Jerry Evenrud's Prodigal Son Collection

Chuck Hoffman and Jerry Evenrud. © Genesis+Art Studio

STORIES FROM THE ROAD


BASILICA OF ST. MARY GALLERY, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA. Three of our pieces reside in Jerry Evenrud’s Prodigal Son collection. Jerry donated his 600+ pieces of visual art based on the biblical parable from Luke 15 to Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN. Our work was included in the recent exhibition at the Basilica of St. Mary in downtown Minneapolis. The Basilica of St. Mary, hosted the art exhibit during this past Lent. Johan von Parys, director of liturgy and sacred arts, shared, “The story of the Prodigal Son is one that resonates well. The eternal story of forgiveness, which we need so very much, rings true with people everywhere. We thought it would be very fitting to host this display during Lent.” We feel honored to be a part of Jerry's collection of work.

Intersections: Finding Our Common Ground

Solo exhibition at Stocksdale Gallery. Photo © Genesis+Art 

STORIES FROM THE ROAD

WILLIAM JEWELL COLLEGE, LIBERTY, MISSOURI. Earlier this year we had a solo exhibition at William Jewell College’s Stocksdale Gallery in Liberty, Missouri. Curated by gallery director, Rob Quinn, Intersections: Finding Our Common Ground. The exhibit featured our collaborative work that reflected on what divides and how we come together through understanding, listening and being present to the other. The exhibition was sponsored by The Center for Justice and Sustainability and was part of the Summit that included our workshops, lectures and community project. 

Revelations: Interrogating the Sacred

From exhibition at Saint Xavier University. Photo Maureen Riley

STORIES FROM THE ROAD


SAINT XAVIER UNIVERSITY, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. Our work was included in the juried exhibition held recently at Saint Xavier University in Chicago, Illinois. Curated by Maureen Riley, Revelations: Interrogating the Sacred featured the work of thirteen artists actively examining Judeo–Christian themes within contemporary art. The group reflected, on a small scale, the role religion plays in today’s society. The exhibition was sponsored by Saint Xavier University, a catholic institution located in Chicago, Illinois and exhibited at the Beverly Arts Center. The exhibition also included a panel discussion that involved scholars and professionals from a wide range of academic disciplines aimed at creating a forum to discuss and promote understanding.

Join us for Ministry Week at Ghost Ranch

Mystical beauty of Ghost Ranch. Photo © Genesis+Art Studio

FROM OUR STUDIO

The vision for our studio is to Engage + Inspire + Create and we hope you will join us at the Ghost Ranch Retreat and Education Center October 14, 2013 - October 18, 2013 to explore your creative spirit and help us form sacred community.

Heaven of the Heart: Creating a Space for Sacred Imagination. What connects our spirituality, creativity, and living out our vocation? How might an intentional engagement with our creativity and our spirituality increase our ability to lead and live as people of faith? In this workshop you will push back the boundaries of familiar distractions and enter a Sabbath time in which to explore the intersection between creativity, spirituality and creative leadership. Using hands-on exercises, personal reflection and imagination, see how your creativity can form sacred community.

Ghost Ranch has a long tradition of supporting those in ministry with rich respite and continuing education. In 2013, we will dedicate two special weeks to helping support those in all fields of ministry (ordained and lay).

Arrival (Monday afternoon) and Departure (Saturday morning) have been established so that those in ministry can leave/return in time for their weekly Worship responsibilities. Some segments will involve the full group (plenaries – processing – Worship). Come and receive a week of nourishment to help you so you in turn can help others. Hope to see you!

Beyond Words: The Color of Prayer

Holden Prayer Service. Photo © Genesis+Art Studio

STORIES FROM THE ROAD

GHOST RANCH, ABIQUIU, NEW MEXICO. Too often we rely only on words, which have limits. Using art as prayer we invited folks of all ages to explore the mystery and revelation of the divine from a place where there are no words. Focusing on the dual concepts of art as prayer and the making of art as a way of praying, we guided workshop participants through the creative process to design and create a personal painted prayer. Together, we created a sacred space for this connecting soul work of art and prayer, engaging our imaginations to reveal, heal and renew our spirits. The image is from the evening Taizé style servce based on the Holden: Praying around the cross service. 

Engage + Inspire + Create

Adding painted prayers around the canvas ©Genesis+Art Studio

STORIES FROM THE ROAD

GHOST RANCH, ABIQUIU, NEW MEXICO. We sought to practice our vision to, Engage + Inspire + Create, at the Ghost Ranch Retreat and Education Center this past July with our Prayer Canvas Workshop. We designed and began the prayer canvas in our studio in Kansas City and then completed the canvas with workshop participants, other guests and Ghost Ranch staff in Abiquiu. We feel the prayer canvas is a testament to community, hope and the creative spirit — thanks to everyone who helped make this a one-of-a-kind Ghost Ranch experience.

Thuma mina.

Gathering around the canvas to offer prayers for healing.
Photo: David Hahn

STORIES FROM THE ROAD:

WHEATON COLLEGE, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. Missionaries from Ghana, Egypt, Philippines, Ecuador, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and points around the globe gathered as part of the American Society of Missiology Conference. The missionaries along with theologians, teachers and scholars, and artists, gathered Saturday evening around our painted canvas, placing candles on the world map as a symbol of the light of prayer offered for its healing. We also offered sung prayers from South Africa, Thuma mina, thuma mina, thuma mina, somandla.

Prayers for the healing of the nations.

Prayer canvas created for ASM. © Genesis+Art Studio

STORIES FROM THE ROAD:


WHEATON COLLEGE, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. Our studio was asked to create a prayer canvas for the American Society of Missiology Conference held at Wheaton College June 20-23, 2013. The prayer canvas was completed by missionaries that gathered from around the world. The canvas was filled with written prayers for the nations and painted into the final visual prayer. On Saturday evening we gathered around the canvas that served as an icon for our prayers for the healing of the nations. The worship service, inspired by Holden: Prayer Around the Cross had us placing candles on the part of the world for which we offered prayers for healing. The creation of our prayer canvas will serve the ritual of worship gatherings and will remain as an artwork created by participants of the 40th Anniversary and used in future gatherings.

Learning from the wisdom of children.

photo © Genesis+Art Studio

STORIES FROM THE ROAD

EAST BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND. These are just a few of the young artists that helped our team create a mural in the Short Strand Community of East Belfast. Over the course of six months our team of University of Kansas senior design students gathered in our studio to collaborate and imagine a mural that the community could help us paint. Andrés Rivas–Cruz, Jon Duong, Lauren Bowles and Noel Rivard, all recent design school graduates, joined us to travel to East Belfast for two weeks of painting and working with youth of the Short Strand. We found it to be an amazing experience of how art can build relationships by creating something together that we could not create alone. Click for more about the Genesis Art Belfast Project. 

What Shoes Should I Wear?

William Jewell College 2013 Baccalaureate Service.
Photo © WJC

STORIES FROM THE ROAD

WILLIAM JEWELL COLLEGE, LIBERTY, MISSOURI. Once a week we gathered with William Jewell College students in our Genesis+Art Studio to create a communal piece of art. Together, we created an intensional space to explore our creativity, spiritual connections and to discover our common vision and purpose. We asked questions of each other and explored personal and global issues like economic upheaval, political instability, ecological extremes, cultural and religious polarization and how we might find our common ground rather than let these issues divide us. Who are we as a human community?  And How might we turn to one another? We transformed symbol, shape and color to create a prayer canvas to be used in a Taizé style vesper service called the Holden Prayer Around the Cross: For the Healing of the Nations. The art was part of our 2013 Baccalaureate Service homily to the 2013 graduates, parents and faculty titled: What Shoes Should I Wear? William Jewell College Commencement Ceremony.

Learning to live what we learn.

From our lecture Intersections: Finding Our Common Ground
photo © WJC

STORIES FROM THE ROAD

WILLIAM JEWELL COLLEGE, USA. We were honored to be part of the Center for Justice and Sustainability Summit at William Jewell College the past several months. We worked with the college over a five month period that included an art exhibition of our work titled, Intersections: Finding Our Common Ground at the Stocksdale Gallery. We also lectured and facilitated several workshops, including working with William Jewell students in our studio. The lecture and art workshops explored the intersection of art, spirituality and reconciliation. We are grateful for what we learned from our time with students and faculty and their commitment to social justice. Click for more information about WJC Center for Justice & Sustainability

Art of collaberation

Dar al Kalima workshop photo © 2013 George Anderson

STORIES FROM THE ROAD:

Untitled, 2013
Tempera on paper
76.2 cm x 304.8 cm (30 in x 120 in)

BETHLEHEM, PALESTINE. This tempera painting is a collaborative work created 4 January 2013 by twenty Muslim and Christian artists at Dar al Kalima College in Bethlehem, Palestine. We gathered for a day of creative, artistic and spiritual exploration and concluded our time together by offering painted prayers on the World Canvas. Dar Al Kalima is located in the West Bank and was created and founded by the Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, a Palestinian Christian. Dar Al Kalima College promotes ideals of tolerance and respect for the thinking and beliefs of others. It encourages active communication between educators, theologians, journalists, musicians, and artists from Palestine and the rest of the world cultivating the region’s renewal and sustainability in a time plagued by destruction and unemployment. 

The Gate

The Gate © Genesis+Art STudio

FROM OUR STUDIO:

The Gate, 2013
Acrylic on Canvas
76.2 cm x 76.2 cm (30 in x 30 in)


Intersections: Finding Our Common Ground
Being trapped by the same way of thinking or safe, tried and true ideas of the past can become the walls that cut us off with a false sense of security. Perhaps what walls do most is separate us from the possibility of participating in relationship. Over and above our diversity, seeking relationship with one another can lead to growth and inspiration and together, lead us into new territory. Holding creative tension in this meeting place offers an alternative from extremes and prevents us from rushing to judgment and demanding a complete resolution to things before we have learned what they have to teach us. Light comes from elsewhere as we remain in this creative tension, drawing out the unique bit of heaven’s mystery in each other to form a new beginning. Through the use of archetypal shapes and symbols we seek to create a visible sign of invisible grace.

Intersections: Finding Our Common Ground

Finished exhibition at our Genesis+Art Studio  

FROM OUR STUDIO:

We recently completed a new body of work for our exhibition that begins at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. The exhibition titled: Intersections: Finding Our Common Ground will be in the Stocksdale Gallery until the end of March.  From there the show will move to St. Paul’s Monastery, Benedictine Center for Spirituality and Art in St. Paul, Minnesota and will be on exhibition through the month of May. If you are in Kansas City or Minneapolis, we invite you to spend some time with our work. We would like to hear from you.

Art making at Dar Al Kalima College

photo © George Anderson Photography

STORIES FROM THE ROAD:

BETHLEHEM, PALESTINE. Our trip to the Holy Land was layer upon layer of experience that will require a lengthy time to process. In addition to visiting ancient sites, experiencing the contemporary culture of Israel and Palestine, we were met with heartfelt hospitality. We also had the privilege to lead an art workshop with the art students at Dar Al Kalima College and our group from Bethlehem Lutheran in Minneapolis. This tempera painting is a collaborative work created 4 January 2013 by twenty Muslim and Christian artists at Dar Al Kalima College in Bethlehem, Palestine. We gathered for a day of creative, artistic and spiritual exploration and concluded our time together by offering painted prayers on the World Canvas.

Dar Al Kalima is located in the West Bank and was created and founded by the Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, a Palestinian Christian. Dar Al Kalima College promotes ideals of tolerance and respect for the thinking and beliefs of others. It encourages active communication between educators, theologians, journalists, musicians, and artists from Palestine and the rest of the world cultivating the region’s renewal and sustainability in a time plagued by destruction and unemployment.