Messiah College, located next to the beautiful Yellow Breeches trout stream, is 15 minutes southwest of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in the rolling hills of south central PA. Just two hours from Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington DC, Messiah offers a high quality private undergraduate education to more than 2,900 students in a residential setting.

Virtu [n.] production of art, esp. of a curious nature: objects d'art
Virtue [n.] moral excellence; goodness or inherent power to produce effects; potency
Virtual [adj.] being such in essence or effect though not formally recognized or existing in the mind, especially as a product of the imagination.

It is the business of the artist to envision something that does not exist and, through the power of imagination and hard work, transform this vision into a reality. From Stonehenge to Richard Serra's Tilted Arc, from the adorned interior of a Gothic cathedral to "virtual reality" computer games, these seemingly simple creative acts are transformational: they change the world and dramatically color our perception of reality. The dynamism of this arrangement raises important questions for artists of faith.

For instance:
• How can the artist, who is engaged in the act of shaping our ever evolving culture, assess the aesthetic excellence or virtue of work when its form and format are entirely new to her?
• In creating work, how can an artist shape his environment (its space) in a way that embodies the spirit (Spirit) of the Gospel?
• Clearly, the call to creative work is an invitation to cultural engagement and production. It is also an invitation to personal transformation. As Christians in the visual arts, how shall we understand the relationship between one’s inner life and one’s public responsibilities?

To register online click the weblink on the right side of this page. A pdf brochure with more details and a schedule of events is available from the link on the right side of this page.

Transforming Spaces features sessions and speakers that appeal to the diverse interests of those engaged in the intersection of art and faith. This conference will offer an option for participants to follow four established tracks – The Built and Designed Space, The Museum and Gallery Space, The Church and Worship Space, and The Cultural and Critical Space.

Allan Wexler will present the plenary address on the Built and Designed Space. For 25 years Wexler’s work has resulted in objects, buildings and environments that blur the lines between architecture and sculpture. Trained as an architect, Wexler is equally an architect of ideas as he is of objects. Also joining the discussion on the Built and Designed space is Dr. Earl Tai, the Associate Chair at Parsons New School for Art and Design. Tai has published and lectured broadly on topics of architecture and has received a Fulbright Fellowship, Harvard Grant, and the Columbia University President’s Fellowship.

Dr. Ena Heller, Executive Director of the Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA) in New York City, will examine the Museum and Gallery Space. Before becoming the director of MOBIA she taught art history at the College of the Holy Cross and Manhattanville College. Featured in such publications as The New York Times, Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, and The Wall Street Journal, MOBIA is known as the small museum with a large mandate. The exhibitions at MOBIA explore how the narratives and symbols of the Bible have influenced the history of art and visual culture.

Liturgical designer Catherine Kapikian will be the primary speaker and panelist investigating the Church and Worship Space. Kapikian, Director of the Henry Luce III Center for the Arts and Religion, is an acclaimed artist and designer. Many of her large-format works are designed by her and fabricated by members of a commissioning community in what she calls “participatory aesthetics.” In this manner, the installation becomes the work of the people.

Dr. David Summers has been the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Art History at the Center for Advanced Studies at the University of Virginia since 1984. He is the author of several books including Real Spaces: World Art History and the Rise of Western Modernism (2003 Phaidon). The book offers an alternative to both traditional views of the visual arts and to the analogy of art to language. Topics include architecture as the art of social space, sculpture as the art of personal space, and painting and the graphic arts as examples of virtual space. Dr. Summers will investigate the realm of the Cultural and Critical Space within our conference discussion.

Ken Myers, the conference keynote speaker, is the executive producer at Mars Hill Audio, a nonprofit organization devoted to helping Christians think wisely about modern culture. He has interviewed several prominent CIVA members about the intertwining of art and faith for the audio journal. He will also serve as a moderator for a roundtable discussion involving the Conference plenary speakers.

Exhibitions:
Once again CIVA’s nightly Late Late Show will allow dozens of artists a chance to share their work with the CIVA membership. The Conference will also have a separate time for Film and Video Screenings. Don’t forget to bring your slides or digital presentations. Any conference participant may exhibit at CIVA’s Walk-In Show, so bring any of your work that can travel. This year’s curator for the continually influential CIVA Juried Show is James Elaine, the Curator of Hammer Projects at the UCLA Hammer Museum in Los Angeles.

The Prayer and Devotional Space:
The conference can be a fast paced time, but we do make space to slow down and begin our days with the things that are most important. This year David Taylor, Pastor of Arts and Teaching Ministries at Hope Chapel in Austin, TX (http://artspastor.blogspot.com) will provide devotional thoughts for us on Friday and Saturday mornings.

Plenary and Concurrent Session:
The workshops for this year's Conference represent the wide range of interests, practices, and beliefs of the CIVA membership. Participants may follow one of the four prescribed tracks or set their own course through the various afternoon sessions. Whether you are an artist, designer, historian, educator, clergy, layperson, critic or collector, a series of seminars and workshops will be available to educate, inspire and challenge. These sessions offer a significant opportunity for artists, scholars and theologians to dialogue. Some of the topics include:

Friday Sessions:
Plenary Session-Tales of Transformation
Ena Heller, Catherine Kapikian, David Summers, Earl Tai
Followed by concurrent sessions with each speaker.

Friday Afternoon Concurrent Sessions:
- Christian Art in the Public Square
- Transformed Sacred Spaces
- The Strange Presence of Religion in Modern Art: Toward a Theology of 20th Century Art

Late Afternoon:
- The Dynamic Christian College Art Department: New Models and Structures
- Towards a Methodology for Art History and Theology
- Exhibiting Art at the College Level: Are We Doing Enough?
- Making Space Spiritual: Manipulating Light with Cutting Edge, Monumental Glass Installations
- Contemplative Creativity
- Paper Pulp Painting
- The Art and Design of Eric Gill
- Volunteer and Networking Opportunities in CIVA

Saturday Sessions:
Morning Plenary with Allan Wexler
Followed by a Roundtable Discussion with the main speakers.

Saturday Afternoon Concurrent Sessions:
- What Directs Graphic Design?
- The Arts as Handmaiden to the Religious Experience
- Thorncrown Chapel as a Worship Space that Embodies the
- Spirit of the Gospel
- Church as Liturgical Machine: Transforming Space for Worship in the 20th and 21st Century
- The Calvin Worship Renewal Grant Program
- Christian Art Educators Caucus
- Fostering Engagement with the Visual Arts over a Lifetime
- CIVA Photography Network
- Stretching Yourself: The Dynamics of Collaboration in Print

CIVA would like to thank the following conference sponsors for the generous gifts that have made this conference possible.

Anonymous, The Arts and Religious and Theological Studies (ARTS), Joan Bohlig, Books & Culture (Christianity Today), Bob and Sandra Bowden, Brehm Center for Worship, Theology and the Arts, Center for Liturgical Art at Concordia University-NE, Chysalis Seed Trust, The City’s Gate, Ronald and Paige Crosby, Kate Curry, Wm B Eerdmans Publishing Co, Derry Presbyterian Church, Elizabeth Asche Douglas, Gary Duncan, Jerry Evenrud, Faith Alive, Faith and Form, Kim Garza, Grantham Brethren in Christ Church, Donald and Ruth Grimm, The Grove Center for the Arts, Henry Luce III Center for Arts and Religion, Willian Hopper, IMAGE: Journal of the Arts & Religion, International Arts Movement (IAM), Lutheran University Press, Messiah College, Mount Calvary Episcopal Church, Reid Perkins-Buzo, David Robertson, Dal Schindell, SEEDS, Square Halo Books, Irena Tippet, George and Andee Underwood, Yvonne Welch, Wheatland Presbyterian Church, PCA

You may also contribute to the conference online by making a donation through the CIVA STORE page on this website. Please designate in the notes section that that is what your gift is for.