HOSCHTON — More than 25 artists will showcase their portrayal of Jesus’s journey to the cross at the "Stations" art exhibit in Hoschton, which opens this weekend and runs through Easter Sunday.

"This is the fourth year we’ve done the ‘Stations’ exhibit," said Tonya Haswell, the exhibit’s curator. "Artists from all over the southeast have participated in it. It’s gotten to the point where people come up and ask me about it — when we’re doing it, how can they participate. ... People seem to want to be involved in something bigger than themselves."

The idea for the annual exhibit came when Haswell, the creative director for her Baptist church, was planning a Good Friday service. She decided to draw upon the Catholic tradition of the Stations of the Cross, a service that focuses on the events in Jesus’s life from the time he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane to his crucifixion and entombment.

"The art reflects on the events as recorded in the four Gospels," Haswell explained. "There are different artistic disciplines, different denominations represented. They (the artists) are at different places in their own faith journey honoring the journey Christ took from the garden to the tomb."

The artists use a variety of mediums, from painting and three-dimensional pieces to photography, glass and mixed media to depict the 14 stations in the traditional service.

"Inevitably, someone gets a station they don’t want, but by the end of the process they always say, ‘I can’t imaging working on any other station,’" Haswell said. "When you take that journey creatively it becomes so applicable to one’s own spiritual journey."

"They’ll take the challenge and it pushes them out of their comfort zone. It stretches you creatively," Haswell added.

The exhibit has been held at a different venue each year, and some local business owners helped bring it to Hoschton, Haswell said.

"Margaret (McNaughton, MDM Real Estate owner) talked to me last year about it, and she had a great passion for seeing it here," she said.

Nancy Rhodes, owner of Adornare Hair Salon and Hoschton Business Alliance president, said she wanted to help bring "Stations" to Hoschton and recently finished a piece that will be featured in the exhibit.

"If you’re not up on the story, it takes you right into the word," she said about the exhibit.