Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday, Set Design for Grace Cathedral, Nancy Chinn

The Biblical text (Matthew 21)

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away." This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: "Say to the Daughter of Zion, 'See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.' "The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!" When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?" The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."

About the Art

Nancy Chinn is a multimedia artist who is both a painter and a creator of large, seasonal and site specific liturgical spaces. Often this work is aerial, architectural in scale, and made from ephemeral materials for particular seasons or feasts. Nancy enjoys using various media to create a liturgical environment. The Palm Sunday installation was one of many used as staging the grand opera of the Word.

Relating to the Art

• What is it?
• What is the medium?
• Is it fancy or plain?
• If it has a function, what is it?
• What does the artwork seem to tell me about the subject?