With fine art tools in hand, California artists of diverse faiths recently were invited to share their lived experiences of the spiritual.

The result is "Spiritual Spectrum: Paintings and Sculptures by the California Art Club," the first juried exhibition of fine art displayed at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. The exhibit, running through Aug. 27, features some 80 works of art and several sculptures by more than 60 of California's top fine artists.

The California Art Club, one of the oldest and largest professional arts organizations in the country, requested that its arts members depict what inspires them. Some painted traditional religious images, including those within the Cathedral, while others chose natural landscapes or figurative and still-life subjects.

Artwork for the exhibition was juried and selected by the Cathedral's Arts and Furnishings Committee, chaired by Gayle Garner Roski, an artist and commissioner for the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department. Roski said that as the pieces were being hung in the Cathedral chapels or sculptures placed in the gardens, she saw tears stream down people's eyes.

"People are seeking, searching to be inspired, to have a fresh eye, to be touched in some way," said Roski. Sacred art, she added, "is a celebration of our soul."

Peter Adams, participating artist and president of the California Art Club, said he appreciated the Cathedral's commitment to continuing the church's long tradition of support and encouragement of the fine arts.

"Since the Renaissance, the Catholic Church has always been a patron of the arts, not just of painting and sculpture, but also of music and architecture," said Adams.

In addition to Roski, members of the Cathedral's Arts and Furnishings Committee include Sara Campbell, senior curator of the Norton Simon Museum; Lalo Garcia, artist; Msgr. Kevin Kostelnik, Cathedral pastor; Edward J. Nygren, former director of the art collections at The Huntington Library; Franciscan Brother Hilarion O'Connor, director of operations for the Cathedral; Jesuit Father Michael Tang, chair of the department of Art and Art History at Loyola Marymount University; and Ruth Weisberg, dean of the School of Fine Arts at the University of Southern California.

Exhibition hours are Mondays through Fridays, 6:30 a.m.-7 p.m.; Saturdays, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.; and Sundays, 7 a.m.-7 p.m. A catalogue of the artwork with accompanying text by each artist is available at the Cathedral Gift Shop, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, telephone (213) 680-5200.