Art
When I send out emails to the creative team in our church, I usually share links of work, essays, and music that I find inspiring. This was just a way of sharing those links with our community.
Art & Church:
A Liturgy for Beginning an Artistic Work
Still Life with the Fruit of the Spirit by Makoto Fujimura
What Happens After the Christian Arts Conference? “... that space between what I could have been (a monk) and what I am (an artist) was filled with the in-breaking understanding of love. Love as a gift to the real world through ruthlessly orienting my life to what I’m supposed to be.”
Should My Church Bother with Art that Doesn't Present the Gospel? - “We need sacred art—and in the United States in particular, it’s possible we need it desperately. Art that reimagines the Gospel of Christ and the stories of His saints for new generations has long been art for the Church, as well as art supported, even promoted, by the Church. Yet we also need churches to encourage and foster common art that serves as our gift to the wider world. Even when art is not explicitly religious, any work that points to truth, beauty, and goodness cannot help but share the Gospel, though there may be more “showing” going on than “telling.” This is because art done well always stirs up questions, sentiments, and longings that point us toward the transcendent.”
This church sketchbook by John Hendrix is wild in the best kind of way.
When I first sat down with Karen, she recommended this book: All That is Made: A Guide to Faith and the Creative Life.
ArtWay “publishes materials and resources for scholars, artists, art enthusiasts and congregations concerned about linking art and faith.”
Rebekah shared this Lent Project from Biola University
Brooke referenced a book by Andrew Peterson, Adorning the Dark
I wrote a meditation on “Creating in a Destructive World” for my art group Cristos Collective awhile back.
If you like the idea of pop art by a nun reappropriating commercial fragments for justice and mercy you should know Corita Kent.
“When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we will not be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.”
—“Simple Gifts” by Joseph Brackett
Artists & Shows:
Art 21 explored the work of Theaster Gates and his story and words are deeply moving. I loved how he spoke at the end about how he wants to show his work, but that he also wants to make the thing that creates space for the making.
“I think that when art and culture is doing its thing well it becomes a magnet for lots of other possibilities…Can art and culture change communities? It does it all the time. It’s so evident when art is present, things are better even in the toughest circumstances.” - Theaster Gates
Daniel Lind-Ramos,an artist whose sculptural work ties traditional icon imagery to hurricanes using beach detritus. I love the idea of creating new work from broken fragments.
Moki Cherry, the Swedish Designer Who Blurred Art and Life “In a time of deep fragmentation, her vision reminds us that art can be sanctuary, resistance, and renewal all at once,”
In Puerto Rico, a Museum Builds Community Outside Its Walls
El Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico seeks to serve teachers, children, incarcerated people, and local artists alike, expanding the definition of what a museum can do.
Kour Pour Reclaims the Geometry of Abstraction ““The things one thinks are purely American are very often informed by other places.”
I’ve been going through the Art 21 series on PBS. My favorite episode so far was “Friends and Strangers, in season 11. The last 2 artists in this episode had practices which were heavily community focused.
Scientists Recreate Ancient Egypt’s Prized Blue Pigment
This show “Grace Under Fire”. Love the title of the show and the broad range of work. The text from the press release: “Grace Under Fire explores the paths back to ourselves—as a collective, as beings of the earth, as spirits. It offers these as places where we can find grounding, restoration, sanity, and ultimately strength to persevere in light of all we face. Perhaps despite everything, we might just build something better.”
On Violence, Photography, and Craft is a beautifully written essay about craft vs. convenience. “Craft requires time. Time to learn, to fail, and most importantly to see with all our senses. Craft doesn’t allow us to assume truth, but invites us to pursue it in the exercising. It sacrifices efficiency for the sake of understanding.”
When Grace and I went to Philadelphia last month I had a chance to visit The Fabric Workshop and Museum.
In an art statement in church I mentioned Caravaggio painting dust onto the feet of saints. That came from this episode of The Power of Art.
The Salem Ferry will drop you off within walking distance of the ICA. It always makes for a fun day trip down to Boston.
Music:
This album by Nala Sinephro was a warm place for me when it was released in 2021. As a teenager she had a tumor removed from her jaw and wrote an ambient jazz harp album about how beautiful it was to be alive in the midst of a year few people were writing from that space. She was heavily influenced by the Charlie Brown Christmas album. Often it’s the soundtrack to our Serve Sunday. This one is on heavy rotation there too: Dorothy Ashby: Hip Harp
This album by Annie & the Caldwells, “Can’t Lose My (Soul)” Gospel funk music is a rabbit hole you should very much explore. Here’s more: Pastor T.L. Barrett & The Youth For Christ Choir and Good God! A Gospel Funk Hymnal
I Learned to Listen From My Dad is a gentle story of how a woman’s father shaped her relationship to music.