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October 8, 2005 Record-Eagle/Greg Undeen Local artist Louise Bass painted a mural reflecting a global view Christianity at Fellowship Church in Traverse City. Mural with a missionArt reflects church's global, local philosophyByRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - Fellowship Church's global view of Christianity is on display as people walk in the front door. The church on Garfield Road had local artist Louise Bass paint a mural above the entry to its sanctuary, illustrating the church's belief that what it does has widespread and possibly global implications. "It sets the framework that we go beyond ourselves," said the church's pastor, the Rev. Jon DeBruyn. The continents of Earth are painted in gold and make up most of the mural, with darker lines spread out from North America, right where Traverse City is situated, in all directions. Faces of different nationalities and races look out to the left and right of the continents. "One of her gifts is to do faces and give them life," DeBruyn said. On a beam under the mural, in gold leaf, is the verse: "Go into the world and bring the good news to all creation. - Mark 16:15." Bass, 75, spent about two weeks, mostly on a scaffold, painting the mural. She has done other murals in the area, including paintings at Excel Rehabilitation physical therapy clinic and both an inside and outside mural at Faith Reformed Church, where she is a member. She also has painted murals in Toronto and in Papua, New Guinea, where she and her late husband Jack Bass served at a mission for 20 years. She illustrated books to encourage literacy, and her husband was a Bible translator. "Missions and art are the two things I've always wanted to do," she said. "And I've had the opportunities to do both." She moved here from Grosse Pointe after her husband died in 1980. Bass used only a couple of different colors in the mural at Fellowship because of its prominence in the lobby. "Full color would've been overwhelming," she said. While Fellowship Church, which is Christian Reformed, has members undertake international missions at times, the mural's global statement also deals with those who focus their efforts around home. "We've done a fair amount of mission work not just overseas, but right outside our church, too," DeBruyn said. "We're not at all intending to go to the world and forget Traverse City."
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