Vessel: an art trail in remote rural churches

Vessel was a curated art trail in remote rural churches near the Black Mountains between Usk and Hay-on-Wye. Seven artworks by seven artists were shown in seven churches, six of which are maintained by the Friends of Friendless Churches who keep them open all year round. The theme of ‘vessel’ references bodies, boats, secretions and receptacles; each of the artworks was sited in a particular relationship to the church and its materials.

The exhibition was open from early August to late October 2024, ensuring the optimum season for visitors to the churches. It created a memorable and unique placement of art within a conjunction of landscape and architecture that is often overlooked. It brought artists of international reputation to an area of outstanding natural beauty.

Exhibition dates: 8 August – 31 October 2024

Venues include:
St Michael and All Angels', Gwernesney
St Cadoc, Llangattock Vibon Avel, Monmouthshire
St Mary the Virgin, Llanfair Kilgeddin, Monmouthshire
St Jerome, Llangwm Uchaf, Monmouthshire
St David, Llangeview, Monmouthshire
Castle Chapel, Urishay, Herefordshire
Dore Abbey, Herefordshire

Artists:
Lou Baker
Barbara Beyer
Andrew Bick
Lucy Glendinning
Robert George
Jane Sheppard
Steinnun Thorarinsdottir

Evaluation summary:

The initial impetus for Vessel came from a suggestion that the area around Abergavenny in the Black Mountains of South Wales could be the location for A+C’s annual weekend retreat. One of A+C’s advisers, Julia Porter-Pryce who lives near Hay, raised the potential of showing art in the churches of the area in order to bring to them greater attention and augment their beauty. The Friends of Friendless Churches were known to be looking after, and in some cases carrying out major repair works to, around 10 churches in the area just to the east and south-east of the Black Mountains area. A+C approached FoFC to ask if they would allow an art trail to take place in their churches and to act as a partner on the project which they accepted very positively.

With JPP ‘on the ground’ and willing to act as a volunteer community engagement officer, A+C also agreed that one of its trustees, Jacquiline Creswell, would (also voluntarily) curate the trail, with administrative and organisational support from the two members of A+C staff.

An initial long-list of artists was drawn up and seven artists agreed upon after JC and JPP made site visits in March 2024 to eight of the FoFC churches in question. They are:

Lou Baker
Barbara Beyer
Andrew Bick
Lucy Glendinning
Robert George
Jane Sheppard
Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir

A funding application to the Arts Council of Wales was submitted in early 2024 but was unsuccessful. Two further grant applications were made to Gibbs and Morel Trusts and £4,000 secured. FoFC pledged £6,000 towards the project (and to meet the costs of the insurance cover) leaving a shortfall of £7,000 which was given by private donor. This allowed the main elements of the budget to be funded, with some additional programming of workshops and events – including a lecture by Jarel Robinson-Brown and a performance piece by Holly Slingsby – funded by the Lady Peel Charitable Trust and by a research grant from the University of Gloucester.

The relatively low budget only allowed for existing works to be displayed in the trail and not new commissions, although Lou Baker did make a new and larger version of her Life/Blood work for the location in Dore Abbey. It had been envisaged that this work would be shown at St Ellyws, in Llanelieu, just outside of Talgarth, where a 14th-century ox-blood screen in the church would have made a wonderful companion to Baker’s art. However, we met strong opposition from the local parish priest with oversight of the church, and the church had to be ruled out of the trail. Dore Abbey, with its active worshipping community and much more widely known presence in the area, was agreed on as an alternative site and its churchwardens and priest were very welcoming.

At the six other churches there were varied levels of engagement with the nearest residents and FoFC volunteers, and they willingly agreed to monitor the artworks over the period of the trail. At two churches (St Michael Gwernesney and St David Llangeview) there was no-one to keep an eye on things but the remoteness also ensured a level of security.

The fact that the churches (apart from Dore Abbey which is open every day from 9am – 5pm) are all left open 24/7 meant that the security risk to the works had to be worked out with the FoFC’s insurers. As this was an unprecedented initiative for them, this took some time to resolve holding back the project for around 2-3 weeks in May/June.

Each of the artists made exceptional efforts to visit their churches, deliver and install the work on time and to collaborate with JC and the A+C team. Four artists were present for the weekend retreat event held in September, as well as JPP and JC who guided the attendees on a tour of all seven sites. A panel discussion with the four artists, JC and Rachel Morley, Director of FoFC was chaired by Laura Moffatt, Director of A+C.

All of the works were professionally photographed and filmed with the artists present by the locally based firm Mud and Thunder. A suite of short films are available to view on the A+C website and on Vimeo.

Three workshops were led by Lou Baker, Lucy Glendinning, Barbara Beyer at their churches in October and a fourth was led by Jane Sheppard online in January 2025.

A ‘retrospective’ event of the trail was held online on 23 January 2025 with a presentation of the photographs of the artworks and churches and narrative of the project by JC. Q&A followed.

Quantitative Data
Financial and technical constraints made on site visitors books the only available data on in-person visits. From these pages information can be extrapolated on numbers, group size, residence, access and number of locations visited alongside a wealth of qualitative experiences.

Number of visitors
Comments were made by around 1,000 visitors. Allowing for a percentage of visitors who chose not to leave comments, an estimated total of 1,250 visitors took part. 

Number of venues visited
Approximately 20-25% of visitors made multiple visits. 10-15% visited all 7 venues. A further 10% visited those closest together in the Usk area.  

Residence of visitors
The majority of visitors made day trips from South East Wales, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Bristol. Some were on holiday in the area from other parts of the UK. Some lived within walking distance.

 Access
A small percentage of visitors travelled by bike or on foot. The great majority came by car. There were numerous comments made about the challenge of locating venues, mostly positive. There was 1 blind visitor who appreciated tactile sculptures.

 Group size
Most visitors were couples living at the same address. There were also small groups of female friends and some extended family groups - a few with children.

Time of visit
There were significantly more visitors in late September/October. Weekday visits were as frequent as those made at weekends.

Qualitative Data
The volume of thoughtful content in the visitors’ books indicates a deep level of engagement with the installations.

The words most commonly used to express responses were:
Beautiful; Stunning; Evocative; Thought-provoking; Tranquil; Surprising

 Comments revealed a strong sense of gratitude to the artists and organisers. The curatorial skills involved were highly valued. The concept of placing contemporary art in ancient settings was much appreciated. There were numerous requests made to repeat the exercise.

 Many visitors expressed a sense of pilgrimage, particularly those who made visits to multiple venues. The meditations provided were valued by those seeking a spiritual experience.

The discovery of the locations was itself an experience. Many visitors commented on the challenge and the element of surprise, likening it to a ‘treasure hunt’.

 There were only 2 negative comments, one relating to the juxtaposition of knitting amongst ancient stones and the other to pretentious explanatory texts.

Press
We received press coverage in the following:
Religion unplugged
Church Times
Radix
FoFC members’ magazine
Country Life