Untitled Grace Child Janna Aliese Loading Video . . . The work of visual artist Janna Aliese contemplates simultaneously being needy and fed in response to Acts 4:33a-34b: "And God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them." Acts 4:33-34 Untitled (Grace) By Janna Aliese Credits: Curated by: Jonathon Roberts and Emily Clare Zempel 2012 16 x 20 inches, edition of 10 Digital C Print Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link What if a concept so potent and abstract as grace were so viscerally actualized that no person within a community were in need? In what type of unknown utopia would we live were there a Force so powerful that neither you nor I nor any of our friends felt any need whatsoever? This image seeks to consider two constructs: the act of community found in the sharing of wine at communion; and figure of a child, suspended in time and holding a bowl-like object, as if he were hovering along the fringe of time's seashore — at play yet in a posture of petition. The enigmatic quality of this figure proffers consideration of the grace available in another world. He is, nonetheless, caught between these two worlds: simultaneously fed and hungry — a creature of Metamodern considerations. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Born in Los Angeles and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Janna Aliese ‘s present base in New York has proved fruitful to her work in interdisciplinary collaboration, photography, sound, installation, writing, and drawing. Currently pursuing a Master in Fine Arts at Hunter College, she is a graduate of Asbury University, has studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and completed an artist residency in Beijing, China, with Art International Residency Projects. She is the former Center Coordinator at the New York Center for Art & Media Studies (NYCAMS), and was the Collaborative Visual Arts Curator for the 2012 Chelsea Music Festival, which included, among other shows, curating OPEN CAGE: NEW YORK, a 75-person performance at Eyebeam Center for Art + Technology, [ON SILENCE], a group exhibition at NYCAMS, and Silence, an interdisciplinary collaborative performance at the Rubin Museum of Art. She has exhibited her work internationally. Website Janna Aliese About the Artist Janna Aliese Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

! Loading Video . . . Lighting and set designer Dante Olivia Smith manipulates light with water and salt in response to the theme of "healing" and 2 Kings 2:21. 2 Kings 2:21 Untitled (Olivia Smith) By Dante Olivia Smith Credits: Artist Location: Seattle, Washington Curated by: Michael Markham 2014 Salts, Rice Paper, Light Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link Light is transformative, the presence or absence of light can completely change what we see and how we see it, literally and psychologically. Our relationship to light is primal, light and heat have been historically in-separable until only recent technological advances. We require light as fuel for the food we grow. Light is a need for human life akin to breathing and yet we almost never think about it unless it is absent. Light as a medium presents a bit of a conundrum. On one hand everything you see is light. Everything. When light shines on a object- say a red shirt, and the shirt absorbs all portions of the visible spectrum except red, which the shirt reflects back to your eye- condensed, you don't see the red shirt you see light. On the other hand, with out an object to reflect it, light is worthless to a viewer. In theatre, outside of perhaps a laser light show, there is little point to lighting an empty room, an audience is there to see actors. As a lighting designer, my job is to structure how and what the audience sees. This section of text speaks to me much in the same way that light does. The transformation of the earth from barren to fertile, A return of life and the discovery of it anew. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Dante Olivia Smith is a lighting and set designer based in New York. She was drawn to theatre and lighting at an early age when awestruck by a shadow puppetry performance. This moment cemented her trust in the power of storytelling to inspire imagination and encourage change. Recent work- New York: Sarah Flood in Salem Mass (The Flea) Carcass (HERE Arts) Waiting for Waiting for Godot (The Collective) Tender Napalm, Love in Transit (The Shop) Suicide?! Romeo & Juliet (Empirical Rogue, Resident Designer) Stabat Mater Fabulosa (Morningside Opera), In the Company of Jane Doe, Modern Dance for Beginners (Cake Productions). United States: Warren (or) Those People (Boise Contemporary Theater) Monopoly, How Theatre Failed America (Mike Daisey) Final Broadcast (Umo Ensemble). She also had the pleasure of designing the first production of Tony Kushner’s The Henry Box Brown Play . In addition to her own work Dante has been fortunate to travel around the country and world as a lighting assistant and supervisor. MFA, NYU/Tisch Department of Design for Stage and Film; BFA, Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA. Website Dante Olivia Smith About the Artist Dante Olivia Smith Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Writer Lancelot Schaubert explores the meaning of words and translations in this poem responding to Luke 8:19-21. Luke 8:19-21 Philadelphia By Lancelot Schaubert Credits: Photo Credit by Dan Mall on Unsplash Curated by: Rebecca Testrake 2023 Poetry Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link These three pieces work in tandem. They're meant as a running commentary on (1) the sorts of people who are close to us who reject the work of the miraculous in our lives and through our lives, (2) the kinds of silly exegetical traditions that exist as little more than a prop for church splits, (3) the metaphysical absurdity of the miraculous as the miraculous, when it happens, (4) a call to see James as a miracle worker in his own right, a cousin, and someone who would have been as baffled as anyone else — though joyful — in the presence of the miraculous. Sometimes the "sons of Thunder" stuff becomes such a focus, I wanted to focus on something else for St. James. To see the other pieces from Lancelot, click the links below: Bloodlines Metaphysical Insurance Claim 0075A: The Delphic Oracle Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Lancelot has sold work to The New Haven Review (The Institute Library), The Anglican Theological Review, TOR (MacMillan), McSweeney's, The Poet's Market, Writer's Digest, and many, many similar markets. (His favorite, a rather risqué piece, illuminated bankroll management by prison inmates in the World Series Edition of Poker Pro). Publisher's Weekly called his debut novel BELL HAMMERS "a hoot." He has lectured on these at academic conferences, graduate classes, and nerd conventions in Nashville, Portland, Baltimore, Tarrytown, NYC, Joplin, and elsewhere. The Missouri Tourism Bureau, WRKR, Flying Treasure, 9art, The Brooklyn Film Festival, NYC Indie Film Fest, Spiva Center for the Arts, The Institute of the North in Alaska, and the Chicago Museum of Photography have all worked with him as a film producer and director in various capacities. Website Lancelot Schaubert About the Artist Artist in Residence 2019: Lancelot Schaubert - Part 3 Artist in Residence 2019: Lancelot Schaubert - Part 2 Artist in Residence 2019: Lancelot Schaubert - Part 1 Posh Girls As Waters Cover Artist in Residence 2019: Lancelot Schaubert Dragonsmaw Daily | 1 Dragonsmaw Daily | 2 Dragonsmaw Daily | 3 Watchtower Stripped to the Bonemeal Metaphysical Insurance Claim 0075A: The Delphic Oracle Bloodlines Lancelot Schaubert Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art It would be terribly inconvenient If ἀδελφός meant fellow countrymen Or fellow man or business fellowship View Full Written Work FOR LOVE OF COMMON WOMBS UP THE BLOODLINE. By Lancelot Schaubert It would be terribly inconvenient If ἀδελφός meant fellow countrymen Or fellow man or business fellowship Or brethren in faith, step-brothers, or meant Cousins. “Cousins” throws a wrench in the wren, Metal to make wings spiral on downward: Fallen angels or men melting wax strips? Two yokels talk at the scene of The Fall: “Thought those were his brothers?” “Nope, just cousins.” It takes one trip to Philadelphia To realize “same womb” can mean mom, mother, Or sometimes an earlier womb bygone. For they treat each other less with fiat, More like Middle Eastern cousins with bombs: “Me against my brother; me and brother Against cousin; me and my cousin, you.” First same womb, same dad; same womb, diff dad; Then same womb of my dad’s dad’s dad’s dad’s— Father Abraham had many sons, sons Father Abraham. I am one of them And so are you, so let’s just praise The Lord. From stones, he said he could raise up cousins, But somehow cannot do so from cousins? “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and ἀδελφός of James, Joses And Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own cousins and in his own house.” Do we seek context? Do we even try to understand it, To see what’s right before our eyes? Mirrored? I could stack citations up, up skyward; Speak up of all the times translation slips Two yokels stare, hear the scene of Our Fall: “Nope, just brothers.” “Thought those were his cousins?” It takes one trip to Philadelphia To realize sometimes there’s a crack in bells Allegedly first sounded for freedom. Is our faith so fragile? We Protestants? Need we preserve our Quincentenary Bitterness with flimsiest evidence? Do we even know about the third one? The third Mary? “Standing by the cross of Jesus were his Mother (Mary), his mother’s ἀδελφη, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.” Poor James. To be denied sainthood simply To sully the virgin status of Aunt Mary. Philadelphia’s stones still crack. Cracked. Stoned. The oracle at Delphi was Virgin. And the dolphins get to take shape Of virgin wombs, so does Numbers 30 (The perpetual virginity verse For married women who have had their kids). But not she who bore the body of God. It’s not good enough for her. Ignore texts: Let her also bear a Bro — Jimmy’s body Close Loading Video . . . It would be terribly inconvenient If ἀδελφός meant fellow countrymen Or fellow man or business fellowship Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Poet CM Davidson struggles with the theme of "poverty" and Isaiah 58:6-11 in his work for Spark+Echo, Yoked. Isaiah 58:6-11 Yoked By CM Davidson Credits: Artist Location: Southern California Curated by: Chris Davidson 2013 Poetry Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link The passage from what's called "Third Isaiah" suggested a process as natural as photosynthesis: Fast by action, in this case, free the oppressed and give what you (as a people) have to those among you who need it. The result will be God's favor, restoration, and greater abundance than you already enjoy. Walter Brueggemann provide conceptual grist for the poem. He writes, of this passage, It turned out that the "facts on the ground" in restored Jerusalem were modest and shabby when contrasted with the lyrical anticipations of Second Isaiah.1 This helped me think of the narrator as someone who, in the midst of his comfort and security, feels ill at ease, dislocated. This is a common theme for literature of the last couple hundred years, but it was new to me to think that the source of that dislocation is that the privileged are the invisible ones, not the poor (verse 7). The existence of poverty and injustice doesn't divide us from "the other" but from our brothers and sisters, from‚ it seems banal to write it so directly‚ ourselves. It should be said that what attracted me to these verses is not equivalent to what the poem expresses. As all poems do, this one found its own path. 1 Walter Brueggemann, An Introduction to the Old Testament: The Canon and Christian Imagination Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection CM Davidson’s work has appeared in Zyzzyva, Green Mountains Review, Zocalo Public Square, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. He lives in Southern California with his wife and sons. He sporadically keeps up a blog, 52songs.blogspot.com . Website CM Davidson About the Artist CM Davidson Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art Woke this morning two snoozes past the alarm 's first call. Showered. Dressed. Breakfasted on a bowl of puffed rice and milk and three cups of coffee. View Full Written Work Yoked by CM Davidson Isaiah 58:6-11 Woke this morning two snoozes past the alarm’s first call. Showered. Dressed. Breakfasted on a bowl of puffed rice and milk and three cups of coffee. Asked my wife for Kaiser’s number, since my shoulder aches. Gathered things in my bag and drove in my car my son to school, myself to work, where I wasted time online, talked on the phone with a colleague, entered a budget by deadline. From those who live under the overpass I pass daily, I’m told I’m concealed, and from the imprisoned and hungry with nothing to wear I’d wear myself, I’m concealed. My body I’m told is distorted by nourishment, my shirt, shoes and pants hide me from my kin. I’m told the sadness I feel everyday will be a light by which to see, if I act, that our sadness, people, I’m convinced it’s more than just me, is a latent garden, a spring of water, a continual, renewing spring of water, light and water bringing, through action in leaves described and unlearned, food for the table. This is the promise, dejection the goad. Our parents in exile sang to each other songs of a land like this— their hope was in it, and we have it. Close Loading Video . . . Woke this morning two snoozes past the alarm 's first call. Showered. Dressed. Breakfasted on a bowl of puffed rice and milk and three cups of coffee. Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Playwright Christina Gorman responds to the theme of "Lies" from Jeremiah 5:1, as well as to the 2013 rescue of the women kidnapped in Cleveland in this piece: "The Grey Ladies," read by actor Seth Moore. Jeremiah 5:1 The Grey Ladies By Christina Gorman Credits: Read by Seth Moore Curated by: Emily Clare Zempel 2013 One-Act Play Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link Just as I started thinking in earnest about this project, three young women in Cleveland were rescued from ten years of captivity in a house in the heart of the city. The reports hammered home the evil, and the horror, and the growing depravity of humanity. I was riveted by the women's plight. How did they survive it? I kept thinking, within or surrounding the greatest of evils, there must be some sliver of good they helped one another to hold onto. How might that manifest itself? In a person? In a child? In a mother? Perhaps, yes, and in the case of the piece I ended up writing, also in a police officer. Striving to be the good and to find the good is ennobling, and I wanted to illustrate that. I wanted to write about in Jeremiah 5:1 the "one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth." That person may not be saintly and perfect, but they are looking for and striving for goodness, and that's to be celebrated. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Christina Gorman developed her latest play, Orion Rising , at the New Harmony Project as part of their Spring 2012 Conference and at the Lark Play Development Center. Her play American Myth has been awarded the 2012 Blue Ink Playwriting Award from American Blues Theater in Chicago, where it will be produced in 2014. The play was developed while she was a member of The Public Theater’s inaugural Emerging Writers Group and where it was presented as part of The Public Theater’s Spotlight Series. The play was also presented in the hotINK International Festival, at Westport Country Playhouse, and it was named a finalist for the Princess Grace Award. Her play Split Wide Open has been produced at SPF in New York City and was developed with a fellowship from Ensemble Studio Theatre through its New Voices Program. The play was also named runner-up for the Princess Grace Award. Just Knots was named winner of the Samuel French Short Play Festival and is published in the Samuel French Publication Off-Off Broadway Festival Plays, 34th Series . It has been produced nationally and internationally. DNA has been produced at Prospect Theatre Company, Hangar Theatre, Samuel French Short Play Festival, and in the New York International Fringe Festival, where it received the award for Overall Excellence in Playwriting. Sacred Ground was produced at Stella Adler Studios, where Christina was the 2010-11 Harold Clurman Playwright-in-Residence. Her short play The God Particle was produced at both the Planet Connections Festival, the Estrogenius Festival, and at Stageworks/Hudson. She is a 2010-11 Fellow of the New York Foundation for the Arts and is an alumna of the Women’s Project Playwrights Lab. Website Christina Gorman About the Artist Christina Gorman Other Works By Read: The Grey Ladies About the Actor Seth Moore is an actor/writer living in New York City. Seth recieved a BFA in acting from the University of Michigan, where he also studied playwriting. He was recently seen in Far From the Trees by Christina Gorman (part of the Quick and Dirties fest by The |Claque|) and Greater Angels by Jason Williamson (Exit Pursued By a Bear.) Other stage credits include: Restoration Comedy by Amy Freed; These Seven Sicknesses by Sean Graney; and The Electric Lighthouse by Ed Hime (all at the Flea), Rat in the Skull (1st Irish theater festival) Film Credits include: Tzniut (Directed by David Formentin, Borderline Films) and Wet Behind The Ears (Directed by Sloan Copeland, Self Conscious Entertainment) Sethmoore.com Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

serpentspeaks.jpg Loading Video . . . Premiered on May 28, 2010, The Serpent Speaks by James Hall, is a composition for jazz sextet + two actors, setting Robert Siegel's poem of the same name. The piece reflects on the fall of man in Genesis 3. Genesis 3 The Serpent Speaks By James Hall Credits: Music by James Hall Text by Robert Siegel Musicians: Emily Clare Zempel, voice; Jonathan Roberts, voice; Jacob Teichroew, saxophone; James Hall, trombone; Ryan Ferreira, guitar; Ike Sturm, bass; Ziv Ravitz, drumset; Mike Truesdell, percussion Venue: St. Peter Church, Manhattan Poster design by Christopher Domig Artist Location: Brooklyn, New York Curated by: Jonathon Roberts 2010 Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link I first read Robert Siegel's The Serpent Speaks in 2007, as my love of poetry was just being sparked. Though I was immediately interested in setting the poem to music, it wasn't until receiving a Fellowship at the Trinity Forum Academy that I had the time and resources I needed to realize the project. My setting of The Serpent Speaks blurs distinctions between composition and improvisation using a mixture of verbal cues; traditional, and non-traditional notation. The style blends free and contemporary modal jazz with spoken word. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection James Hall is a trombonist and composer from Nebraska based in New York City. A versatile musician, his projects have spanned jazz, classical, latin, and popular music in the US and Europe. As a composer and bandleader, James was named a finalist in the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Competition, won three ASCAPlus Awards for composition, and was a featured performer/composer at the 2012 Chelsea Music Festival . As trombonist in Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra , he has performed at B.B. Kings', S.O.B's, MassMOCA, The Kennedy Center, The Blue Note Jazz Festival, and has appeared in the pages of Rolling Stone Magazine. He has appeared on several recordings with Postmodern Jukebox , with whom he has toured Europe and the US. James' trombone playing earned third place, runner-up, and honorable mention in the Antti Rissanen , J.J. Johnson , and Carl Fontana International Jazz Trombone Competitions, respectively. James' first CD as a composer/bandleader was released in October 2013. Entitled " Soon We Will Not Be Here " by James Hall Thousand Rooms Quartet, the body of work sets contemporary poems by NYC-based poets to 3rd-stream chamber music. His sophomore release, "Lattice," is currently in post-production. James holds degrees from the Lawrence Conservatory of Music in Wisconsin and Aaron Copland School of Music in New York. His teachers have included Luis Bonilla, Hal Crook, Michael Dease, Nick Keelan, Ed Neumeister, and Fred Sturm. Photo by Bill Wadman. Website James Hall About the Artist Of Blood and Water James Hall Other Works By View the Full Score Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . “The Capture” and “The Escape,” written by Nicolas Destino, respond to Jeremiah 13:20 and the painting, “From the North” in further correspondence with Spark+Echo Art’s “Sheep” theme. Jeremiah 13:20 The Capture, The Escape By Nicolas Destino Credits: Curated by: Seth Hiler 2012 Poetry Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link “The Capture” and “The Escape,” written by Nicolas Destino, respond to Jeremiah 13:20 and the painting, “From the North” in further correspondence with Spark+Echo Art’s “Sheep” theme. “Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?” (Jeremiah 13:20, KJV) Like the missing flock from Jeremiah’s passage, Nicolas notes that in his writing he “invests in the constellation of objects within a landscape, [so] that which is missing from the story is often more tangible than what’s explicitly narrated.” Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Nicolas Destino ’s work has appeared in The American Poetry Journal , Bellevue Literary Review, Broadsided Press, 322 Review, Barge Journal, As It Ought To Be, Assaracus, Verse Daily, and others. He is author of the double chapbook, “ Of Kingdoms & Kangaroo ,” First Intensity Press, and his first full length poetry collection, “Heartwrecks,” is forthcoming through Sibling Rivalry Press, in February 2013. He works as a part-time English professor in New York and New Jersey. Website Nicolas Destino About the Artist Nicolas Destino Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art The Capture If you're counting on the arrival of soft creatures, some miracle, forget it. They won't come. View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . The Capture If you're counting on the arrival of soft creatures, some miracle, forget it. They won't come. Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Cellist Mike Block found inspiration in the passages of Proverbs 10:18; 14:29; 17:28; Ecclesiastes 7:9; 10:14; Matthew 5:22; James 1:19-20 and the theme of Fools to write the song, "Surplus of Words." Matthew 5:22 Proverbs 14:29 Ecclesiastes 10:14 Ecclesiastes 7:9 James 1:19-20 Proverbs 17:28 Proverbs 10:18 Surplus of Words By Mike Block Credits: Written, Composed, Vox, Cello by Mike Block Curated by: Jonathon Roberts 2013 Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link I tried to write a song with characters who are both partly-wise and partly-foolish. The singer's character is following many Biblical directions to avoid folly, except for being "quick to anger", and calling someone else a "fool." The character being accused as a fool is definitely a liar, although he wisely doesn't say too much. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection HAILED BY YO-YO MA as the “ideal musician of the 21st Century,” Mike Block is a pioneering multi-style cellist, composer, and educator living in Boston. While still studying at the Juilliard School, Mike joined Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, and shortly thereafter also joined Mark O’Connor’s Appalachia Waltz Trio, which he played in for over three years. Mike has also toured extensively with Darol Anger’s Republic of Strings and The Knights orchestra. HIS MOST RECENT ALBUM of original songs, Brick by Brick, features music he wrote and recorded while missing nine teeth, as the result of a traffic accident. In 2011, Mike released Naive Melody, an instrumental folk album with The Triborough Trio, and in 2009 and 2010, released two albums of original music with The Mike Block Band: Words R Words (songs), and After the Factory Closes (instrumental). MIKE HAS PERFORMED on “Late Night with Conan O’Brian”, “Regis and Kelly”, NBC’s 30 Rock, NPR’s “St. Paul Sunday Morning”, WNYC’s “Soundcheck”, APM’s “Performance Today”, WNBC 4’s Chuck Scarborough Show, VH1, The Disney Channel, and the CBS “Early Show”. Mike regularly subbed as on-stage cellist in the Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway Musical, “Next to Normal”, and he also worked with the director of the 2012 film, “A Late Quartet”, as a Music Consultant. Mike was the subject of a 2011 feature article in the Wall Street Journal for his Artistic Directorship of the GALA BROOKLYN Music Festival, and was reviewed by the NY times as having “vital, rich-hued solo playing”. MIKE RECEIVED THE 2004 JIM HALL PRIZE FOR UNDERGRADUATE ACHIEVEMENT at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied cello with Richard Aaron. Mike also earned a Master’s Degree from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Darret Adkins and Joel Krosnick. These days, Mike proudly uses a cello from the Wayne Burak Shop, as well as D’Addario strings, and a David Gage Realist Pick-up. www.mikeblock.net/ Website Mike Block About the Artist Mike Block Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Multi-disciplinary artist Dominique Gibson reflects on her personal connection to 1 Thessalonians 5:24 as she plays with meanings for the word "call" in this spoken word piece. 1 Thessalonians 5:24 The Call By Dominique Gibson Credits: Curated by: Davelyn Hill 2022 Spoken Word Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link I learned 1 Thessalonians 5:24 when I was in an after-school program called Good News Club at my elementary school. This was the first scripture I learned, and it stuck with me. I went through many struggles during my youth that left me in a dark mental state. I wondered where God was during that time and hated that I couldn't hear Him like others could. Years later I learned the true meaning of this passage as I lived it out. The day before my graduation from USC Upstate I felt a wave of warmth within my body and received clarification of the meaning of this scripture passage. I heard God tell me that even when I'm not faithful to Him, He is always faithful to me. He has gotten me to this point in my life where I am able to celebrate my many accomplishments. He showed me that all the trials and tribulations weren't for nothing. They were just a part of the process that I had to go through to see my true potential in this world, and that my purpose is greater than my failures. In writing this poem I wanted to show the faithfulness of God in contrast with the inconsistency of humans. The metaphor of the phone helped me put the verse in modern terms to aid in understanding and yet the truth spoken remains the same. I wanted to use both free form poetry and narrative poetry to create a dynamic spoken word piece. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Dominique Gibson is a native to Spartanburg, SC where she got her start in the arts with her church and school. She is a musician, actress, dancer, and writer. She found her writing potential as a fellow with Writers Well Fellowship . She started developing her writing skills through workshops and retreats. She was able to co-facilitate Reading for Transformation for Children through Speaking Down Barriers . She has also performed spoken word poetry for their Evening of Transformation event. She studied psychology and child advocacy studies at The University of South Carolina Upstate. During her time at USC Upstate she did an internship with the Boys and Girls Club where she was able to help young girls use writing to express their emotions in healthy ways. She graduated from USC Upstate with a bachelor’s in psychology and a minor in child advocacy studies. She is now serving her community by co-facilitating in an after-school program at Spartanburg Preparatory School with Speaking Down Barriers . She continues to perform at community events and works part time. She has plans to continue her education to earn a master's degree. Website Dominique Gibson About the Artist Dominique Gibson Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art He called I silenced the ringing phone He called Sent to voicemail View Full Written Work The Call by Dominique Gibson He called I silenced the ringing phone He called Sent to voicemail “Your call has been forwarded…” He called My phone was on silent I answered, too late Hang up Over and over, He called But I couldn’t talk to Him My untrained ears were never on His frequency And my eyes couldn’t find clarity through my tears You’re not good enough screamed loudly in my mind Pushed me to self-hatred and self-harm Yet He never gave up trying to contact me He reminded me of His love through emails Posted photos of His forgiveness on Instagram And sent text messages asking me to come home Even when I hit do not disturb He stayed consistent in His actions He knew I would answer one day His call And I did “Hey God. I’m sorry I’m just now answering. I thought I could walk this life without you, but I was wrong. The world around me seemed so beautiful but became ugly quickly. Those closest me gave empty promises of an easier life. Easy paths aren’t always the right ones. With every decline of your calls, you continued to find a way to communicate with me. You found a way to comfort me through music. You helped me align with my purpose. You remained faithful, even when I chose everyone and myself before you. Why?” He answered. “Dominique, despite you choosing the world and yourself over me, I stayed true to the word I spoke to you. I called you to a path of greatness. A path that will not be easy, but worth it; I will remain faithful to being with you through each step. Guiding you. Comforting you. Healing you. Loving you. Even if you decide to walk a path other than this one, I will be there calling you until you come back.” Close Loading Video . . . He called I silenced the ringing phone He called Sent to voicemail Download Full Written Work

bernd-klug_babil-iraq-hr.jpg Loading Video . . . Austrian musician and sound artist, Bernd Klug offers an interactive art piece in response to Genesis 11:1-9. Genesis 11:1-9 Confusion of Tongues By Bernd Klug Credits: Curated by: Jonathon Roberts 2016 Sound Installation Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link This piece is based on the story of the Tower of Babel, from Genesis 11:1–9, in which the confusion of tongues frustrated the construction of this spectacularly high edifice, scattering its people over the world. I aimed to decode this text (and the passages leading up to it, describing Noah’s settling and ancestry) through different internet-based, real time translation programs in order to investigate the seemingly open and direct worldwide information exchange of modern communication. I also wanted to juxtapose the ongoing conflict among various interpretations of Bible texts with the cultural ignorance which has long plagued religious movements (as in the Middle East, where Babel and most of the Old Testament were located and which remains a similarly diverse and problematic area in recent inter-religious/cultural dialogues between East and West). Although I am a native born Austrian, I wrote this piece from an English-speaking perspective, the “native language” for our western internet realm. I used the New International Translation, commonly used in the US, and recorded a speech translation into each language, and then tried to re-translate it in real time with this software back to English. Each of the audio files is a recording of this process, using languages which relate to the place (Arabic), the historical translations of the story (Greek, Latin, and Hebrew), my own mother tongue (German), and the world’s most common languages (Chinese, Spanish and Hindi). This decision was also based on the narrow possibilities free translation programs provide and is in no way meant to be judgmental or prioritizing already established power dynamics, but rather to point to the limited accessibility of global understanding and the dangers of cultural appropriation. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Bernd Klug – sound art / double bass (US/AT) http://klug.klingt.org Bernd Klug is an Austrian born, Brooklyn-based sound artist and double bassist. In sound installations and solo concerts, his music encounters our everyday circumstances as found forms and questions our perceptions of sound and social space. His installations make use of acoustic phenomena like feedback, room frequencies and electromagnetic waves and explore strings, wood, metal and other materials as audiovisual components. Recently Klug has shown his works in solo exhibitions at Harvestworks (NYC 2013), Art Now at Monmouth University (NJ, 2014, ce.ins_0006) and the Austrian Cultural Forum NYC (2015) as well as collaborations with Daniel Lercher at mo.ë (Vienna 2014) and ‘Bearing’ with Johanna Tiedtke at Galerie Freihausgasse (Villach, AT April 2015) and group shows, such as, Groundswell 2015 (Olana, NY) and Klangmanifeste (Vienna 2012). His solo double bass work (cupreous donkey and the CD ‘Cold Commodities’ Innova 902) focuses on the world inside and around the double bass: the bow, the body, and room frequencies lay the groundwork for a radical reduction of both the composerperformer’s role and the traditional musical narrative. He has played solo concerts at CTSwaM Fridman Gallery, Share Issue Project Room, Biegungen Ausland (Berlin), CoCART - Tarun (PL), CNMAT (Berkeley) and Radiokulturhaus and the Porgy and Bess in Vienna. As an improviser and bassist, he has collaborated with Burkhard Stangl, Keiko Uenishi, Shelley Hirsch, Radu Malfatti, Franz Hautzinger, Butch Morris, Bernhard Lang, John Butcher, Gust Burns, Danielle Dahl, Mimu Merz, Daniel Lercher, Henrik Munkeby Nørstebø, Laurie Amat, Brendan Landis, Lucio Menegon, Kjetil Hanssen, ctrl, OENCZkekvist and Ritornell. His most recent bands include the experimental techno noise band T-Shit (w/ Bernhard Hammer and Sixtus Preiss) and the dramatic chamber duo Rash (with Meaghan Burke, cello). His compositional cycle “sine tempore” is a series of works experimenting with sound designs in non-dramatic contexts. Together with New Yorker cellist Meaghan Burke, he is an organizer of the Transit Festival, which provides a platform for connecting experimental music with different musical genres, audiences, places and countries. Bernd Klug is a Wave Farm Artist In Residence 2015 and was recently awarded the award for interdisciplinary arts 2015 from the Carinthian government, AT and the “New Austrian Sound of Music” prize for 201415. His compositions received commissions by New Music USA and the BKA (Austrian Federal Chancellery). He was granted an educational scholarship at Harvestworks (NYC) in 201213, and received the BM:UKK Startstipendium (federal Austrian grant for artists) in 2011. He graduated from Bard College’s MFA program (Music/Sound) in 2015 and holds a BA in bass performance (popular, contemporary, and classical music and music education) from the Vienna University for Music and Performing Arts. Website Bernd Klug About the Artist Bernd Klug Other Works By There are two ways to listen to this piece: A) In private, on a computer. Click play on the language you feel most unfamiliar with, start another track as soon as you understand a word and so on. (Don’t stop the different tracks or play them separately, they are supposed to overlay each other.) B) As a public performance for 8 people with smartphones. At a public space or Christian church, do not announce the piece at the moment before the performance. Each person chooses one language (so that all of them are chosen) Load the homepage. Spread out so that you can just still hear each other Arabic starts Each subsequent person else hits play as soon as you hear a familiar word CLICK BELOW TO LISTEN Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

creation_redemption_carmichael-braun.jpg Loading Video . . . New York artist Charis J. Carmichael Braun juxtaposes biblical concepts of Creation and Redemption in her vivid illumination. Isaiah 44:24 Deuteronomy 4:32 Isaiah 43:1 Creation/Redemption By Charis Carmichael Braun Credits: Artist Location: New York City Curated by: Jonathon Roberts 2010 Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link This work is a conceptual color study for a series of larger works visualizing Christian doctrines. The series seeks to juxtapose concepts that, from a quasi-Lutheran point of view, encourage the combination of ideas that seem or can be construed to be antithetical, such as “life” and “death.” Based on the concepts of Creation and Redemption , this image is the first in the series. This work was created for and shown in the Solus Christus Juried Art Exhibition (April 2010) at the dedication of the Chapel of the Christ at Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minnesota. Other images developed in this context may include: Decay/Resurrection Judgment/Eternal Life Passion/Ascension Incarnation/Paradise Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Charis J. Carmichael Braun grew up in New Ulm, MN . After a year as an exchange student in Switzerland (Gruezi, mittenand!) , she earned her BA from Bethany Lutheran College and her MFA from the New York Academy of Art. She received a Juror's Award for her work in Representational Art in the 21st Century , University of Hawaii at Hilo, HI in 2015 and was chosen as a Sing For Hope Piano Artist in 2016. She has been published in PoetsArtists, The Huffington Post , and LINEA: The Artist's Voice . As an arts administrator , she has focused on communications and publicity, having worked for the Edward Hopper House in Nyack, NY; The League Residency at Vyt (Art Students League of New York), and the New York Academy of Art. She has managed two galleries in New York City, and has served on the boards of two greater New York City not-for-profits: as a founding member of Spark and Echo Arts , and as President of the Alumni Association of the New York Academy of Art. With her husband Andrew Braun, a woodworker, Charis lives and works in the Hudson Valley, New York. Website Charis Carmichael Braun About the Artist Charis Carmichael Braun Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . The photo and video included in this blog post are the beginning of a major part of creating this multimedia book of hours, a part I’m calling 365 Contemplations. The book of hours is intended to be a deeply personal book, tailored to the concerns of an individual. While I have my own concerns, I’m interested in creating a more interactive project that both reflects my own musings and creations and those of the larger community I inhabit. Find the complete progression of the work linked below. Proverbs 8:6-11 Artist in Residence 2016: Lauren Ferebee Part 2 By Lauren Ferebee Credits: Curated by: Spark+Echo Arts, Artist in Residence 2016 2016 Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link June 20, 2016 In Proverbs 8, Wisdom says: Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? At the highest point along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; beside the gate leading into the city, at the entrance, she cries aloud: “To you, O people, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind. You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, set your hearts on it. (vv. 1-5) Part One: The Practical Aspect In Which I Update You On Progress (And Reflect on Answers) The photo and video included in this blog post are the beginning of a major part of creating this multimedia book of hours, a part I’m calling 365 Contemplations. The book of hours is intended to be a deeply personal book, tailored to the concerns of an individual. While I have my own concerns, I’m interested in creating a more interactive project that both reflects my own musings and creations and those of the larger community I inhabit. To that end, over the last few weeks I’ve begun inviting friends, colleagues, and strangers to email me with a concern that they are experiencing in their lives (if you have one, please reach out to me at laurenbeth.ferebee@gmail.com) and I am committing to creating a handmade artistic contemplation and mailing it to them. For me, in addition to creating the online performative components of this project, I’m keenly aware that the books of hours are artifacts of faith. I wanted to create things that can be held, looked at, felt, experienced on a tangible level. In asking people to trust me with their concerns and in offering them a response, I’m putting myself in the proverbial place of wisdom in Proverbs 8, and taking an active role in examining the questions I put forth in my first blog entry. I often find myself wanting to be the seeker of wisdom (and that is certainly a role I am taking in this project), and yet I also find that I desire to “know what I know.” What insights, common sense, successes belong to me? What wisdom do I already have within me? This update also includes a video of me fashioning this first contemplation. For me, creating it was, in itself, a contemplative act. I felt keenly aware of the length of time it took to make this piece and the uncomfortability at the imperfect act of making it, particularly while filming the process. It was an exercise in patience. I look forward to updating you in the fall with more contemplations and plans for a performance or theatrical experience that will tie these pieces together (I won’t reveal too much about my thoughts on that front right now, they are too raw.) Part Two: The Personal Aspect In Which I Share (some of) My Non-Linear Thoughts in the Interest of Vulnerability March 20, 2016 Reading: A Book of Hours , Thomas Merton time as a sacrament time as an artistic medium in itself hours, days, seasons becoming a point of nothing “compassionate time” – moments of potentiality how to use and create moments of potentiality for others? Sunday – we are charged to repair, to heal, to build the world what is it we can find to love in one another? dawn, day, dusk, dark the question is: how to become worthy again 1. to complete step by step the small & everyday tasks of living that signal to others & to your mind the prevailing sense of all rightness laundry cooking taking out the trash writing schedule out making coffee cleaning sorting receipts filing nails showering & maybe shaving legs/armpits taking pills 2. to indulge your profound anxiety & sadness and feed it treats until you no longer know that it is there sweets reading meditation movies music watching/listening to anything that sounds friendly 3. to indulge your profound anxiety & sadness by letting it run the show do not do anything imagine other people speaking to you the way you speak to yourself do nothing or hurt those peole speaking to you into speaking to you the way you speak to yourself be satisfied by their agreement 4. make sure it externally appears that you are happy & successful 5. behave successfully and find small ways to self destruct tear at your cuticles pick at your scabs keep acting like you don’t know anything forget to do daily things until you are too sad & self-defeated to do anything these are all the ways that I have tried and failed to become wise. so this is how I come to you . May 5, 2016 Reading: Poets on the Psalms , ed. Lynn Domina implicit in the act of contemplation is moving beyond oneself into the experience of others’ suffering. “The present moment is so painful that the only way we can bear to inhabit it is to visit it in a work of art.” – Poets on the Psalms I have lived most of my life believing that eventually everyone will discover what is wrong with me. the holiness of mud May 15, 2016 consciousness – an idea When we are at some young point in our lives we become entirely, fully conscious of who we are & as we grow older our consciousness slowly dies. It is this kind of surrender that propels us toward death (thanatos) . the question is how to maintain consciousness. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Lauren Ferebee is a Texan native and a multidisciplinary artist whose primary mediums are playwriting and installation/video art. Most recently, her play The Reckless Season was selected for Stage West’s Southwest Playwriting Competition Festival of New Works, and her alternative screwball comedy Sexual Geography was a finalist for the Reva Shiner Comedy Award at the Bloomington Playwrights’ Project. In 2014, she was a juried fellow at Saltonstall Arts Colony, a semifinalist for the Shakespeare’s Sister fellowship and the first theatre-artist-in-residence at HUB-BUB in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where in addition to writing, she did community-based theatre work. Her most recent work includes Sexual Geography (developed at HUB-BUB), The Reckless Season (The Spartanburg Little Theatre/HUB-BUB), Somewhere Safer (FringeNYC 2013, Inkwell finalist), and Blood Quantum (At Hand Theatre & WET Productions). Three of her short plays, jericho, jericho , Bob Baker’s End of the World and The Pirate King are published online at indietheaternow.com , where Somewhere Safer is also published as part of the 2013 Fringe Collection. She is a member of playwriting collective Lather, Rinse, Repeat, and studied playwriting, screenwriting and television writing at Primary Stages/ESPA. Lauren also has regional and NYC credits as an actress on stage and in film, and from 2007-2010 was co-artistic director of a site-specific classical theatre company, Rebellious Subjects Theatre. She especially enjoys acting in and teaching Shakespeare and working on new plays. She holds a BFA in drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Website Lauren Ferebee About the Artist Artist in Residence 2016: Lauren Ferebee Part 1 Artist in Residence 2016: Lauren Ferebee Part 3 while in a foreign land Wonders of the Deep Artist in Residence 2016: Lauren Ferebee Lauren Ferebee Other Works By Follow the previous development of Lauren's 2016 Artist in Residence project by reading her first , third and final post. Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work