New Jerusalem Series travels to Dayton Avenue Presbyterian Church

FROM OUR STUDIO:


Dayton Avenue Presbyterian Church
Saint Paul, Minnesota


Three of our New Jerusalem Series paintings are part of the exhibition titled In Search of Enough, sponsored by A Minnesota Without Poverty. Artists throughout the Minneapolis / Saint Paul area have interpreted the concept of Enough – What is enough? Expressed through the arts, this traveling exhibition is meant to draw attention to poverty and the statewide movement to end poverty in Minnesota by 2020.

A day of contemplation and art at Saint John's Abbey

© Chuck Hoffman / Genesis + Art Studio

FROM OUR TRAVELS:


I spent a contemplative day with word, art, meal and friends while exploring Saint John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota. I tend to think that art and theology are cousins of the same spirit and are drawing back to each other. I also wonder if bringing them together on Holy ground can offer us insights to creativity and our Creator. Sister Joan Chittister, OSB takes this further to compare the artist and monk as one. Monasticism, in fact, cultivates the artistic spirit. The qualities that are basic to art are the qualities demanded of the monastic: immersion, single–mindedness, beauty, praise and creativity. “It is in silence that the artist hears the call to raise to the heights of human consciousness those qualities no definitions can capture. Ecstasies, pain, fluid truth, pass by so quickly or surround us so constantly that the eyes fail to see and the heart ceases to respond. Only by seeing the unseen within can the artist dredge it out of nothingness so that we can touch it, too. Finally, it is humility that enables an artist to risk rejection and failure, disdain and derogation to bring to the heart of the world what the world too easily, too randomly, too callously overlooks.”[1] The making of art, like monasticism, invites us into the sacred realm of contemplation where we listen in silence and await the divine presence in our lives, where the darkness and emptiness becomes the intersection between the outer and inner worlds, where the darkness is transformed into light, revealing the divine. 

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[1]   Sister Joan Chittister: The Artist and Monk Are One://www.huffingtonpost.com/sister-joan-chittister-osb/the-artist-and-monk-are-o_b_691331.html

Creativity and human dignity

FROM OUR STUDIO:

A Minnesota Without Poverty

The poor may feel invisible to the rest of the world, so with personal stories and community art making the people of Minnesota are making visible the invisible face of poverty.

With squares of paper and markers Minnesotans with words and symbols are expressing THEIR OWN STORY OF ENOUGH and on the other side of the square THEIR COMMITMENT AND WHAT THEY WILL DO TO ENSURE ENOUGH FOR ALL. The questions come from the bigger question of WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAVE ENOUGH? The stories that reflect the face of the poor are stitched together into streamers, connecting folks from around the state to make a unified statement. These streamers are seen in this image

on the railing

in the rotunda of the State Capital as lawmakers gathered for discussion. A Minnesota Without Poverty invites you into a conversation about the meaning and teh reality of that question. To facilitate this conversation there is a six–week interfaith discussion guide, focusing on six crtitical aspects surrounding the theme of Enough, and how our various faith traditions engage each topic:

Enough of the Basics in Life, Enough Creation and Environment, Enough Economy, Enough Equality and Community, Enough Time and Enough for All.

Click on the link to find out more.

As an artist I believe that Creativity through the arts offer us an opportunity for transformation, both personally and as a community.

Creativity transforming both self and community

FROM OUR STUDIO:

A Minnesota Without Poverty In Search of Enough
Presentation and Artistic Call to Action delivered by

Chuck Hoffman, Genesis+Art Studio
The University of Minnesota Statewide Gathering, 9 December 2010
And Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, 14 January 2011

"To begin, I would like to share part of my own story. In 1990 I found my life on a very rough and uncertain road with no roof over my head. If not for the love, kindness and generosity of family … hope and faith … my art … and a charitable offer from an elderly widow to sleep on a couch in her basement … I would have been on the street. Poverty, despair and an erosion of our dignity can touch any of us. If it were not for the help of others I may never have gotten back on my feet. So I am forever grateful to those that reached out to me and find this opportunity tonight to offer something back.

As an artist I believe that Creativity through the arts offer us an opportunity for transformation … both personally and as a community. Art can show us both beauty and can illuminate the darker side of life. When our creativity is awakened within us and shared, it can shine out into the world and in that creative process make something new … transforming both self and the community around us.

The arts have the power to transform our mechanical minds and give us a new language that touches the yearning of our soul. When we hear a series of musical notes or lyrics we can be transported through time or when we stand in front of a work of art, we may find it reaching a place in us where words may not be able to go … a divine place … a place that can lift us up and connect us with creation … perhaps even allowing us to see the divine in the face of another.

Music, drama, the literary and the visual arts have a strong place in the culture of Minnesota … just as they have been part of our gathering here at Bethlehem … it evokes something in us.

It has been my experience that creating can be a healing gesture, as sacred as prayer, as essential to the spirit as food for the body. With that, I am now going to ask you to be part of the creative process. The poor may feel invisible to the rest of the world, so with our stories and art we will help make visible the invisible.

In front of you on the table are squares of paper and markers. What I would like you to do is select a color square and on one side … with words or symbol express YOUR OWN STORY OF ENOUGH and on the other side of the square …YOUR COMMITMENT AND WHAT YOU WILL DO TO ENSURE ENOUGH FOR ALL. This can be done with words or symbols. I ask you that in the act of drawing or writing reflect on a person you know who has suffered under poverty… see their face or feel the emotion … or your own lament over poverty if you have been touched by it personally … reflect on this while you are working. You can create more than one if you like … the more the better.

And if you are comfortable, share your stories of ENOUGH and your commitment with others at your tables.

When we are finished we will collect your squares and they will be stitched together with the stories and art of your sisters and brothers from around the state. Our art will continue to grow and be displayed to make visible the faces of poverty and symbolize our commitment to help transform the lives of our neighbors.

The square, by the way, is an archetypal shape and its form has appeared in the art of all cultures throughout time. The square symbolizes stability, solidity, security and permanence. Working with the square indicates your readiness to build, to implement a plan and to manifest your ideas. In many traditions, the square was an emblem of the perfect city, built for eternity.

So I invite you to take this time to reflect, create and act. Allow your art to proclaim with image and word your intensions.

I would like to close with a quote that I find inspiring as an artist. It’s from the artist Marc Chagall… 'If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing.'

Thank you…may our time together and your work be blessed."

For more information go to A Minnesota Without Poverty

Images Courtesy of Rod Maeker

A Minnesota Without Poverty 2010 Statewide Gathering

FROM OUR STUDIO:

Two years ago our studio became associated with an organization called A Minnesota Without Poverty and over that time have met people that are struggling to get by and many people who are passionate about changing these conditions and preserving our human dignity. Hearing the stories and putting a human face to poverty makes me realize the ever-increasing amount of pain that exists right under my white middle class nose. It’s frightening to see that anyone of us can fall into the pit and that the current landscape can include educated and uneducated alike. The task of helping the poor seems overwhelming, especially when you consider the vastness of poverty. An ethical conversation without scripture and without Agapé leaves us in a survival mentality and ethic that attempts to recover prosperity at the expense of the poor. Who will give a voice for the poor? With the growing number of poor how can faith organizations alone bare the burden?

As part of the 2010 Statewide gathering our studio was asked to create a call to action for those joining us from 5 cities live via a video feed at the University of Minnesota. We felt the call to action needed to be artistic in nature, form community around creating together and be an ongoing installation around the state. The theme In Search of Enough had been established by the Director, Nancy Maeker and the development team and would be expressed by visual artists, poets, storytellers, dancers and musicians the evening of the event. The artistic expression needed to work within this theme and involve all participants at the various sites.

A Minnesota Without Poverty Statewide Gathering to End Poverty by 2020 took place on December 9, 2010 at the University of Minnesota. The evening highlighted Governor Mark Dayton’s perspective along with Rep. Morrie Lanning, Former Senate Majority Leader John Hottinger and Garry Cunningham. The event also featured the first Art Exhibition of In Search of Enough showcasing performance artists, poets and visual artists from around the state.

Following the Eastern Star

FROM OUR JOURNAL PAGES:

“Where is he who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him.” – Matthew 2:2

The story of Jesus’ birth continues for me to be one of great mystery and of sacrifice. It’s not a warm and fuzzy story, but one that tests our willingness to see something new. It’s a story of courage, overcoming doubt, sensing, seeing and stepping from the known into the unknown. It was this way for both Mary and Joseph, whatever their true circumstances of the time. But they made due with what they had to create a space for their new son. From a cold and uncertain place they loved and enabled Jesus to grow in the light of God.

Wise men journeyed and risked following a star and by not returning to Herod. They had seen something new and glorious, something that put them on their knees and sent them into the unknown to tell what they had seen.

Christmas does that to me, calling me into the unknown with faith, into the mystery that lies in the questions and not absolutes. Recognizing something new and seeing beyond the tired old images that give us a false sense of security. I venture from the star and risk following the story into the mystery and uncertainty of where it will take me. Leaving behind for others, with image and word what I have seen.

This quote by Sir Francis Drake is the inspiration for Carl Laamanen’s blog.

“Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,

To venture on wider seas

Where storms will show your mastery;

Where losing sight of land,

We shall find the stars.”

Carl writes, “Sometimes we need to lose sight of the land to find the truly remarkable things of this world. I’m embarking on that journey to find the truly moving, the “stars” if you will, of art, whether this art be of the auditory, cinematic or written variety. Of course, there will be wild seas along the way, because most often anything worth finding comes at a price.”

Incipere © 2011 Genesis+Art Studio

The Mystery of God and Art

FROM OUR STUDIO:

November 30th, 2010 § From Loosing Sight of Land

“They are the most wonderful mystery, body and blood.”- Gilead, Marilynne Robinson

I remember the first time I took Communion at the Anglican church that I now attend. It was a revelation to me. It was a grave, joyful matter, and as I swallowed my bread dipped in wine I felt blessed by that bread and wine in a way that I never had before. It was more than just a way to remember, but it was charged with a certain energy because it was being taken seriously as a Sacrament.

Why hadn’t I ever experienced this before? Was it because my previous church was so afraid of appearing Catholic that we didn’t ascribe any significance beyond remembrance to Communion or is it a symptom of a deeper problem in many churches? Sometimes it seems as if there is a fear in the Church of using art or symbols that we don’t understand or can’t control because we don’t know what they will reveal to us. It seems to me that a lot of churches and Christians have carved out a canyon between art and symbolic actions and church and Christianity and then burned the bridge that spans this gap.

We have art and symbols to point us to deeper things. We have church and Christianity to point us to deeper things. It seems to me as if they are on the same team. Art, as mystic poet Kahlil Gibran puts it, is “a step in the known toward the unknown.” Good art can transcend the here and now and touch our emotions in ways that words can’t. Art, like God and his ways, is a mystery and that’s why it can show us God. It reveals things hidden and sometimes hides things already revealed forcing us to look deeper.

Another thing art and symbols do for our faith is to ground it in its sometimes forgotten physicality. As the great Creeds and Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 remind us, the Christian’s greatest hope is the bodily resurrection, therefore making the physical presence of the body very important. The symbol of Communion or making the sign of the cross, by involving our body, reminds us that the Christian faith is a faith that radically affirms our physical nature as being a good creation of God. There is no Gnostic split between spirit and flesh in Christianity. This is constantly reaffirmed when we taste the bread and wine and know that they speak of a deeper reality, of Christ’s body and blood. Our physical senses, by means of a physical symbol, are drawn deeper in a spiritual reality.

Artwork is Bonfires by Chuck Hoffman and Peg-Carlson Hoffman.

THE AUTHOR

Carl Laamanen is currently an undergraduate at Grove City College in PA majoring in Communication Studies and Spanish. He has been cultivating a love of film over the past few years and enjoys finding rays of light into the human condition in film, music and literature. He is hopeful of attending grad school and learning more about the art that inspires him. Eventually, he would enjoy teaching others about the things that show him the glory in this world.