An exhibit of photography by John-Brian Paprock, artist and author, will be on display October 1 through November 11 at The Gallery, located at Brunswick United Methodist Church, 6122 42nd Ave. N., in Crystal, Minn. A special “Meet the Artist” gathering will take place at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 2, in The Gallery.
Paprock moved to the Twin Cities after spending most of his life in Madison, Wisc. A decade ago, he co-authored Sacred Sites of Minnesota and Sacred Sites of Wisconsin, taking all the photographs for those books. Ordained in 1987, John-Brian served a multi-cultural chapel for 15 years as well as a hospital/hospice chaplain. He was a founder of the annual Interfaith Awareness Week in Wisconsin, which celebrated in the state capitol for over a decade. He enjoys face-painting gigs through Facing Art (www.facingart.blogspot.com or on Facebook, of course).
John-Brian has been a student of the spiritual and the mystical for most of this life.
“Gazing upward at the spectacle of forever above us, seeing the variety of birds ascend with ease,” he writes, “it makes sense that most of our angels have wings. Once an angel hears our messages to the Divine, our prayers and wishes, they can carry them up to the eternal resources beyond us. They also bring us important messages. Over the years, I have become sensitive to the presence of angels around; not just in any mystical or spiritual way, but in the world around us, made by nature’s hand or human creativity.
“I have been fortunate to capture some of these in photography. I have gone through hundreds of my photographic images of angels and have distilled into this current exhibition that I call ‘Angels Around.’ ”
A recent Gallup poll (May 2016) revealed that more people believe in angels than heaven, hell or the devil. More than 90 percent of those that are religious believe in angels — and a majority of non-religious also believe in angels. More people believe in angels than UFOs or ghosts (2011 Gallup and AP polls). Angels are part of all the major religions of the world.
To contact The Gallery, call 763.533.1661. It is open most days — please call for hours/appointment.