Jonathan Green believes churches have more than just a spiritual impact on their congregants.
"Churches are an integral part of culture," said Mr. Green, an internationally known artist whose work has found a permanent home at the Morris Museum of Art.
Mr. Green, who lives in Naples, Fla., gave a lecture Friday to the museum's Friends of African-American Art group before a Lowcountry boil "friend-raiser" event.
Many of Mr. Green's works are influenced by the Gullah culture of coastal South Carolina. He is a native of Gardens Corner, S.C., near Beaufort.
Church subjects often find their way into his works. The Congregation, an abstract painting, is in the museum's permanent collection.
Churches are often keepers of history and a vital part of a community's social structure. Mr. Green would like to see a link between museums and churches.
In Europe, he said, many historic churches are filled with paintings and sculpture.
"Every church should have an art collection or a photography collection," he said.
Mr. Green would like to see more art in black churches, because museums often have few works by blacks and women.
"In many museums, you'll probably not find an image of an African-American, and that's a tragedy," he said.
Mr. Green said the Morris Museum is an exception. It usually has several of his works on exhibit, and other blacks' works also are on display.
Many of his works are on loan to the Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum in Myrtle Beach, S.C. One of his pieces is part of the Morris Museum's current exhibition, Landscape of Slavery, the Plantation in American Art.
By exposing children to art in the church, a bridge could be built, Mr. Green said.
Reach Charmain Z. Brackett at charmain.brackett@augustachronicle.com.
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