Trinity's Community Gallery and Parkside Cafe
April Gallery Exhibit featuring art by Chirs Jennison
The Trinity Community Gallery is showcasing the art of local artist Chris Jennison of Blue FoxX Studios during the month of April.
Chris came to art late in life. He creates comic strips and graphic novels and has written the children's book, "Billy Frog Adventures".
Gallery Information
The gallery is open Sundays from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and weekdays by appointment. Call the church office at 413-737-5311 to schedule a weekday appointment.
Exciting New Gallery Opportunity--Gel Printing Classes
Do you like making art, looking at art, or hanging out with people who like making or looking at art? Trinity’s Community Gallery will be hosting a series of workshops with Mariela Chavez ( https://madeofseaandstars.com), a local artist and advocate. She will be teaching people how to use a gel plate to make unique, one-of-a-kind monoprints. Gel plates feel kind of like firm gelatin. Using a roller, you can apply paint to the plate, smooth a paper on top of it, and “pull a print.” It’s a really fun, sometimes messy, art form that is easy to learn but offers countless variations and techniques.
The last opportunity to participate and create pieces for our June gallery exhibit is on May 3rd. There will be an opening reception for the exhibit on Sunday, June 2, after church. The class is limited to 11 people and recommended for ages 12+. It is free (with donations appreciated). Pre-registration is required at artmaking@trinityspringfield.org. For more info, please contact Nicole Baker at that email also. All supplies (paint, paper, stencils, gel plates and rollers) are included.
Artists for the 2023 - 2024 season:
SEPTEMBER – Denise Evans
OCTOBER – Scantic Valley Artisans
NOVEMBER – Jim Gillen
DECEMBER – Alison Johnson
JANUARY – Porn Simphanoum (Lesn101)
FEBRUARY – Boland Elementary School students
MARCH – Central High School Art Department
APRIL – Chris Jennison
MAY – Connie Moore
JUNE – Gel print class exhibit
History of the Community Gallery and Parkside Cafe
In June 2021, Trinity Church was awarded a grant from the United Methodist Foundation of New England for the Trinity Community Gallery and Cafe. The foundation awards grants "to help fund strategic, vital, and creative ministries of organizations and faith communities of the New England Annual Conference."
Former Trinity pastor Rev. Perez, Andrea Rust and Vera Baker developed a proposal to re-purpose two under-utilized and accessible spaces to better serve the community. In the proposal, they reflected on the church's founders' vision to design a "Community Cathedral where everyone could come to learn, to grow, to be enriched, and to draw closer to God." The gallery was seen as a place for showcasing the talents of local artists, and the cafe was presented as an open space for the community and congregation to gather and build connections. Together the two spaces are designed to engage the surrounding Forest Park community through art and other programming.
Although Springfield boasts a number of cultural and educational organizations, there are few in this section of the city. Springfield residents spent far too much time in isolation during the pandemic and we see this "third space" serving as an anchor for community life. Our community needs a safe place of deep personal connections, community building, and creative sharing.
Trinity Community Gallery supports the art of local artists and Springfield Public School students.
The cafe is currently a meeting place for fellowship hour on Sunday mornings with a vision of opening more days/hours to the public in the future. Locally roasted coffee by Monsoon Roasters in Springfield is freshly ground in the Trinity kitchen. Tea is also available.
Expansion plans are contingent on congregation and community support and involvement. Anyone interested in helping the gallery and cafe to grow and serve the wider community is asked to speak with Andrea or Vera or e-mail gallery-cafe@trinityspringfield.org.
Images of the December Alison Johnson exhibit.
