Alberta celebrates Easter with art, life-sized images of Holy Week events

In a Church meetinghouse in Airdrie, Alberta, over 400 people — Church members and friends — visited “Jesus Christ: A Celebration Through Art,” an art show featuring life-sized images of the events of Holy Week, over 100 submissions from local artists and an interactive children’s room on Saturday, April 12. That evening, nearly 300 people attended a concert of music celebrating Jesus Christ at the meetinghouse as well.

The event commemorated the suffering, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ through art and music, according to the Church’s Canada Newsroom.

Calgary Alberta North Stake Relief Society President Danelle Richards, who organized the event, said, “The purpose of the event is to feel the Spirit of our Savior, Jesus Christ … and allow others to express their love of the Savior through their artistic talents.”

Under subdued lighting with worshipful music in the background, attendees walked amongst life-sized prints of well-known art depicting the events of Holy Week. The peaceful atmosphere was intended to help viewers feel as if they experienced Holy Week for themselves, according to Canada Newsroom.

Over 100 art submissions from local Church members and Christian friends were on display as well. Ranging from children’s art to semi-professional work, these pieces expressed each artist’s faith in Jesus Christ. They included a testimony quilt with squares telling stories of the quilter’s faith-strengthening life experiences and a nearly life-size 3D representation of Christ’s tomb as well as paintings, sculptures, wood carvings, sketches and Bibles with painted covers.

The children’s room, which displayed paintings of Jesus Christ by local children, featured a “Resurrection tree.” Children were invited to write their feelings about the Savior on leaves, which were then hung up on the tree. Newsroom reported the messages included: “He has risen for me,” “He loves us no matter what” and “I am never alone because of Jesus.”

Children could also make paper palm fronds to reenact the events of Palm Sunday — Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

The evening concert included soloists, children’s choirs, vocalists and instrumentalists performing traditional hymns, modern music and Handel’s “Messiah” in order to celebrate Jesus Christ.