Picture book illustrator, writer, and Presbyterian preacher, the Rev. Candace Whitman is the guest speaker at Union Chapel’s Art Sunday on August 13. Flautist Jean Hendrickson is the guest musician for this celebration of art beginning at 10:30 AM. Works by local artists depicting the Chapel will be on display.
In his book “God’s Summer Cottage,” Stewart W. Herman mentions that on July 2, 1978, Historical Sunday, “‘history-in-the-making’ was commemorated before the assembled congregation when representatives from the Shelter Island Heights Association and the Chapel’s Board of Trustees publicly exchanged the documents that finalized the transfer of chapel ownership from the Association to the Board.”
This event inspired Trustees Olive Reich and Marion Sue Blauser to organize an art exhibit of images of the Chapel. Among the works by Island artists were oil and watercolor paintings, photographs, and a needlepoint rendition of the Chapel by Arthur Soule (husband of Trustee Juliet Soule).
An accomplished watercolor artist, Reich created a painting of the front of the Chapel used for our 150th-anniversary book, “All Are Welcome: 150 Years of Shelter Island’s Union Chapel in the Grove” by Carrie Cooperider.
Art Sunday marks the 45th anniversary of the 1978 transfer with an exhibit of works depicting the Chapel in the same manner as the original celebration.
Any mention of art at the Chapel must also include the “Marine Mosiac” windows of local artist Walter Brigham Cole. Not technically stained glass, Brigham’s achieved his effects by assembling shells, stones, and chunks of broken glass, cementing them together with a special lead compound.
The window to the left of the chancel is a memorial to Frederick A. Schroeder. He was a prominent Brooklyn banker and longtime president of the Shelter Island Heights Association. The one to the right is dedicated to the Schroeder children.
About the Rev. Candace Whitman
Candace Whitman grew up on Long Island. After graduating from Yale with a BA in History of Art, she worked in advertising, then shifted to art education. She was an adjunct professor of Art Education at New York University, where she earned a master’s degree.
Inspired by her young art students, she wrote and illustrated a children’s book about dinosaurs. Random House published the book, which led to her writing and illustrating 12 other children’s books for different publishers. Her works have received mention in The New York Times, Newsweek, and The New Yorker.
Whitman said she found a Manhattan church that became her “spiritual home.” But in 2002, she moved to Shelter Island, where “she heard God’s call to ministry.” This inspired her to earn a Master of Divinity at Princeton Theological Seminary in 2012.
With her advertising background and teaching, she’d lain the groundwork for preaching and received two distinctions at graduation.
While serving a chaplain residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital in 2014, she was ordained in the Presbyterian Church. Former pastor at two Long Island churches, Whitman now lives in East Hampton, serving as pastor-at-large for the Presbytery of Long Island. She remains active in the art world and enjoys the beach and backgammon. And she leads retreats that bring together visual art and spirituality, using art as “a window to deeper faith.”
About Art Sunday
Jean Hendrickson has already graced us with her flute playing at this season’s Homecoming Service as part of the trio Basically Baroque. Hendrickson studied with Katherine Borst Jones at Oberlin College and at the French flute school with Linda Chesis. She teaches ESL at Stony Brook University.
STARS CAFÉ caters a reception following the outdoor service. In case of inclement weather, the service will move indoors.
Copies of “All Are Welcome” will be available for purchase after the service. Or, you can pick on up at Finley’s Fiction or by contacting Trustee Kathy Dinkel.
Next week: Bishop Andrew St. John of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, NYC.
JoAnn Kirkland assists the trustees of Union Chapel in the Grove
