Call: Visual Preludes

General Convention is coming this June - and ECVA has a wonderful role in
it. We've once again been asked to provide multimedia visual arts presentations,
"Visual Preludes," to accompany each of the nine worship services to be conducted
at the Convention.

The overall theme of General Convention is "Come and Grow," derived from
Ephesians 4:15 (NIV): "... speaking the truth in love, we will in all things
grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ." We're seeking artwork
that responds to one or more of the following subthemes, each keyed to one
day's worship service:

Day 1: "Gracious Spirit"
Day 2: "Spiritual Sight"
Basil the Great, Bishop of Caesarea, 379
Day 3: "For She is the Breadth of the Power of God"
(30th anniversary of the ordination of women)
Evelyn Underhill, Theologian and Mystic, 1941
Day 4: "Friendship with God"
Joseph Butler, Bishop of Durham, 1752
Day 5: "Bread of Life"
Convention Eucharist and UTO Ingathering
Bernard Mizeki Catechist and Martyr in Rhodesia, 1896
Day 6: "God's Work"
Election of a Presiding Bishop
2nd Sunday after Pentecost
Day 7: "Love Astounding"
Day 8: "Wisdom of God"
Day 9: "All Things into Christ"

The Visual Preludes will not only be seen by thousands of attendees during
General Convention, but will also be mounted as an exhibition on the ECVA
website.

We warmly urge each of you to consider submitting your artwork. You can
find the Call online by clicking on this link:
http://ecva.org/newsletter/call_for_entries_gc2006.htm
The deadline for submissions is February 11, 2006. We'll hope to hear from you.

Crystal Penguins Awards

Our friend Rich Melheim has been working on ways to encourage young artists who participate in the life of their church. Rich and Faithink.com have come up with something wonderful: the Crystal Penguins awards. Grammys, move over! Any ECVA friends reading this, would you please bring Rich's project to the attention of young Christian artists whom you may know? (He especially notes that it might be nice to pass the invite along to college students away from home, who might need to be reminded that their gifts are still needed by the church.) Here's a brief description:

"The National Youth Worship Arts Awards (NYWAA) are designed to create a renaissance in the worship life of the church through celebration, nurturing, and encouragement of young artists, musicians, writers, dancers, videographers, and actors who share their gifts, talents, and passion for God through the arts. All youth between the ages of 16-21 who regularly share their gifts in their local community of faith are eligible for the awards."

Rich has brought to fruition a search specifically directed at the use of young artists' work in worship contexts - so don't hide your talent under a barrel. Rich is one of the warmest, most encouraging advocates we know. The deadline for contest entries has been newly extended to March 15. There are prizes - $10,000, ten crystal Penguins and ten iPods, with a live podcast awards ceremony on April Fool’s Day at 7 pm central. Here's the URL for more information: http://www.faithink.com/About/nywaa.asp. This link will also let you download applications and brochures. Questions are welcome at awards@faithink.org.

Brie Dodson
Director of Communications
The Episcopal Church & Visual Arts

"Jesus -- Our Great and Loving Teacher" by Jeffrey Conlon, All Saints', Stoneham, MA

The thought behind the painting "Jesus-
Our Great and Loving Teacher": I wanted
to present Christ as such a good and loving presence that it attracts the intellectual side of all living creatures. I wanted to show that his message was received by people all over the world and from all time periods. That is why there are representative people from all over the world and from all time periods. That is why there are representative people from all over the world and from the time of his teachings, they can not help but love him. I chose to have him surrounded by admiring children. Children are so naturally honest that they perceive Christ’s nature and love him even on an instinctive level. I placed animals in the painting also because they instinctively are honest, natural and that the love of Christ would have an affect on them; they would be attracted to him.

I am an expressionist and was given the honor of painting a diptych mural for my church I seriously thought of painting it in a more realistic tone, using more muted earth colors. After putting deep thought into it I decided that I wanted to paint the story my way. It’s how I feel about our Lord and the way I love to paint. I also wanted to show how his presence affects our earth and the universe. Jesus affects the laws of nature in the painting by bringing attention to his ability to heal the sick and by showing the candle flame drawn to him even if outdoor winds are headed the opposite direction. The universe is represented by having angels racing to him to listen to his teachings.

As a person looks at the painting they will see Charlemagne a Christian emperor, a Napoleonic French officer, a Latin gaucho, an Inuit, a lady of the Victorian era. There are representatives from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Asia Minor, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, the Northern Regions and the South East Pacific. The painting shows children and adults from all social levels, rich, middle class and poor.

When making the painting I took a camera to church and took pictures of church members. I positioned them in poses that I wanted my characters in the painting to be in. That way I would know the relationship of the torsos, arms, legs, feet and hands to one another. Once the film was developed I took them into my studio and drew them as the characters I wanted in the painting.
I love my church and the congregation has become my second family over the years, they surrounded me in support and compassion at the most difficult moment of my life. The painting is my gift to the people I love and who love me.

"Faces of Christ" at ECUSA

The Episcopal Church USA, in collaboration with Episcopal Church and Visual Arts, presents "Faces of Christ" at the ECUSA web site homepage, www.episcopalchurch.org. ECVA exhibiting artist, Paula Wallace, curator of the exhibition invites us all "to seek the Risen Christ and know the presence of that divine relationship in our own lives."

In her curator's statement, Paula points out the marvelous diversity of the Anglican faith which is blessed with many “faces of Christ.” This exhibition, though small in size with a limited number of those faces, is a very important and visible invitation to see Christ through the eyes of different artists and to imagine our own personal vision of God in human form.

As for me, I like to think of Christ laughing and smiling. I want to believe that God as a human found all the beauty and joy his creation has to offer before his final dark hours. I like to think that at the Resurrection he was delighted to see Mary Magdalene at the tomb looking for him. I hope he grinned from ear to ear to see his faithful friend who loved him enough to stay.

How do you envision Christ? Do you see him walking in majestically brilliant light; a man of pain and sorrow or smiling and laughing with joy; perhaps as the typical friend and companion; possessing eyes that pierce the soul or convey the greatest warmth and kindness you can imagine? What face do you see?

Come and Grow

ECUSA has launched a marketing campaign that incorporates an appealing visual compotent. Go to Come and Grow to see the site, including the ads. The "Come and Grow" logo is available for download to church websites and blogs at the Come and Grow site.

Which brings me to think about art provided to local churches by artist parishioners. I am curious if any of you provide art work to advertise local events, campaigns, etc.

In my church we have seized upon a Postcard/Newspaper ad campaign that seems to be working effectively. I have been designing colored postcard invitations to special festival events (Pentecost Vigil, Summer Evensong, New Church Year Picnic, Baptism/Bishop's Visit, Epiphany [see postcard below], etc.) for distribution to members, recent visitors and others in the community by our priest. I prepare a black and white ad with the same basic design which runs in the local newspaper. We usually include a reception or dinner element to the festivity, and with the outstanding cooks in our church, anyone who ever visited before wants to come again.


At my church we try to coordinate special event themes, advertising, decoration and food so that a certain atmosphere is created. For instance, we dedicated our historical marker last year we decorated the nave with cedar and served traditional Southern food from the 19th century that would have been standard fare at the time our church was built. For Summer Evensong we decorated the nave with blue delphinium and served English scones for the reception. For the Pentecost Vigil the nave was full of red gladiolus (red tongues of flames) and rose petals (historically used in the Church of England to depict the presence of the Holy Spirit).

Do any of you provide advertising art for your parishes? What local marketing methods have you employed? Have they been effective?

Jan Neal
Program Director
Episcopal Church & Visual Arts