Divine Pathways

Opened October 2023, on view through June, 2024

The Cathedral Church of St John the Divine
1047 Amsterdam Avenue at 112th Street
New York, NY 10025

Divine Pathways is a site-specific textile installation created for the vaulted Nave of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Divine Pathways was created in concert with communities and organizations from the Morningside Heights neighborhood, Harlem, the Upper West Side and the Episcopal Diocese of New York. Patterson invited community members to literally write themselves into the work by extending an invitation to write hopes, dreams, and prayers onto the top ends of the ribbons. Individual prayers were anonymous and beyond the viewer’s sight and their collective presence created an experience that was both intimate and immense, and that celebrated the collaborative process and community itself. The ribbons carried the messages skyward, and, in turn, grace streamed down the ribbons to the viewers.

Anne Patterson
Divine Pathways, 2023
fabric, polypropylene rope
75’ x 30’ x 120’

Associate Designer: Kina Park

Rigging: Sapsis Rigging

Assistants: Jocelyn Basurto, Tessa Bookwalter, Joelle Gonzalez, Starlet Jacobs, Cole Mercier, Veronica Silva

Special thanks goes to: The Rt. Rev. Andrew M L Dietsche, The Rt. Rev. Matthew Foster Heyd, The Very Rev. Patrick Malloy, Laura Bosley, Kristine Pottinger, Lisa Schubert