A practicing artist who can help with the practicalities of projects and assist with workshops. Administrator: Someone with good organisational skills who can help with promotion, social media, emails and general admin tasks. Pastoral: A minister or lay person who can offer pastoral care and prayer support to the team and those engaging with projects. Fundraiser: Someone with experience in fundraising who can help secure funding for future projects and sustainability. Volunteers: A pool of volunteers who can help with specific tasks as and when needed. coordinating the team.

2. ETHO
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Blessings
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.
Baltic Blessings is an initiative to
connect the creative ar ts industr y
& the Christian faith. Its aim is to
grow into gatherings of people
who want to explore the deeper
questions of life through the
medium of visual ar ts. This is all
informed by Baltic Blessing’s 4
approaches below:
HEAD
Faith-based discussions in
public forums. Online dialogue
through blogging, Instagram
artwork & Twitter social
comment. Co-pre- senting Bay
TV’s Faith Matters.
HANDS
Making & creating artwork
to bless people with
wheth-
er that’s through the making or
simply by creating something that
is thought provoking &/or
beautiful. Public exhibitions & free
work- shops are a key part of this.
HEART
Community growth & personal
development delivered in a
contemporary, accessible
mediumsuch as Mindfulness
meditations, public sanctuaries
& simply making available
opportunityfor prayer &
pastoral conversations.
HELP
Collaboration with Universi- ty
art students, connecting with
local art collectives. Engagement
with local schools and linking up
with charities who want to devel-
op faith & arts projects. Creating
a regular work club or even
shared studio space.
WH AT I S BA L TI C BL ESSI N G S?

4. Since November 2014 the Baltic Blessings team (comprised of Rev’d Laura Pasterfield and varying contacts) has
been based in the Baltic Triangle, Liverpool’s creative quarter. Located primarily in Unit 51 cafe - the headquarters
of Baltic Creative -
relationships have been gradually developing with locals through attending events, weekly blog writing, starting a
youtube channel about arts & faith (and humour), hosting community art workshops which have been publicly
exhibited, making links with local ar tists, connecting with the Studio School and simply though chats with people.
T H E S T O R Y S O F A R

6. BE PART OF CREATING A PUBLIC
ART PROJECT ON JAMAICA STREET
WHAT? WHY?
For 1 weekonly join All eggs will be threaded up
Laura Pasterfield & hung on the tree opposite
(balticblessings.org) in Unit 51 or Jamaica street &
Unit 51 from 12.30- 1.30pm displayed for the week over
on Mon 30th March, Tues Easter bank holiday.
31st, Wed 1st April & Thurs
2nd for a free egg decorating
workshop.
Formoreinformattioncheckoutthefacebookpagebaltticblessingsor email
LauraPasterfieldatbaltticblessings@gmail.com or justturnup&joinin...
W O R K S H O P S
All events are promoted
through Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter &
the website:
balticblessings.org

8. M E D I A
- Interviewed on BayTV’ s Faith Matters
- You Tube channel
- Website

10. E V E N T S - Baltic Christmas Exhibition
- Facilitating public installation pr
oject

12. EASTER EGG
DECORATING PROJECT
(30th April - 7th May 2015)
The Project in a Nutshell
The aim of this project was to openly invite local cafe users to join in with
decorating the eggs and thus build up relationships with local businesses.
The project consisted of 5
days of 2 hour long egg decorating workshops (in holy week) culminating in a public
hanging of the eggs on a tree in Jamaica Street for Easter week. The project was
promoted on facebook and Twitter, fliers were made and left in Unit 51 as well as
posters being put up in other local cafes.
WhatHappened?
The number of local business employees participating in the workshop simply didn’t happen but
some did stop to ask about it and chat. The cafe workers (many of whom are ar tists
themselves) took an
interest though. Despite this a number of people did come and join in with the two hour long 5
work- shops, approximately 30 over the course of the week. Some were existing contacts but
over 10 were
mums & children who had heard about the event through a contact I sent the flier to who is a member
of Urbanistas Liverpool. Others had and seen the posters in Unit 51 and thought that it’d be a lovely
thing to bring their children to. Parents were impressed that it was free and noted that community ar
ts projects
have nearly all but disappeared since the recession & so they were grateful that the church still
valued the importance of the ar ts.
OverallOutcomes:
The project certainly built up strong links with the cafe owner & employees who were
very supportive of the project.We had over 20 conversations with cafe users who were
amazed that the church was doing something so creative for the public and because the
workshop was public those coming in and out of the cafe were able to see a ‘vicar’ (I
was in my dog col-
lar) doing an art workshop - over 100 people a session.When the tree was
decorated with the 150 hand-decorated eggs Baltic Creative photographed
it,Tweeted it
& then linked it to @BalticBlessings - this meant that the project’s
reach increased massively as all followers of Baltic Creative would
O U T C O M E S

14. O U T C O M E S
ONLINE VIDEOS & BLOG
(November 2014 - continuing)
In a Nutshell:
Since November 2014 Baltic Blessings has published a blog post weekly. (With the
exception of holidays).The aim was to raise the public profile of faith, arts &
contemporary culture for a non- religious generation.The topics have ranged from
current affairs and art reviews, to personal events and
projects. The posts may or may not be explicitly Christian and an attempt is made to limit Christian
jargon.The audience that is kept in mind are young adults working in creative industries. All posts
include at least one image, often have links in them and have a limit of 500 words (which is
occasionally breached)! Baltic Blessings is also on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.The new
addition of the video blog includes short, humorous clips of no longer than 3
minutes (usually featuring Rev. Laura Pasterfield with dog collar on)!
Overall Outcomes:
It is difficult to accurately know the affect the videos and blog have and how wide their reach is but
from the blog stats there have been almost 6000 visitors to the site in a year. Ideally, getting 1000 a
month would be preferable but numbers of visitors and blog followers has increased month by
month.The topic of the posts may alter (based on what the most popular posts read are) Baltic
Blessings could be reaching a much larger audience.The vast majority of visitors come as referrals
from Facebook so increasing Baltic Blessings facebook friendship circles will improve reach as
well.
Each week when a new post is linked to Facebook there are usually an average of 3 ‘shares’
(Baltic Blessings friends sharing the post with their friends) and will usually have between 5-
10 comments as a result of the posts, but the most encouraging responses about the blog
have come from 10+ non religious Facebook contacts. All saying that they love watching the
YouTube videos and find that
the blog has got them thinking. Often they ask when the next video is coming out.
In January 2016 Laura began illustrating 3 weekly Reasons to be
Cheerful, the Illustrations are published on Instagram and have led to
an increase in followers (from 50 to 138).What’s interesting is that they
are not
simply friends but strangers from both from the Christian
world and the world or art.

16. O U T C O M E S
PEACE CRANE
INSTALLATION
(14th - 27th September 2015)
The Project in a Nutshell
The aim of this project was similar to that of the Egg Decoration
project - to build stronger relationshipships with local businesses and to
invite participants into conversation about important issues. This project
focussed into the celebration of the
International Day of Peace. The project consisted of 5 days of 1 hour long
workshops in which people could learn and make an origami peace crane and, if
they so desired, to write a pray or wish for peace in a particular area or person’s
life. The cranes were then threaded on string and hung from the ceiling in the cafe
(this was on display for over a month, at the cafe’s request).
What Happened?
Althoug there was a regular flow of origami-makers the numbers increased when the
workshop was able to claim a table which was more prominent in the cafe. The total
number of cranes made was well over 50. Interesting conversations were had with a
range of people, a Graphic
Designer, a TV Assistant and some students from the Life Sciences School who made two
cranes during their lunch break and then took paper back to their school with them only
to return
three days later with an additional 30 cranes. Unfortunately the display had already gone
up but this led to an opportunity to run the workshop in the other Baltic School, The
Studio.
Overall Outcomes:
The project continued to build on the relationship with the cafe owner &
employees who were very supportive of the project. Numerous conversations
with cafe users were had and the work left a positive impact on the
environment. Furthermore
the workshop led to opportunities in the local school for more
workshops and faith-related, creative teaching in the future.

18. O U T C O M E S
SITES OF REFUGE
INSTALLATION FACILITATION
(7th - 15th December 2015)
The Project in a Nutshell
This project was a collaboration with artist and Jesuit Priest Jason Dy. His vision was
to create two interactive installations across the Liverpool’s city centre which
explored the themes of transience and temporary refuge. Working alongside
Mission in the Economy we agree to facilitate Dy’s two pieces in our locality; MITC
displayed a Syrian prayer tree for the public to
engage with in the city centre site. Baltic Blessings displayed a Shed of Refuge in which
passers by were invited to enter the shed and write psalms of lament on its wall in charcoal.
The shed was created in The Shed King’s workshops located in the Baltic Triangle and was
erected on some abandoned land on Jamaica Street for a week.
WhatHappened?
The construction and maneuvering of the shed took four days and this enabled relationships to
develop with the Shed King company, as well as other business.’ When erected the shed was
occupied for 5 days by Dy and Baltic Blessings. Although not in a location with vast footfall the shed
did have over 20 visitors, not to mention the hundreds that looked on as they walked past it.
Interesting conversations were had in the shed with those who shared their life stories; some of
which were tales of lament and displacement. After
the five days the shed was moved back to the Shed King company in order to be changed and
used again - thus continuing its story.
OverallOutcomes:
The project certainly enabled the strengthening of relationship with the Shed King
com- pany director & his employees who were very intrigued by the project.
Despite being the object of some ridicule Dy & Baltic Blessings were eventually
referred to us as
‘angels!’ The most engagement occurred within the shed itself. People
would shelter from the rain, sit quietly in prayer or just want to talk
about their
beliefs. The shed was successful at beginning conversations
whilst making a wider political point about worldwide
displacement
and the call to comfort to those in need.

20. O U T C O M E S
CHRISTMAS
SUPERHUMAN EXHIBITION
(18th - 20th December 2015)
The Project in a Nutshell
The aim of this project was to curate a high quality exhibition for the public
in The Shed at Baltic Creative Basecamp. The agenda was to offer a public
creative platform to
talk about Christian themes through art. At the core, this project was about
public engagement with the Christian message. In order for the conversation
to be successful the
theme had to be something that would appeal to secular and Christian artists, and artists
of other faiths. SUPERHUMAN was the name decided upon and it questioned the
concept of the incarnation asking; what would it look like if god entered its creation?, who
and what do we worship?, and what are
our human capabilities? 4 artists from the Baltic (two were interested in faith and two were
self-confessed atheists) and 5 Christian artists. The work varied in media and theme:
sculpture, paintings and video were represented and artists’ work was abstract, political,
touching and personal.
What Happened?
The exhibition opened on Friday 18th December and mulled wine and minced pies were served and
a local Gospel Choir sang carols. The atmosphere was lively and over 50 people attended including
one of the
Baltic Creative Directors and 3 members of the popular Art in Liverpool website.
On the Saturday an Open Forum was hosted by Keith Hitchman and 3 members of the Liverpool
Open Minds group attended along with 6 Christians from a variety of church backgrounds. The
discussion
questions led to challenging conversations about the historicity of the bible, organised
religion, the established church and the nature of the divine. Despite being heated at times
the group came to a consensus that divinity can be seen in all of humanity which was a
fact that was beautifully
portrayed through one particular piece of artwork by photographer Mark Loudon.
On the Sunday an hour long Meditation was led by Rev Laura Pasterfield
& Rev Keith Hitchman. This was attended by Christians only, it was a
peaceful time
to pray, contemplate and listen.

22. O U T C O M E S
CHRISTMAS
SUPERHUMAN EXHIBITION
Overall Outcomes:
The work continued to be exhibited until January and as it was adver-
tised in the Echo online numerous people came to see the work (this
was
feedback to me by the cafe manager of Unit 51). Conversations were had
with many people; one of the Baltic Creative Directors joked that the
exhibition space
would ‘make a nice chapel.’ The Christian artists were pleased to exhibit their
spiritual work in a secular space and additionally the Baltic artists found the exhibition
theme inter- esting and something that they would not have normally engaged with.
Much of the feedback
recieved from those who were non-religious was that the exhibition offered a
reflective, critical but ultimately non-judgmental forum to explore probing questions
about Christian themes.
Perhaps most significantly was the review which was written about the exhibition on the
Art in Liverpool website. (Read it on the next page). The comment the reviewer made
that ‘finding the faith in Christmas should be much less avoidable than it is,’was
interesting. It is not clear if this
is comment into the material consumerist mentality of the Christmas season or if it is a
direct message to the Christian faith to engage with people in ways that are familiar to
them in order to make the faith aspect of Christmas more accessible.
The exhibition succeeded at connecting creative people of faith or none
because it created space for critique and question on both sides. In a world
where the privatization of faith is encouraged Baltic Blessings, with this
exhibition, is
reclaiming the ground for religious and non-religious dialogue - with
very encouraging results. It seems that the public; although
perhaps unwilling to enter religious spaces are certainly
willing to ask
questions, challange and talk about faith matters.

24. O U T C O M E S

28. The work that has begun over the last year has been very
experimental and due to time restraints has not always been as
consistent as it could have been. Despite this there have been some
very fruitful results.
The relationships that have been built are almost entirely with those
who have rarely or never been to a church and in many instances
wouldn’t consider going at all. Further - many would not even know
practicing Christians. In some cases I have met with those who
have been damaged
The effects of the work of Baltic Blessings so far has been hard to
quantify. However it is clear that public, credible Christian art
initiatives are few and far between. Imagination, creativity and
innovation are words that are rarely associated with Christianity.
by the church and who greatly mistrust the institution. Despite this,
trust has built up to the point where BB projects are being actively
encouraged and supported by such people.
If this ministry is to have a future, which is most certainly
recommended, a team would need to be developed.This has not
been as straightforward as hoped however roles could be created
between the group such as:
If Baltic Blessings is to have lasting effects, which challenge
societal expectations and attract and engage public interest, it
must offer high quality workshops, relevant social comment,
engaging exhibitions and authentic social action.
T E A M D E V E L O PM E N T
Coordinator:
Someone who loves The Arts
(but is not necessarily a
practicing ar tist) and who can
envision future projects whilst
managing the other
members of the team. They would
also need to be resourceful and
creative in finding funding streams.
Networking with local businesses
and art groups
in order to collaborate
with or facilitate projects
and exhibitions.
Workshop
leader/s:
Skilled artists or people with
a creative background who
could
organise regular (monthly?) events.
Who
have a Christian faith and enjoy
commu- nicating Christian principles
creatively and could engage others
whilst doing so.
Could additionally be people who are
willing to travel around the
Baltic in order to deliver
workshops
in offices/bars/clubs/
schools.
Media &
Administrator:
Someone who would map out
yearly events and promote them
through
social media and print. Who could
create imaginative publicity
campaigns. Would be required to
Tweet/Facebook/Instagram
at least 1 per week. Could also
include filming workshops &
events and up- loading them to
the BB Youtube account.