“For in him we live and move and have our being". As some of your own poets have said, "We are his offspring.”
Acts 17:28
We have a committed steering group/core team adopting principles of listening, honour, sharing and collaboration. The vision of the Dome given to Tom Harper is a visual of how we operate, also enabling others to connect as they might choose.
We don’t wish to duplicate others’ work; instead, we aim to refer artists to the most appropriate organisation, individual or project for their needs, ideas and creativity.
Dr Clare Fleming
Clare lives in Bristol and is a photographer and retired GP. During a career break she studied Photography before retraining as a GP. She worked with the Homeless Health Service and Bristol Specialist Drug and Alcohol Service. The wisdom and experience of those who have faced and overcome major life-disrupting problems have challenged her traditional medical training. NHS medical and mental health services lack capacity to deal with many forms of ill health that respond better to healthy relationship-building, story-telling and creative arts. Clare is interested in considering healing of body, mind and spirit in an integrated way, and uses her photography as a creative tool that can open up dialogue. She is active in Christian prayer networks locally and across the South West.
Rachel Bowers
Rachel recently relocated back to the UK after living in Cambodia and Thailand for 7 years. She is a dancer, teacher, choreographer and theatre practitioner with over 25 years of experience working in the UK and overseas. She completed formal professional dance training in the UK and has a Masters degree in dance from the University of Surrey. Rachel is passionate about enabling others to discover their own creativity and express their thoughts, beliefs, emotions and ideas through the languages of the arts, particularly through dance and theatre. She has extensive experience working with children and young people. She loves to discover new ways of exploring her Christian faith and the languages of the arts to develop and build healthy individuals, families and communities.
Tom Harper
Tom grew up in a pub and attended a unique arts school in the city of Bath. In his early 30s he experienced a powerful encounter with God. The Manic Street Preachers song “Everything must go” sums up the next decade of blind faith in quitting a career with Laing in London for a BA in theology at Trinity Bristol. Marriage to Jenny and family life followed. They both worked part time whilst leading the cross denominational True Vine Prayer Fellowship. The group formed following an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in local homes and included services in prisons and churches. Tom was SW Regional Director of Constructing Excellence producing films and events for the built environment until retirement.
Eleanor J Lee
Eleanor is a visual artist interested in the meeting of art and faith as reflected in the history of Western art, contemporary art and theological debate. Working mostly within the medium of drawing, she studied Fine Art (UWE Bristol) as a mature student while raising her family, gaining a BA class I and a Fine Art research-based MA exploring the fit between art, culture, faith and spirituality onward from the early modern era. Experience and research ground her appreciation of how art and aesthetics help create connections across communities – in her own practice via exhibitions, workshops and talks, and as published author, editor and artist-in-residence in parish contexts. Eleanor attends professional art forums in her areas of interest and is a Bristol diocese Synod member concerned about climate change and mental health justice in church and society.
Malcolm Bourne
I currently work part-time for Trinity College Bristol as Head of Estates, manage a development in Coventry and oversee the Bristol social enterprise, Joseph Studios. Joseph Studios is an art collective with a focus on teaching and mentoring through creativity. Over the last 10 years, I have been actively involved in numerous UK social enterprise start-ups, mostly focused on job creation for the long term unemployed. As a painter, I've held several exhibitions for my work and have limited edition prints on a number of my paintings. I have a passion for the wellbeing of individuals and communities and recognise the great health benefits of engaging in the creative process. For several years I have provided personal mentoring/coaching to a varied client base. As a result of this, in partnership with an international fitness brand, I've created a holistic fitness programme with a vision of living life in all its fullness.
Jenny Harper
Jenny is one of 6 sisters, her parents being a Baptist Minister and a nurse, wife and mother. Jenny worked as a radiographer for many years, mainly based at Southmead hospital while also being in a singing duo who shared the gospel around Bristol and various other locals.
She has partnered husband Tom in leading the True Vine Prayer fellowship and has felt her role over the years has been in getting alongside people with prayer and encouragement often including hospitality. She volunteers for the preschool near their home.