Selecting Artwork for VTS in Sunday School

Clear Subject with Many Details

Pieces selected for Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) discussions in my Meditative Sunday School (MSS) program all contain details that allow for a narrative or symbolic interpretation. I’ve generally avoided artwork with high degrees of abstraction. In general, I look for pieces that present figures in a specific location interacting with elements from their environment. I have selected a few scenes with no figures (landscapes, still-lives), but even these contain potential narratives surrounding them.

Multiple Interpretations

While it is impossible to know what participants might say about a piece, some pieces do have more narrative ambiguity than others. A good piece for VTS will include enough immediate uncertainty to draw out a variety of ideas about what might be going on. Still, I have found the most fulfilling discussions have surrounded works that had to be sorted through, but eventually revealed an intended meaning the participants could agree upon. Even so, recognizing this kind of artwork requires leaning on the side of ambiguity.

Christian Art

I decided to not feature exclusively Christian Art to encourage this uncertainty. Especially early on, there is a risk that participants will race to uncover the “Sunday School answer.” Participants try to answer not “what’s going on in this picture?” but “why was this piece selected for a Sunday School class?” By throwing in a few pieces that are obviously secular it revealed that finding the Christian meaning was not the goal. Still, I try to have at least one Biblical connection in mind when I choose each piece.

Diverse Works

For my first round of images I did not branch out as far as I could have. These images come from Wikiart and were all pieces I had bookmarked previously. Still, they cover a wide range of artists, movements, and eras. They explore the Length of the Kingdom, a bit of its Height and Depth. I hope to find more pictures in the future that explore the Width; to look at Christian art from around the world. This will require seeking out contemporary art reflective of today’s Global Christianity.