Mother’s Love Art Gallery
Last fall, I attended the grand opening of Mother’s Love Art Gallery, hosted by the World Mission Society Church of God in New York. It was a one-of-a-kind experience.
I walked into the Grand Ballroom at the New York Marriott Hotel at the Brooklyn Bridge and it had been transformed into a maze that took me through the different stages of a mother-child relationship.
The first set of exhibits featured the process of motherhood – from pregnancy to childbirth to the moment a mother has to leave her child behind to head back to her daily life.
The other exhibits reminded me of some of my moments with my own mother.
A mother’s sacrifice in the kitchen to make sure her children are healthy.
A child’s shame of his mother, not realizing her love.
A mother’s sacrifice to save her child from danger even if it means giving up her own life.
Several of the exhibits brought me to tears thinking of my own relationship with my mother and all the sacrifices she’s made for me to have a better life.
Mother’s Love Art Gallery featured different kinds of artistic pieces – photography, paintings, sculpture and literary pieces. The organizers did an amazing job of putting together outstanding literary pieces to compliment and help tell the story of the art.
One particular literary piece brought me to tears. It was designed as a journal entry. It told the story of a mother, who faced an unplanned pregnancy. Her career was thriving and she already had one child and was not ready for a second. After carrying the unwanted child for some time, she got into a car accident that changed her life. Post-accident, she was put on bedrest until her due date because her unborn child seemed to have a deformity that doctors could not figure out. Through her care and concern for the baby, her hate for her unwanted unborn child turned into love. And when her baby was born, healthy, she called him Sunshine because that’s what he brought into her life. Her newborn child brought her happiness that she never knew before and a renewed desire to succeed.
The art came from artists locally and from across the U.S. Some pieces, I was told, even came from artists overseas.
Not only did Mother’s Love Art Gallery help me think of my mother, but even gave me a chance to send her a postcard. This was one of the cutest sections in the gallery. They featured a section where visitors could sit down and write a postcard to our moms and they even mailed it for us.
The Gallery even received a citation of recognition from Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams for “serving as an artistic space in several cities in the U.S., South Korea, and throughout the world for thousands of people to reflect and reminisce on the unconditional love of their own mothers.”
In the citation, Borough President Adams also commended the World Mission Society Church of God for allowing the Gallery to positively impact the lives of others in our great borough and beyond.”
Now, Mother’s Love Art Gallery has moved to midtown Manhattan. I recently went and it was just as touching as the first time. And from what I was told, the purpose of the gallery is not only to allow people to understand the origin of maternal love, but to also raise funds for charity.
Mother’s Love Art Gallery not only allowed me to think of my own mother’s sacrifice, but the sacrifice her mother made for her, and the sacrifice my great grandmother made for my grandmother. One piece in particular made me think deeply about this and that maternal sacrifice and love must go back generations. Then I thought, “Where did it all start? What is the origin of maternal love?”
As a Christian, we believe that God is love. But maternal love is the greatest of all loves. Then God must be a mother. Even through this gallery, I could see the origin of love is really God the Mother.
If you’re in the New York City area, I recommend you definitely stop by and check out the gallery. You won’t regret it.
See more:
Mother’s Love Art Gallery featured on NY1 News
Thank you. God bless you. We love Heavenly Mother.
There is nothing to compare with Motherly love. Mother always gives and gives without expecting anything in return. Through this gallery, I realized that motherly love is deeply connected with the love of Heavenly Mother, the Mother of our spirits.