A Visual Path through the Seasons
A Banner Year – Washington National Cathedral
Text by Carol Wade; art by Nancy Chinn
On View, left to right, Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent.
Each time we journey through the church year we are different. Over time the seasons transform us. As we pass through each day, each season, the end of one journey positions us to step into the beginning of the next. The seasons of this calendar allow us to return again and again to the expectancy of Advent or the solemnity of Lent, to reconsider our lives and the way in which we are living them.
The patterns of the church year allow us to see afresh the new things God is working in us and in our world. The sequence of the seasons organizes our journey, yet in some ways we live all the seasons at all times. We are always waiting in hope, always called to take our light into the world, always summoned to spend time in self-reflection. We are forever engaged in an act of new creation. We are repeatedly invited to celebrate the diversity of our gifts and to work on behalf of God’s reign.
Art is an Act of Bold Proclamation
In 2007, Washington National Cathedral commissioned a banner series of great beauty and power from renowned liturgical artist Nancy Chinn. Originally painted in acrylic, the banners have were digitally enlarged to four feet by twenty feet and installed for the Centennial year on successive pillars in the nave and transepts.
The cyclical nature of the seasons is depicted through the fundamental image of the circle. Repeating circular patterns are used in different ways to communicate different themes. The circle represents the work of the divine. It connotes birth and completion, the movement of the Spirit, the light of Christ, and the world opening up to the glory of God. – Carol Wade
Download the full-color booklet ‘A Banner Year’ in PDF format here >
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About the Author and Artist
The Rev. Canon Carol L Wade is Canon Precentor at the Washington National Cathedral. Canon Wade received her Master of Divinity and Master of Sacred Theology degrees from Yale Divinity School and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and her Diploma in Anglican Studies from Berkeley Divinity School at Yale.
Nancy Chinn has created commissioned liturgical installations for Grace Cathedral and more than 500 other sites. Her art has been featured in national conferences, churches, cathedrals, and outdoor installations. Chinn holds a B.A. in Education from Lewis and Clark College; M.A. from San Francisco State College and M.F.A. in Fibers and Mixed Media from John F. Kennedy University, Orinda, CA. Visit her online at nancychinn.com