CONFERENCE 2026
Urban Crofters Church,
Crofts Street, Roath, Cardiff, CF24 3DZ
Meet this year's Speakers
Adrienne Chaplin
Adrienne Chaplin is a philosopher of art with a long-standing fascination with how art makes and conveys meaning. Following her studies in Amsterdam she taught at, among others, the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto and King’s College London. Her publications include Art and Soul: Signposts for Christians in the Arts (IVP, 2000) and The Philosophy of Susanne Langer: Embodied Meaning in Logic, Art and Feeling (Bloomsbury, 2020). She is the founding curator of the travelling exhibition Art, Conflict and Remembering: The murals of the Bogside Artist. She currently serves as chair of Morphe Trustees and, with mixed success, tries her hand at playing jazz violin.
Alastair Gordon
Alastair Gordon is a London-based artist and writer known for his hyperreal paintings of everyday objects and plein air landscape paintings. His works are included in various public, corporate, and private collections, such as the Simmons and Simmons Collection and the Beth de Woody Collection. He has recently held solo exhibitions at the Ahmanson Gallery in Los Angeles and the Cynthia Corbett Gallery in London. In 2014, he was awarded the inaugural Shoosmiths Painting Prize and has been shortlisted for several other awards since, including the Dentons Art Prize and the Jacksons Painting Prize. A monograph of his work, titled Quodlibet, was published by Anomie last year.
Alastair is also a public speaker, regularly discussing topics related to his Christian faith and professional work in the arts. He is the author of Why Art Matters (published by IVP) and shares thoughts on art, faith and creativity through his weekly Substack, Creative Creatures. Additionally, he serves as a tutor at the Leith School of Art in Edinburgh and was previously an artist-in-residence at the City and Guilds of London Art School.
As one of the co-founders of Morphē Arts, a charity that promotes faith in the arts, Alastair shares responsibility for an annual residency project in East London. He draws every day and works from his studio in South London, where he is currently creating new paintings for upcoming exhibitions in London and Los Angeles.
Programme
Friday 20th March
Poetry Showcase & Pre-Conference Gathering
Registration
18:00
Poetry Showcase
19:00
Programme
Saturday 21st March
Deepening Conversations & Conference
Registration
8:30
Welcome
9:00
Talk 1: Adrienne Chaplin - Feeling the Future: art from past to present
9:30
Q&A
10:00
MAKING session
10:15
Talk 2: Alastair Gordon - Imagining the Future: the future belongs to those who can see it
10:45
Q&A
11:15
Break
11:30
Forum - Open Discussion
11:45
Lunch
12:30
Workshops
Option 1: Alastair Gordon
Option 2: Becca Nunes
13:45
Break
14:45
Artist Showcases
15:00
Panel Discussion
15:45
End
16:45
This year's Workshops
Holding it Lightly
Alastair Gordon
In this drawing and painting workshop, we will take Jesus' words literally to "consider the lilies." The workshop will begin by making observational drawings and paintings of a simple still life of flowers. But don't expect anything twee or sentimental. As the workshop unfolds, we will employ various strategies for looking, drawing, and "holding our work lightly." We'll experiment with techniques like working quickly, using loose and gestural marks, and embracing happy accidents.Since we'll be working with ink and charcoal, please wear appropriate clothing for messy work - and maybe not your favorite Armani shoes. This workshop is about the process of creating, not just the final product. Come with an open mind and a willingness to play.
Find us in Cardiff!
Urban Crofters Church, Crofts Street, Roath, Cardiff, CF24 3DZ
Urban Crofters is a Church family of Kingdom-believing creatives, seeking to Connect, Create and Transform our local community in Roath, Cardiff.
They are an Anglican church whose aim is to fulfil this vision through building a growing network of communities that seek to serve one another and their local neighbourhoods.