The People’s Church holds 11th annual Bible Art Summit

The People’s Church in Long Beach held its 11th annual Bible Art Summit Exhibition on Oct. 15, which featured creations from 19 individuals around the area, including inmates at an upstate prison who found hope through religion, and turned that inspiration into art.

Demerah Campbell, an artist who has lived in East Atlantic Beach for 30 years, started the exhibition in 2006 in an effort to take scenes from the Bible and bring them to life. The annual event is a culmination of free art classes that are given through the church to children and adults beginning in the spring. It has featured artwork in various mediums in past years, including acrylic, oil, watercolor, pastels and faux stained glass, and this year’s theme was art using watercolor pencils with a calligraphy border.

But artwork from outsiders of all faiths — in any artistic medium — are also accepted, and this year’s participants included two inmates from a prison in Otisville, N.Y., who depicted two bible scriptures from their cells.

Valentine, one of the inmates, accompanied his detailed charcoal-pencil drawing of Jesus’ face with a bible verse — Luke 23:43. “On the cross, Jesus turned to the repentant thief who asked for forgiveness, and said ‘Truly, this day you will be with me in paradise,’” it read.

“He feels that Christ will forgive his sins and that he is a repentant prisoner,” Campbell said.

The other prisoner, Dave, painted his interpretation of Genesis 1:31 — the creation of Earth — and a caption was paired with the piece describing the inmate: “Even though he is behind bars, he can still see the beauty of God’s creation in his mind, and is thankful.”

Sister Mary Claire Rhatigan, of St. Ignatius Martyr Church in Long Beach, has visited the Otisville prison once a month for the last 15 years, where she is the assistant chaplain and helps run a Bible study for the inmates. Valentine and Dave had each gifted Rhatigan with artwork in the last several years, and she approached Campbell about including the inmates’ stunning creations in this year’s exhibition.

Rhatigan said though there are no art courses at the correctional facility, the prisoners’ families provided them with art supplies, and the inmates created the pieces in their cells. She added that Valentine actually taught himself how to sketch while behind bars.

“What got me was the expression on the crucified Christ,” said Rhatigan. “In order to do that painting, you have to really think about it, and to get that expression showed to me how prayerful he was and how spiritual he was. I was surprised and delighted to see that.”

Rhatigan has worked with inmates for 25 years, and emphasized the need to rehabilitate the men and women behind bars, rather than just punish them. She said that though prisoners have made mistakes in their life, many have talents that deserve to be developed and shared with others.

“[Prisoners] have gifts too and they can be repentant and change their lives,” Rhatigan said. “You couldn’t draw something like that unless you had some goodness in you. It comes from within the artist.”

The inmates’ work inspired those at the art event, and Campbell said if the church is able to sell Valentine’s sketch — which she values at a few hundred dollars — the money would go to the prisoner and his family.

Though the event has been a success over the last decade with the help of donors like County Legislator Denise Ford, Campbell added that the inmates’ work bolstered this year’s exhibition, which was not as well publicized and did not have as many entries.

“This is so wonderful that we got these prisoners because now people in our church want to help support [Rhatigan] in her ministry with the prisoners,” Campbell said. “It was out of the blue, and it was almost like they saved the Bible Art [Summit] this year.”