Some Happenings in Christian Artist Movements

So yes, there is a considerable divide between the avant-garde and church art, but it is inspiring to see Christian communities making place for the arts. My own experience has reinforced the belief that Christian artists are not rare but rather the spaces for those artists to build community and share their work. So for all of you that have been searching like me,  I want to share 3 opportunities for art-sharing.

In Film

Hillsong Church in Sydney has a congregation of about 20,000 people and provides opportunities for people all around the world to share their art. They host the annual “Exchange Film Festival,” which encourages submissions of works with Christian themes. Not only do they make room for arts in the local church but they’re using their expansive influence to include the worldwide body of Christ. The submission window for the 2011 film and arts festival is still open until February. I plan to enter a piece or two.

Performance & Installation

Eric Samuel Timm’s organization, No One Underground, has a mission I’m excited about: “We work to mobilize the arts within the church & the church within the world.” Eric travels to various churches, concerts and conferences performing live painting installations. The videos of his performances that I’ve watched online are all definitely directed at a Christian audience. Though they may not function as well in avant-garde venues they certainly stay right on target with the mission to mobilize the church.

Community & Learning

This year I learned about CIVA (Christians in the Visual Arts) from a friend. In perusing their website I learned about an upcoming conference they are hosting at Biola University: Matter and Spirit: Art and Belief in a Digital Age. A few of the sessions that stood out to me were Art and Design, Art and the Church and Art Education. The conference will be June 16-19, 2011.

Now that I’m learning more about existing opportunities for art in the church, I’m anxious to delve into the debate of subject matter and targeted audience. Check back next week to grapple with those issues!

Girl [in context]

 

This video piece is one of the first things I created while grappling with my own context. It's a novice stab at art-making from a Christian perspective. I've got a long way to grow, but I thought I'd share.

In Search of Christian Artists

Artwork by Jim LePage

 In one of his first blogs of the new year controversial Christian author Donald Miller tackled the question: “Is Church Life Stifling Your Creativity?” He hypothesizes the uproar that might occur if Solomon wrote his biblical text, “Song of Songs” in a modern church context, supposing that people would be outraged by the erotic nature of the poetry. In the end, the bottom line was that Miller encouraged his readers to do what God tells them to do and not what the church tells them to do.

Miller’s advice is not bad. In fact it’s downright biblical, but it begs the question, what if God’s telling you to use your creativity to make art in the church? All of the creativity drowning influences that often come with large organizations must be overcome to accomplish the call of God. You can’t shrug them off as an unfortunate circumstance. (I’m incredibly blessed to be in a church that inspires creativity.)

As the Media Director for a large church I’ve studied the leadership structures of many multi-thousand-member churches in America. In doing so I’ve discovered that contemporary art as we know it in these structures may very well simultaneously hit on religious, political and cultural stigmas. Art says things that people are afraid to speak; it’s often subversive in nature. But what does today’s great Christian art look like? I believe I am yet to discover it.  I have discovered professional quality video ministries and sharp design, but have not yet witnessed a thriving community of artists in the local church.

So I’m kicking off this blog with a thirst to discover just that. Have you seen art embraced in a church? I’d love to hear about it here.