Alight: Art and the Sacred

Alight will introduce you to works of art from all over the world in ways that explore their sacred dimensions and their devotional power. It will also bring you the voices of artists, art historians, curators, critics, and theologians as they reflect on the challenging and illuminating ways that art and religion intersect in the 21st century.

The app will take you to cities including London, Chicago, Washington DC, Oxford and New York City, opening up encounters with works of art in both religious and secular spaces, from museums to cathedrals to national monuments in public squares. It will suggest trails, or ‘curated pilgrimages’, and its interactive map will direct you to locations where key works on these itineraries can be found. The voices of its contributors will offer you analyses, provocations, personal meditations, and testimonies to the spiritual power of visual art.

You can use the Alight features while following one of its trails, or from your own armchair. Put your headphones on, press play, and listen to both short commentaries and longer discussions.

Alight invites you to take time to contemplate the works you alight on, and if they set your heart alight, you can capture your response with the Alight slider.

While using the interactive map, you will be notified when you are near a key location. Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

With thanks to our supporters: The University of Cambridge Coexist House Episcopal Evangelism Society Trinity Church, Wall Street Rocky Mountain College Center for the Ministry of Teaching at Virginia Theological Seminary Georgetown University The Royal Academy of Arts, London The School of the Art Institute of Chicago The McDonald Agape Foundation