bold brush strokes and brilliant colors light up scenes of cloudscapes, water, and native flora. Many pieces are created in the context of her wilderness adventures; she often brings her paints outdoors to create work that shares with the viewer her understanding of and immersion in the landscape. With these colorful works she seeks the spiritual world through the lens of her mixed American, Indigenous Odawa, and Mexican heritages, and lived intimacy of place. Her work is creative, soulful, bold, and powerful.

These paintings are her achievement in synthesizing personal love and submersion in the natural world through wilderness adventure travel, bringing the viewer into her sphere. Those experiences, being in the outdoors and seeing the beauty and power of nature are often represented in large scale works. She paints with a passion for the land, looking around and internalizing the colors and expressing them onto canvas.

Honoring Water Protectors
Photo and Story Exhibit in the Elliot Wing by John Kaul

John Kaul became aware of efforts by Indigenous peoples to protect the accessible Earth’s fresh water, to warn us of the consequences of exploitation of the Earth’s resources. His inspiration came from two indigenous women:

Sharon Day , Executive Director of The Indigenous Peoples Task Force and leader of the Nibi Walk movement, a spiritual effort. She organizes walks along major and many minor North American rivers. She says, “each step is a prayer.” Her life’s work of serving others has been done with optimism and only with love.

The twenty portraits in this exhibition show protectors and their stories.

Photographer John Kaul is well known in Minnesota government circles where his many associations go back years due to his work as political staff, lobbyist, and government relations. He established a photography avocation including candid photos of political leaders and others. He has created documentaries on the Mississippi National Park and St. Croix River and co-produced “Girl from Birch Creek” featured on Twin Cities Public Television.

Honoring Water Protectors Discussion
Livestream at https://youtu.be/QcoulK9IYoQ
Photographer John Kaul, along with Water Protectors Sharon Day and Tara Houska, will discuss the ongoing efforts to protect the waters of North America. Particular attention will be given to the protests against the Dakota Access Line at Standing Rock and Line 3 in Minnesota. Kaul’s photo exhibit in the Elliot Wing documents these efforts and will be highlighted during the program.

Parish Hall Gallery • Apply to Exhibit

Unity Church has gallery space for the showing of works of visual art. It is anticipated that these exhibitions provide spiritual enrichment and liveliness for those attending the church and its functions. At the same time the gallery provides an opportunity for artists to show, share and sell their work.

Because of the building closure due to Covid-19, the Unity Church Art Team will not be accepting applications in 2021.

The Unity Church Art Team normally accepts applications each year during the months prior to May 1 of each year. The Art Team considers these applications in May and selects artists for monthly shows that will start in the following fall months.

If you would like to submit work for consideration, please read and consider the following documents:

Parish Hall art gallery at Unity Church.