In this section you will find articles on the ways art, story, and play can be used to deepen the spiritual life of Friends. These can be especially valuable for religious education work with children, intergenerational worship and retrests, and for supporting the formation of those with learning differences.

Historical attitudes towards the visual arts

Early Friends were resistant to visual arts like the art in museums. They had difficulty seeing the connection with life in the Spirit and associated the art with dead forms they encountered in the “steeplehouses” of the established Churches of England and Scotland. This is often difficult for Friends to understand today, similar to the resistance early generations of Friends had towards use of musical instruments and plays.

Modern Friends’ Embrace of the Arts

Nearly all Friends today are very supportive of the visual (as well as musical) arts and view these as important vehicles towards the lift of the Spirit.

The Fellowship of Quakers in the Arts (FQA) is a participatory ministry of Friends active in all aspects of the arts including visual arts, literary arts, and musical & performance arts. They often hold events such as art displays and opportunities for readings by artists aft FGC Summer Gatherings and at yearly meeting annual sessions. The ministry is under the care of Trenton (NJ) monthly meeting.

For more information about musical and performing arts go to section on Song in this library.

Articles & pamphlets on the visual arts: 

  • Art & Faith by Fritz Eichenberg. This is Pendle Hill Pamphlet #68 (1952). “Art has become an international movement, a means of communication, and contributes to the thrill of finding God.” Eichenberg was a woodcut arts who woodcuts frequently appeared in issues of Friends Journal, in Pendle Hill pamplets, and in other Friends’ publicztions. 
  • Encounters with Art by Dorothea Blom. What is great art? What can art do for us? How do we communicate with art? An expression of the author’s interest in art, the Jungian concept of growth and spiritual life.