Bryn Gillette

YMCA Greater Charlotte Region

I’ve had the great privilege of working alongside the YMCA of Charlotte to prayerfully create images to hang in the prayer rooms of our various regional branches, in addition to serving in my role as visual scribe/ prophetic painter for many gatherings and events and as “artist in residence” at Camp Harrison. My hope is to be able to paint an image for each of the 16+ branches in the Greater Charlotte area, and by doing so, explore God’s heart and assignment for the entire city of Charlotte. I am constantly sharing my deep appreciation that our regional YMCA is Christ centered and views its staff, its mission, and its ministry as an extension of the love of Jesus to our community in a myriad of day to day activities. I am humbled to be a part of such an amazing group of people and to help, for my part, make the Kingdom visible! - Bryn Gillette

Ephesians 2:13-22 NIV

“13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

“Willie” Stratford and “Jim” Richardson were two godly advocates for change, healing, restoration, and the principles of God’s Kingdom in West Charlotte. The naming of this branch after them, rather than key donors, is a tribute to the fact that the very heart of this state-of-the-art branch offered to West Charlotte residents is an act of reconciliation and justice. In an area when the echos and consequences of systemic injustice linger, the life and work of the Stratford Richardson YMCA supports families and neighbors as they rise to their full potential in life and society, even as Willie and Jim pioneered. Visual ingredients that permeated my thoughts and prayers as I worked include:

• The Stratford Richardson YMCA in the center with “Willie” Stratford (left") and “Jim” Richardson (right) on the bottom.

• The cross of Christ semi-hidden at the middle of the painting, formed in part by the upper ledge of the YMCA

• The “Red Line” of historic real estate segregation starts on the left and explodes as it moves horizontally and hits the YMCA and the Cross in the middle, becoming a “murmuration” of starling birds.

• The painting began during a weekend-long prayer gathering for the city, and above the original red line is a chain of people in prayer, facing “forward”, symboling (for me at least) the fact that those of us who now pray for our city are joining an unbroken river of intercession dating back to the Great Awakening and before. Just below this line on the far left is the Graham homestead where businessmen once gathered in fasting and prayer for city, and from which Billy Graham received his call to ministry. On the right of the line under the city skyline is First Presbyterian church- an iconic symbol of ALL churches in our city.

• The road map of Charlotte can be seen from above, with the diamond of uptown under the skyline, the loop of 485 around most of the painting, and the center of the YMCA almost directly at its location on the map. The powerful uptown buildings on the top right and contrasted with the row houses in the bottom left.

• On the left above the red line are an antebellum “monopolizing” couple and below them a reference to the slaves that once passed through our city and powered much of the industry here.

• Continuing from the slavery image on the bottom left, the figures pass through the three trees (three “sisters”) in reference to the matriarchal women and churches that have been the spiritual and social pillars of west Charlotte, the three trees planted and growing just across from the YMCA in front of the community garden… and then these pilgrims continue on to the upward spiral under the doors of the YMCA.

• The spiral under the YMCA doors began in the underpainting of this work as a a drill bit, visualizing a testimony from Africa about digging new wells. When the engineers had hit the resistance of rock, rather than stopping as first suggested, they “changed the drill bit” to diamond and, at great expense, kept digging only to find an unknown and bottomless reservoir of water!! That drill bit still shows new reservoirs being hit, but now doubles as a spiral stairway as figures make the journey up to the doors of the YMCA.

• Following that spiral up, the Duke and Bank of America buildings can be seen in the top right as they appear from the light on West Boulevard just down from the YMCA… where the two perfectly align in an hourglass shape.

• In the bottom right is a picture of a family standing together, a graduate being celebrated, and subtly above, a hand holding arrows in reference to Ps. 127: 3-5a “3 Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. 4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. 5 Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.”

• There remains a shadow of a warrior dressed in the armor of God from Ephesians 6 visible within the YMCA. I have always considered the armor to be a metaphor of putting on our true identity in Christ: Truth as a belt, Righteousness as body armor, Shoes of the Good News of the gospel, the helmet of Salvation, the Sword of the Spirit of God’s Word, and an unceasing prayer in the Spirit communicating with the General of God’s Army- Christ. May we each know who we are in Christ.

In August of 2022, after a year of conversation and coordination, student volunteers from Charlotte Christian School’s chapter of National Art Honor Society partnered with “Seeds of Change” garden across from the Stratford Richardson YMCA to paint their new (second) shipping container with artist in residence Bryn Gillette coordinating.