A congregation in clay

Members and friends of the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence in Northampton, Massachusetts, got to know each other a little better thanks to a creative project called We Are, in which they created self-portraits in clay. The resulting statues are as diverse as the people who made them: whimsical and serious; human figures, animals, and objects; some colorfully painted, others left natural.

Member Harriet Diamond, a professional sculptor, conceived of the project as a community celebration and a way to bring people together. She provided the materials, and each Sunday, over several months, five or ten people at a time gathered after the service to create their clay selves. The statues were fired and then people returned to paint them. The resulting 200 personal sculptures were assembled as a display at the congregation’s Annual Meeting Sunday in May 2012 and later went home with their creators after a ceremony during the Thanksgiving service.

“We Are is a representation of our Society,” said Diamond. “What we didn’t know, but what we should have suspected, is that we have some dragons, a rock, a tree, a couple of goddesses, and a genie in our Society. Out of so much diversity we are one in some wonderful, wacky way.”

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This article appeared in the Fall 2013 issue of UU World (page 7). Photograph (above): Three clay congregants created by members of the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence in Northampton, Massachusetts (Bob Rundquist).

Related Resources

• Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence. Northampton, Massachusetts. (uunorthampton.org)