Collaborative Art Marks Anniversary, Celebrates Community

A unique 49-panel mural hangs on the west wall of the fellowship hall in Dresden (Ont.) Christian Reformed Church, still representing the themes of worship and community 25 years after it was created.

Made by a collective of artists—both skilled and untrained—in 2001, “the goal was to create a single and joyful ‘coat of many colours’ as a celebration of our community,” reads a plaque hung next to the mosaic. It was one of the ways the church marked its 50th anniversary.

Doug Goodreau, who is working on a church history for the congregation’s 75th anniversary in 2026, shared details about the mural’s creation from Phillip Vanderwall, one of two people who spearheaded the project in 2001.

“The fun of course, is that every participant was able to make their segment of the mural somewhat independently from everyone else and bring their own slant to how the painting should be made and how they would like it to look. Once assembled, the differences combine in unexpected and often beautiful ways,” Vanderwall wrote.

The subject of the mural is a familiar scene, the communion table set with pitcher and cup, flowers, a Bible, and the pulpit cloth with the motif of the Christian Reformed Church.

“The Lord’s Table in the sanctuary of this church was chosen for the image as a fitting symbol of this community,” the plaque reads.

Vanderwall described how they took a photograph of the staged table, made a large print and then applied a rectangular grid to it. “Following that, we cut the print into sections as defined by the grid and then handed out the sections, along with a proportionate panel to participating artists and asked them to paint the section of the grid they had been assigned.” Some artists did more than one. Once all the 49 segments had been translated into paintings, “the finished tiles were attached to a large wooden framework with four small inconspicuous screws, one in each corner of each tile,” Goodreau said.

Each panel is 9 inches by 12 inches, and the assembled mural is about 6 feet by 8 feet.

“It was a great joy to watch as the many differing perspectives joined together in the creation of this single image. 49 parts. 1 mural. 50 years,” the plaque concludes.

CRCNA yearbook staff publish a list of significant anniversaries for churches, starting with 25 years. Congregations that have reached 150-years are presented with a plaque from the denomination’s historical committee, a practice begun in 2018.