Art and the Church – W. David O. Taylor
Session One: Permanent visual art in the church
In this session we will consider the various questions that surround the decision to install permanent artwork in a church. What questions should be asked? What kind of team should be formed to discern this decision? How do you commission such a work? What role should the congregation as a whole play? What kind of long-term implications should be kept in mind with such artworks, including storing, cleaning, restoration or dissolution? We will start the discussion with a panel of three and then open it out to the group for a broader conversation.
Session Two: Occasional visual art in the church.
This session will involve a similar format as session one, except that the questions will revolve around the installation of occasional works of visual art. The kinds of contexts that we will consider include “sanctuary spaces” as well as “non-sanctuary spaces,” whether indoors or out of doors. We’ll consider artwork for purposes of worship as well as work for purposes of mission. We will start the discussion with a panel of three and then open it out to the group for a broader conversation.
Session Three: Visual art in the tabernacle: Or how do you make art on the run?
By “tabernacle” we mean churches that do not own permanent facilities (versus “temple” churches, if you will) and must make use of rented spaces. The issues that such churches have to confront with respect to visual work are challenging ones. What if you meet in a middle school cafeteria? Or in a theater? Or a coffee shop? Or a used car dealership? How do you go about creating artwork for these mobile, borrowed spaces? What are your options? How do you make smart decisions? What’s the least you could do? What’s the most? Where do you begin? After listening to three case studies, we’ll open it out to the group for a larger, and no doubt vigorous, discussion.
Art Education Caucus – Jeffry B. Grubbs
Session One: Where are the Graduate Programs in Christian Colleges and Universities?
This session takes a closer look at graduate programs in art divisions offered at Christian Colleges and Universities in the United States. With graduate programs being so rare, what are the direct or indirect consequences for future Christian art programs? This session has compiled several graduate program directors to talk about their programs, followed by panel and audience discourse. Panelists: William Catling, Christopher C. Miller, and Gayland Stone.
Session Two: Best Practices for Integrating Art and Faith in Our Curriculum
Educators in any Christian institution are to articulate to their students the relevant issues concerning art and Christian faith. This session brings together leading scholars who teach college courses on art and Christian theology, giving them a forum to share best practices of their curriculum. Each panelist will give a brief overview of their courses or program, followed by panel and audience discourse. Panelists: James Bockelman and William Dyrness
Session Three: Design Education’s Growth and the Impact on Christian College Art Departments
Since the digital age came upon the scene, design education has grown in student interest and degree diversity. How has designs’ increased popularity impacted Christian liberal arts education? To give a perspective to this question and others discussed in this session, I have asked division chairs from some of the largest Christian universities to lead our discussion. Each panelist will give a brief overview of their design programs, followed by panel and audience discourse. Panelists Loren Baker, Karen Sangren, and Mike Wiggins.
Digital Dirt: An Exploration – David J. P. Hooker and Greg Halvorsen Schreck
A Short History of Dirt
[T]hen the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7).
The ruling illusion of digital reality is its antiseptic cleanliness (from ctheory, Digital Dirt).
This track examines the issues and contradictions inherent in “digital dirt” in a working attempt to understand ourselves and our art. Digital systems seek to minimize and eliminate dirt. Our discussion about dirt questions the exclusions we’ve assumed in craft and artistic media. Beauty in our world is wild: earthy, chaotic, orderly: necessarily complex. It is both clean and dirty; Apollonian and Dionysian. Here we offer space for thinking dirty thoughts and imagining dirty deeds within and without digital reality.
Follow us at: www.digitaldirt.weebly.com
Matter and Spirit: Art and Belief in Moving Images – Rebecca Ver Straten-McSparran
Session One: The Decalogue, #1 by Krzysztof Kieslowski (1989 Foreign film)
The first of ten films loosely based on the ten commandments by one of the most celebrated auteur directors of all time. The films explore the different ways we break the commandments every single day, and thus the mood is one of anguish and solitude. Stanley Kubrick said that The Decalogue was the only masterpiece he could name in his lifetime.
Panel: Robert K. Johnston, author of Reel Spirituality: Theology and Film in Dialogue, Useless Beauty: Ecclesiastes through the Lens of Contemporary Film, Finding God in the Movies and Reframing Theology and Film: New Focus for an Emerging Discipline (ed.), professor Theology and Film, Fuller Theological Seminary; Kristina Faragher, greatly influenced by Kieslowski, exhibits works of art in a host of media including video, installation, sculpture and film extensively throughout the world including two exhibits at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles and MOCA, publishing articles in numerous publications including The Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art and UC Berkeley Press; and Lauralee Farrer, an award-winning director, most recently of the upcoming He’s Not that Funny, starring Tony Hale (Arrested Development, Stranger than Fiction) as well as author of several books and volumes of poetry. Moderator: Rebecca Ver Straten-McSparran.
Session Two: Eternal Gaze by Samuel Chen (2003 Animated film)
Awarded Best Animation Award at over 30 film festivals worldwide and Academy Award nominee. Inspired by the life and torment of Alberto Giacometti, this is a beautifully executed and poignant story about an artist, his art, his fears, and reciprocated love. It explores the interior life of the artist but like good metaphor, it offers many other entries into meaning. Featured at the 2003 SIGGRAPH computer animation conference.
Panel: Lynn Aldrich, visual artist in sculpture and installation (see conference presenters); Dean Batali, screenwriter, including Executive Producer of That ‘70’s Show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer; and Chuck Slocum, Associate Executive Director, Writers’ Guild of America, Board Chair, Act One Program and Ph.D. student in Theology and Film at Fuller Theological Seminary. Moderator: Rebecca Ver Straten-McSparran
Session Three: Short Term 12, by Destin Daniel Cretton (2009, Independent film)[Starts at 1:30 PM]
The semi-autobiographical story of a supervisor at a residential facility, home to fifteen kids, each affected by child abuse and neglect in unimaginable ways. Awarded Best Short for Sundance Film Festival 2009, including two audience awards, among others.
Panel: Destin Cretton, director, Short Term 12, also winner of the most prestigious screenwriting award, the Academy’s 2010 Nicholl Fellowship for the feature-length screenplay of Short Term 12; Michelle Steffes, producer, Short Term 12, in addition to writing and directing other award-winning shorts and is director of The Interview (short) currently winning numerous awards on the festival circuit including Best Short at the L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Fest and Grand Prize in the Oscar-qualifying USA Film Festival and funded by an award grant from L.A. Film Studies Center. Steffes and Cretton are alumni of L.A. Film Studies Center.Moderator: Rebecca Ver Straten-McSparran.
Scholars – G. James Daichendt
Session One: Understanding Art and Culture
The digital era has significantly impacted the way we see and experience art. Given this new landscape, the following presenters collectively explore the art market, the role of connoisseurship, digital exhibitions, and the impact of technology on culture.
Matthew Tailford – “The Christian Artist’s Market“
Sara Schumacher – “The Loss of the Connoisseur and the Rise of the Participant: The Impact of the Digital Age on Arts Patronage“
Shelby Moser – “Hockney’s iArt Exhibition: Digital Art in the Postmodern Age“
Christina Valentine – “Culture and the Digital World“
Session Two: Creating and Teaching
The physical aspects of creating and teaching appear to be at odds with the online environment yet the following presenters each developed significant perspectives for online education and digital art making.
Matt Drissell – “The Significance of Art Education in the Digital Age“
Jeff Siemers – “Discussing the Philosophy and Practice of Online Studio Art Instruction“
David Versluis – “Is Digital Art Upstaged by its Own Medium?“
David McGill – “Advancing Design Curriculum: The Inevitability of Online Course Content“
Session Three: The Role of the Artist and Christian
The physicality of art making is an essential aspect to being an artist yet the following presenters reflect on the role of technology and the digital object in their own work.
Craig Goodworth – “Desert Monks and Digital Artifacts“
Roz Dimon – “Iconography: Connecting the Past to the Present Contrasting Sinai Christ Pantocrator (6th c. CE) to The Christmas Christ, (21st c. CE)“
William Catling – “The Object in a Digital Age“
Mel Ahlborn – “Digital Art and the Worshipping Community: The Ubuntu Reredos, a site-specific Digital Altarpiece installed at the Anaheim Convention Center“
Spiritual Formation – J. Scott McElroy
What is Spiritual Formation and how does it impact artists? This track explores the central role of Spiritual Formation in the artist’s ongoing development and how practices in this area can improve our lives and work. As Bono (U2) has said, “Because in the end, craft (alone) is not enough.”
Session One: Finding Your Authentic Voice – Becoming Who You Were Meant to Be
We will explore how God’s plan of Spiritual Formation in your life includes the discovery and development of your most fulfilling life and work. We’ll look at spiritual and emotional health and healing for the artist as well as the importance of taking our place in Christian community.
Session Two: Finding Divine Inspiration – The Joy of Collaborating with God
Building on Session 1, this session explores the biblical practice of collaborating with the Holy Spirit in our life and work. It will include practical exercises.
Session Three: Collaborating with God – Spiritual Practices of Artists
This session will feature a panel of CIVA artist’s sharing about their spiritual practices and experiences. Panel includes: Bruce Herman, Tim Lowly, Jessie Nilo, Joey O’Connor, and Susan Savage.
Nightly Prayer Ministry
Artist’s often feel isolated, lacking community, and spiritual support. CIVA desires to stand with you. An extension of the Spiritual Formation track this year includes the opportunity for individual prayer from 9:30 to 10:30 PM each evening of the conference. These are not counseling sessions, but times for healing, agreement in faith for your needs, and hope. You may sign up for slot at the information booth, or drop by the the Campus Prayer Chapel (consult a campus map) to receive prayer.
TRACK LEADERS
G. James Daichendt Ed.D. is an Associate Professor of Art at Azusa Pacific University and is a professor for Boston University’s online graduate program in art education. Prior to this appointment, he served as Acting Director and Lecturer in the Graduate Art Education Program at Queens College, City University of New York. He is author of Artist-Teacher: A Philosophy for Creating and Teaching (May, 2010) and the forthcoming text entitled: Artist Scholar: Reflections on Research and the Arts (September, 2011) published by Intellect Books. In addition he is the Principal Editor of the new academic journal: Visual Inquiry: Learning and Teaching Art and is the Arts and Culture Editor for the magazine: Beverly Hills Lifestyle. A regular contributor and reviewer for a variety of arts journals and newspapers including Teaching Artist Journal, Art Education, and the International Journal of Art and Design Education, he also contributes art reviews and criticism for ArtScene, Visual Art Source, and Pasadena Scene magazine. Jim holds graduate degrees from Columbia, Harvard, and Boston universities. For recent publications visit: www.gjdaichendt.com
Jeffrey B. Grubbs is an Associate Professor of Art and Chair of Division of Visual Arts at Roberts Wesleyan College, Rochester, New York. He received a Doctorate in Art Education from The Ohio State University. In 2007, he co-founded the CIVA Art Education Caucus. He co-researched a three-year study titled The 2010 CIVA National Status Report of Art and Design Programs. From 2008-2010 he was Region 2 Chair of the New York State Art Teachers Association. Currently he is on the editorial board for the international journal Visual Inquiry. Jeff is a printmaker and painter and teaches art education methods, as well as Contemporary Art History, Foundations of 2-D Design and Introduction to Visual Arts courses.
Greg Halvorsen Schreck teaches in the Art Department at Wheaton College, near Chicago. He has been there for 21 years. His undergraduate degree is from Rochester Institute of Technology, where he studied both commercial and fine art photography. He worked in commercial photography in New York City for ten years before coming to Wheaton. Greg’s completed his graduate work at New York University and the International Center of Photography in 1988. His photography work is connected to the land and environmental concerns, looking for a more balanced, dirtier collaboration between figure and ground, or person and place. Greg spent much of his time in the last decade exploring to the epistemological shift from analog to digital photography. This year he unveiled wooden Lambertian portrait photographs; the result of a long collaboration with physicist Mark Woodworth. They are scheduled to be exhibited at Schneider Gallery in Chicago this coming November, 2011. Greg’s website is atgregschreck.com and his Lambertian Portraits can be found atphotography.gregschreck.com.
David J. P. Hooker is and artist and Associate Professor of art at Wheaton College. He received an M.F.A. in Ceramics from Kent State University, and a B.A. in English from Furman University. Primarily a ceramic artist, David creates work in a variety of media, including collage, painting, and video. His current work explores structures we find in our lives–physical, cultural, social, implicit and implied–how we shape and use them, and how they shape and confine us. David’s work is widely exhibited nationally, and can be found in the South Carolina State Museum permanent collection, the Greenville County Museum of Art’s permanent collection, and First Charter’s Corporate Headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. Recent exhibitions include shows in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Chicago. When David is not freaking out over deadlines, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Elaine, his children Abbey and Samuel, his dog, Mac, and his cat, Summer. He also enjoys baseball, basketball, BBQ, and tennis—not necessarily in that order.
J. Scott McElroy is the author of Finding Divine Inspiration: Working with the Holy Spirit in Your Creativity (Destiny Image), founder of The New Renaissance Rising arts renewal movement (TheNewR.org) and Director of Arts at Vineyard Community Church in Indianapolis. He’s a visual and voiceover artist and hosted the Animal Planet TV series, “Wildlife Journal” from 2004-2007. He speaks and leads seminars on spiritual formation for the artist and the essential role of the arts in the Church, and contributes to Crosswalk.com and Burnside Writers Collective. Scott lives in Indianapolis with his wife Danielle, daughter Hailee, son Kaia, and dog Eleanor.
W. David O. Taylor served as a pastor for twelve years in Austin, Texas. Born and raised in Guatemala City, he studied at the University of Texas, Georgetown University, the University of Würzburg, and Regent College in Canada. In addition to editing the book For the Beauty of the Church: Casting a Vision for the Arts (Baker Books, 2010), he has written for Books & Culture, SEEN Journal, and Christianity Today. His primary art form is playwriting, though he is also quite fond of modern dance. He and his wife Phaedra currently live in Durham, North Carolina, where he pursues doctoral studies in theology and the arts, while she pursues the vocation of gardener, cook, and visual artist.
Rebecca Ver Straten-McSparran is the director of the L.A. Film Studies Center. She speaks on film, culture, and theological issues at various conferences and colleges/universities. Recently Rebecca moved from being Director of the City of Angels Film Festival to their Board of Directors and has been a juror for various film awards. She was executive producer for the short film Cold, which won a jury award for excellence in filmmaking. She contributed a chapter for the book, Reframing Theology and Film: New Focus for an Emerging Discipline (Baker Academic, 2007). Rebecca created and directed The Miracle Mile Art Walk for five years (www.miraclemileartwalk.com), supported and sponsored by L.A. County Museum of Art, over 40 galleries in the area and Mid-City WEST Community Council. She is also on the advisory council for the Institute of Visual Faith at the Brehm Center, Fuller Theological Seminary. An ordained minister, Rebecca was the founding pastor of Tribe of Los Angeles, a church that ministered primarily to artists, filmmakers, and graduate students. She received her B.A. in Philosophy from Bethel University and M.Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary.