Seeing Your Soul

While I'm working on the new features, I've been enjoying pulling quotations and passages together for my posts. Here is a group of wonderful quotations I found in The Christian Imagination, edited by Leland Ryken, a book I recommend. 

"The poet's job is not to tell you what happened, but what happens: not what did take place, but the kind of thing that always does take place." Northrop Frye, The Educated Imagination

"The primary job that any writer faces is to tell you a story of human experience--I mean by that, universal mutual experience, the anguishes and troubles and gifts of the human heart, which is universal, without regard to race or time or condition." William Faulkner, Faulkner at West Point

"My assumption is that the story of any one of us is in some measure the story of us all." Frederick Buechner, Listening to Your Life

"The poet is not a man who asks me to look at him; he is a man who says 'look at that' and points." C. S. Lewis, The Personal Heresy

"It is the function of all art to give us some perception of an order in life, by imposing an order upon it." T. S. Eliot, On Poetry and Poets

"You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul." George Bernard Shaw, Back to Methuselah

Eric Moore: The Gift of Song

Singer and actor Eric Moore started singing in church at an early age. His first professional acting job was in 1995 with Tom Key in Cotton Patch Gospel at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta. He has since appeared in many shows in Atlanta and regionally and has some film credits too. 

We have had the privilege of seeing him in several shows at Theatrical Outfit. One of my favorite moments from last season's Godspell was Eric's performance of "All Good Gifts." He had the audience in tears--with many nodding in agreement and thanking the Lord right along with him.

This weekend, we saw him at Theatrical Outfit as Jim in Big River, a musical based on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It was an excellent show by a cast of strong performers, powerful moments of poignancy, and of course, the humor of Twain. Eric, with a voice that's rich and full, makes you believe he's experiencing what he's singing for the first time and you are invited along on the journey with him.

"Singing has always been a part of my life," Eric says. "I feel the ability to sing is a gift from God."

Eric says he tries to make sure the work he does is a good representation of his Christian life. "Everything that I have done and everywhere that I have been is due to the gift of song that God has given me." 

We are thankful, too, for that gift. Keep singing, Eric!

Remembering

Today is 9/11. Let's remember the lives lost and the lives changed forever that morning.

Flannery on Learning to See

A few more words from the brilliant fiction writer Flannery O'Connor. This passage is from "Writing Short Stories" in the book Mystery and Manners. 

"Fiction operates through the senses, and I think one reason that people find it so difficult to write stories is that they forget how much time and patience is required to convince through the senses. No reader who doesn't actually experience, who isn't made to feel, the story is going to believe anything the fiction writer merely tells him. The first and most obvious characteristic of fiction is that it deals with reality through what can be seen, heard, smelt, tasted, and touched."

"Now learning to see is the basis for learning all the arts except music. I know a good many fiction writers who paint, not because they're any good at painting, but because it helps their writing. It forces them to look at things. Fiction writing is very seldom a matter of saying things; it is a matter of showing things."

I'm so excited about all the new features I have lined up for the next couple of months. Stay tuned!

Flannery on Fiction

Today's post is taken from Flannery O'Connor's excellent essay, "The Nature and Aim of Fiction", which appears in a collection of her writing called Mystery and Manners. As with most of the quotations I share on this blog, even though they are about writing fiction, the points O'Connor makes apply to other types of art as well. Enjoy.

"Very few people who are supposedly interested in writing are interested in writing well. They are interested in publishing something, and if possible in making a 'killing'. They are interested in being a writer, not in writing."

"Art is a word that immediately scares people off, as being a little too grand. But all I mean by art is writing something that is valuable in itself and that works in itself. The basis of art is truth, both in matter and in mode. The person who aims after art in his work aims after truth, in an imaginative sense, no more and no less."

"The beginning of human knowledge is through the senses, and the fiction writer begins where human perception begins. He appeals through the senses, and you cannot appeal to the senses with abstractions."

"The fact is that the materials of the fiction writer are the humblest. Fiction is about everything human and we are made out of dust, and if you scorn getting yourself dusty, then you shouldn't try to write fiction. It's not a grand enough job for you."

Coming soon: new features with a novelist, a poet, a photographer, an actor, and more 

Randall Flinn, Part 2

This week I'm featuring Randall Flinn, Founder and Director of Dance Ad Deum.

LeAnne: Have you faced challenges from the world because of your faith?

Randall: Surely at times, but that is to be expected and rejoiced over. For the most part I have found that when we are true and comfortable and "real" in our own skin as Believers working in the arts, and when we have something significant to contribute that is not propaganda for our cause, we then gain many listening ears and hearts. And the applause ain't bad either!

LM: Have you faced challenges from the church because of your art?

RF: Would you be shocked if I told you sometimes this is the greatest warfare of all--where we strain at gnats and swallow camels? Praise God for those churches and pastors and Christian leaders who "get it" when it comes to the arts as good gifts of God to be celebrated and stewarded and offered not only to the "holy house" but also to those in the outer court.

LM: What would you say to encourage other artists who are trying to live their faith and their art in the world?

RF: Don't stop. Pray, weep, persevere. He who began a good work is faithful to complete it!

And network--not for vanity or self-promotion but for the life-giving fellowship of other Believers who are wired just the way you are! The Lord still needs His Joseph in Egypt and His Esther in Persia and all the Daniels in Babylon He can get. No, it's not the church or missions organization--it's the world, but you can still be God's priest and servant and wash many feet in that very place.

Remember, there is a mighty spirit and He dances with us and over us. Here is my offering on that truth.

Randall Flinn: Dance Ad Deum

Randall Flinn is founder and director of Dance Ad Deum. Flinn began his dance training in Houston over 25 years ago with Glenn Hunsucker, Camille Long Hill, Dina Vail, and Patsy Swayze. His most recent modern dance influences have come from studies with The Limon Company and Steve Rooks, former principal dancer with Martha Graham. He has taught and choreographed locally as a guest artist for the Houston Ballet Academy, The Episcopal High School, Houston Met Dance Company, Joan Karff Dance Company, The High School for Performing Arts and North Harris Performing Arts Dance Company. He was selected as a guest choreographer for Houston's Dance Salad 1999, Dance Houston 2006, and Texas Weekend of Contemporary Dance 2007. Nationally, he has served as guest faculty and choreographers for Cirque Du Soleil--Alegria, Ballet Magnificat, Belhaven College, Friends University, Project Dance NYC, LA, and Sydney, Australia, Hillsong, Australia, and Dance Revolution Conventions. Having lived throughout Europe and Asia for ten years, Mr. Flinn has also been a guest artist for Hong Kong Ballet, City Contemporary--Hong Kong, Guanzhou Modern Dance Company--China, Xaris Danz Europe and Youth With a Mission International Schools of the Arts.

LeAnne: What is Dance Ad Deum? Where did the name come from?

Randall: Ad Deum means "unto God" in Latin. Ad Deum is a professional contemporary (modern, neo classic) dance company based in Houston, Texas. The company began in January 2000, birthed by an ongoing passion for some years to establish a professional dance work where dance artists of Christian faith could fully integrate and pursue their vocational calling with excellence in an environment where their faith could also freely be expressed. Dancers have moved here to Texas from all around the globe to pursue their passion for their faith and their dancing. I still stand amazed!

Not that long ago, professional dance and Christian faith did not fare well among the Christian community nor within the mainstream community of the arts. The church (well, parts of it) was open to liturgical or praise dance offerings by well meaning worshippers. However professional presentations of dance by highly skilled dance artists who truly were seeking to honor God and bless mankind were rare to find.

Well, a new day has dawned and a multitude of very high-caliber and Christ-centered dancers have come into the Kingdom for such a time as this. They are out there all over the world engaging, influencing and impacting the church and the mainstream culture. To this I say, "Praise God--finally!"

LM: What is Dance Ad Deum working on now?

RF: More than I care to think about--that is what we are working on now! Next big performance is Texas Weekend of Contemporary Dance in Houston at the Miller Theatre on September 12/13. We are premiering a new work by Mr. Steve Rooks, former ten-year Principal Dancer with Martha Graham. Steve is a fellow believer-artist who is also working as the Lord's Daniel in the midst of Babylon, so to speak. His life and work as a follower of Christ is that of a city on a hill that cannot be hidden. [Note: To read LeAnne's interview with Steve Rooks last year, click here and here.] 

Ad Deum has a full touring season both nationally and internationally. In November, we make the long journey to Malaysia to work with both the church and the mainstream dance culture.

LM: How has your faith affected or impacted your passion for dance?

RF: I believe my faith and a true understanding of a biblical worldview of the arts opens my life to the limitless possibilities of the glorious freedom of the children of God. I have come to understand a relevant and redemptive revelation of a New Testament priestly-artist--one that seeks to bless the Lord and serves the culture around him as the Lord's servant. No need to be religious here in this position and calling. The freedom comes in resting in the relationship and calling and understanding the cultural mandate and claiming the truth that God's artists can take up their towels and basins and wash the feet of this world with art that resonates with glory and honor.

On Thursday, the conclusion of my interview with Randall Flinn.

The Work of My Hands

On this Labor Day, I'm thankful for the work of my hands. I'm praying that God will:

--help me pour out my gifts with abandon, joy, and courage,

--show me how to squeeze every bit of juice out of the time I'm given to write, 

--be glorified no matter what I write or for whom (whether a blog post, article, story, essay or email)

--use my blogs and my other writing to bless and encourage others.

Today as I glance at the overcast sky outside my office window, I'm also praying for those, some of whom are family and friends, who will be affected by Hurricane Gustav.

Because of the holiday, I'm going to do something a little different and post three times this week. I have a fresh new feature I'm excited to share with you starting tomorrow. Check it out!

Craig Detweiler on the Sacred in Film and Culture

Here's an interview I found interesting called "Seeing the Sacred in the Top Films of the 21st Century". John Moorehead talks to Craig Detweiler, co-director of the Reel Spirituality Institute, associate professor of theology and culture at Fuller Theological Seminary, and author of A Matrix of Meanings and his latest, Into the Dark: Seeing the Sacred in the Top Films of the 21st Century.

Coming soon: new interviews with an actor, a director, a poet, and a gallery owner

Rosemary Rutland: Arts Enthusiast

Occasionally, I interview arts enthusiasts. Today I'm featuring Rosemary Rutland, a certified personal chef and certified pastry culinarian. As a personal chef, Rosemary teaches cooking and baking classes, creates dining memories for special occasions and makes multi-meal service for a broad range of clients. She also enjoys singing, playing her guitar and traveling. 

LeAnne: Do you think Christians should care about the arts? Why?

Rosemary: Art is beauty inspired and created by God and through God for us to enjoy. Beauty is all around us in many forms--we must choose to recognize it. One man's "beauty" is often ignored by another. Art and beauty are very personal choices. As Christians, I believe we should care about art and its expression. All things come from God and art is no exception.

LM: Why do you love the arts? Have you always loved them?

RR: My parents took me to plays as a child and I have always loved music. I enjoy art and the older I get the more I appreciate different mediums and ways of expression than I did before. For instance, I always loved watercolor but now I appreciate sculpture too. I think I appreciate the arts more each year and the importance of them in our world.

LM: Do the arts impact or enhance your daily life? How?

RR: Yes, the arts inspire me. I am in awe of the gifts that God gives to others in playing an instrument, writing songs, singing, acting, painting, photography, and creating what is in their heads and in the world around them. I spend lots of time listening to music when I am working, and my husband and I just became members of the local art museum.

Coming soon: an actor, a gallery owner, a director

Replay: Jill Pelaez Baumgartner, Part 2

Today I'm concluding the replay of last year's interview with Jill Pelaez Baumgartner--poet, professor, scholar, and editor. Enjoy.

Coming soon: an actor, a director, a novelist, and more!

Replay: Jill Pelaez Baumgartner, Part 1

This week, I'm replaying my interview with Jill Pelaez Baumgartner. Jill is a poet, an author, a professor of English, a dean, and more. Enjoy.

Replay: Alice Bass, Part 2

Pardon the delay: Here's the conclusion of my interview with writer, creative consultant, and award-winning actress, Alice Bass. Enjoy!

Coming soon: novelist, actor, and dancer

Replay: Alice Bass, Part 1

This week, I'm pulling from my archives to bring you my interview about creativity with Alice Bass, who is a writer, creative consultant, and award-winning actress.

Coming soon: a novelist, actor, and dancer

Replay: Robert Benson, Part 3

Today is the last of my 3-part interview replay with writer Robert Benson.

I've got several great new features coming soon!

Replay: Robert Benson, Part 2

Today is the second part of the replay of my interview with writer Robert Benson. Enjoy.

Replay: Robert Benson, Part 1

I'll soon be celebrating my 200th post and my 2nd anniversary of this blog. I've been privileged to talk with dozens of fascinating artists and art enthusiasts over the past two years. I love to bring you fresh material every week, so much so that I forget about the treasure trove of features I've already done. This week, I'm going to replay one of my many favorite interviews--this one with the writer Robert Benson. Enjoy.

Coming soon: a novelist, an actor, and a dancer

Barbara Nicolosi on "The Real Patron of the Arts"

I came across this interview by Valerie Striker with screenwriter, author, and professor Barbara Nicolosi. She speaks frankly about the arts,  the church, Hollywood, and preparing our kids for the culture. I hope you enjoy it.

About Story and Reading

This summer I've been reading even more voraciously than usual: fiction, nonfiction, fiction theory, nonfiction about the arts and artists in general. It has been a rich and wonderful summer because of it. I found a few quotes I'd like to share about books, story, reading, and the artist. 

Also, I'm excited about my upcoming features. Stay tuned.

"The unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp. The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story." Ursula Le Guin

"The failure to read good books both enfeebles the vision and strengthens our most fatal tendency--the belief that here and now is all there is." Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind

"One must be an inventor to read well." Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The American Scholar" 

"The proper study of mankind is books." Aldous Huxley  [And I would add "so is art."]

"Artists are the antennae of the race." Ezra Pound, ABC of Reading

James Romaine, Part 2: The Art of Sandra Bowden & NYCAMS

Today I'm concluding my interview with Dr. James Romaine, a New York based art historian. He is the co-founder of the New York Center for Arts and Media Studies (NYCAMS), a program of Bethel University. He has an undergraduate degree from Wheaton College in economics and art history, an MA in art history from the University of South Carolina, and a PhD in art history from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He is a frequent lecturer on faith and the visual arts and has authored numerous articles which have appeared in Art Journal of the College Art Association, American Arts Quarterly, Christian History & Biography, Re:Generation Quarterly, The Princeton Theological Review, Image: A Journal of Arts and Religion, It was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God, and Faith and Vision: Twenty-Five Years of Christians in the Visual Arts. His books include Objects of Grace: Conversations on Creativity and Faith and The Art of Sandra Bowden, both published by Square Halo Books. Dr. Romaine is on the board of directors of Christians in the Visual Arts (CIVA).

LeAnne: Let's discuss The Art of Sandra Bowden. How did that book come about? 

James: The Art of Sandra Bowden developed out of an opportunity that presented itself because Sandra was having a retrospective of forty years of work and was nearing the conclusion of her tenure of service as president of Christians in the Visual Arts (CIVA). The Art of Sandra Bowden is a testament to Sandra's faithfulness to her art and to God. When Sandra committed herself to being an artist of faith, she did not know any other Christians in the visual arts. Forty years later, I have students who cannot imagine that sort of situation. They have grown up in homes, churches, and schools that provide them with opportunities to intimately connect their faith and art. For artists of Sandra's generation, there was always a question of, "Can you be a Christian and an artist?" When I was a student, the question was, "How can I be a Christian and an artist, in a philosophical sense?" Today, there's a sense of, "Let's get to it. How can I be a part of this art world?"

Sometimes, when things change as much as they have for artists of faith in the past forty years, we take these changes for granted. Artists of faith emerging today owe an immeasurable debt to artists like Sandra and there should be a historical record of her work so that we don't forget where we have come from and how God has blessed us through her.

LM: You are an Assistant Professor of Art History with NYCAMS. What are two or three things that you want your students to have learned when they leave your classroom?

JR: The New York Center for Art and Media Studies (NYCAMS) is a semester studio program that provides undergraduate art majors from across the United States and Europe with the opportunity of working in New York. As an art historian, I teach two classroom-based classes. I say "classroom-based" because I try to get out of the classroom, to galleries, museums, and artists' studios as much as possible. These two classes are "The History of Christianity and Art" and "Contemporary Art". In both classes, I hope to 1) provide students with tools, such as visual literacy and an understanding of the creative process, that they can employ in their studio work and 2) give them a sense of the historical and contemporary contexts in which they, as artists of faith, are working.

LM: What else would you like to say to my readers--both the artists and nonartists--about this topic of Christians in the arts?

JR: I would encourage your readers to be shapers of culture. Books like Objects of Grace, organizations like CIVA, and institutions like NYCAMS demonstrate the vitality, diversity, and quality of work being produced by artists of faith. I would encourage your readers to become patrons of these artists, especially emerging artists. (One place to find these artists might be through CIVA.) I encourage people of every level of income to purchase at least one original work of contemporary art every year. Typically, you can get a good work of art for between $1,000 and $5,000. Someone might say, "I don't have $1,000." If you set aside $100 a month, in a year you will have $1,200. In that year, the art patron should be visiting museums and galleries to educate themselves on what makes a good work of art as well as reading books and magazines, such as IMAGE, about contemporary art. That way, when you have saved enough for a quality work of art, you will have the tools, such as visual literacy and a conception of what makes a great work of contemporary art, to collect a work that will challenge and encourage you creatively and spiritually for the rest of your life in ways that could not have been anticipated.