Lenten and Easter Photography Exhibit

“From dust you came and to dust you will return” Ecclesiates 3:20 .  These words begin the Lenten season, a time of reflection and preparation during the forty days leading up to Easter.  Traditionally, lent has been a second Advent, a time of contemplating Christ—his temptation in the wilderness, his ministry, his death, and his triumphal resurrection.   This season of reflection can pull us out of the clamor of everyday life and put us in touch with our longing for Christ.  For only in him can we find true joy and life!  
In this exhibit, we invite you to reflect on the seven last sayings of Christ, taken from the four Gospel accounts of his death, as well as a collection of songs, hymns, and psalms that will be included in the Good Friday service.  

Artist’s Statement:
Abigail Cogdell moved to Austin, TX at a young age and has lived there ever since;  always inspired by art and design, she has wanted to pursue a degree in the arts from the beginning. Even through struggling and self doubt, perseverance has brought her to where she is today. Abigail is currently enrolled in The Department of Professional Photography at Austin Community College, working towards a degree in portrait and wedding photography. She is influenced by photographers such as Alain Laboile, Sally Mann, Julia Margaret Cameron and Harry Callahan. Her love for photography stems from the freedom it gives her to capture life how she views it and turn it into her own art and story.

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“Incarnation,” a new show by Loie Archer, opens on Thursday, January 16th, 7:00 P.M. in the Hope Chapel Sanctuary Gallery. This show is a catered gallery show, offering a musical  performance component and an interactive artist Q & A. Archer’s work invites the audience to contemplation and explores different stages of life. Through viewing the pieces of the show as a whole, in the context of the music, the audience encounters the mystery of creativity.

Image From the Maesta by Duccio, 1308-1311)


​The community at HopeArts, this coming school calendar year, will be focusing its efforts and energies on fostering deeper community. The Arts Hope Group will meet twice a month, on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month (exact location TBD; but likely someone’s home). The meeting will begin at 6:30 P.M., will be potluck style, no childcare is provided but children are welcomed. The first meeting will be Saturday, September 7th. 

And as several previous posts have brought up, we will be exploring the Hope Chapel Mission Statement, and what that looks like for us as artists, and as a community of artists. Likewise, we will be exploring these topics relative to (and in concert with) our continuing study of Madeleine L’Engle’s “Walking on Water”.

The Studio Art Group and Open Creation Time will recommence with Hope’s Family Night on Wednesday, September 11th, at 6:30 P.M. in the studio at Hope Chapel. Childcare is provided through Hope Chapel.

Our first Gallery Opening of the school calendar year will occur Thursday, September 26th, from 7:00-9:00 pm, in the Hope Chapel Sanctuary (no childcare provided). This catered gallery reception hosts the work of artist Donnie Boyd, of Prayer Collective Ministries. Boyd’s photographic work (which focuses entirely on the homeless and disenfranchised of Georgetown) is married to the effort of living out the hope of the Gospel message, and in so doing,  demonstrates the call to rise up and make the sacrifice required to meet the spiritual and practical needs of those within the community. The reception will feature an immersive installation component, and musical performance, along with a brief Q&A session with the artist. Contact Kevin Daniel with questions.

Now for our weekly arts discussion…



As has been mentioned above and in previous posts, we are exploring the Hope Chapel Mission Statement, and what that looks like for us as artists, and as a community of artists.

I find that this morning, in contemplating that statement, I am revisiting the perennial question: “Just what does it mean to be an Arts Community, and how do we have community / a community as artists”. It is most certain to me that I have only the vaguest notion of “community,” and for every notion of “community” available there is a host of correlative ethnic, socio-economic, and historical contextualization factors to consider -- begging the further questions of if one notion is sufficient for all, or how does one communicate any notion of community effectively to all potential hearers. 

For an old Philosophy Major like myself those questions are fun. More to the point, those questions are essential, no matter how uninteresting they are to others, or how unproductive to still others with the project of actually forming community. But there’s the rub, so to speak: you can’t form that for which you have no vision, and to have a vision for something you have to understand that the host of correlative contextualization factors  are always at play.  

If I were to get up on my soapbox (on this issue) I would likely launch into some rambling polemic about the stain of Jamesian Pragmatism throughout our Gen “X” (and older) thought processes, and about the pollution of Millenial (and younger) thought processes of hyper-Objectivism and Post-Post Modern (post)Ethicalism; I would launch into how, in too task-oriented fashion, pursue the project, utterly forgetting the Humanity such a community is built around (or simply reduce the Humanity to its psychological management). I doubt you would listen to it, if you’re even listening still.

I think I am just going to put it to you, the community: how do we form a community? What elements must absolutely exist for community to cohere and to grow together? How do we, in at least 2 meetings a month lasting 2-2 ½ hours apiece form community itself, between us? Now, and this is an aside, but, can such be formed if you don’t answer the question(s), if at least only to yourself, and potentially for others to read/hear -- relationships don’t work if any existing expectations aren’t voiced.

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Thursday, September 26th, from 7:00-9:00 pm, in the Hope Chapel Sanctuary Gallery. This catered gallery reception hosts the work of artist Donnie Boyd, of Prayer Collective. Boyd’s photographic work (which focuses entirely on the homeless and disenfranchised of Georgetown) is married to the effort of living out the hope of the Gospel message, and in so doing,  demonstrates the call to rise up and make the sacrifice required to meet the spiritual and practical needs of those within the community. The reception  will feature an immersive installation component, and musical performance, along with a brief Q&A session with the artist. Contact Art Ministry Director with questions. (No childcare provided.)

So We will be meeting this Wednesday, for our last family night meeting of the semester, HOWEVER (and this is the FIRST BIG ASK), we need all art hands on deck to help move the supplies from the Studio to the Attic. This is the first step in our big studio remodel, and needs being done. This is light work, 

Just come to Family Dinner night at 5:30 pm Wednesday, and then meet at studio at 6:30 to move paints and brushes and so forth to the attic.

SECOND BIG ASK: 


Folks, I need artists willing to be artists-for-others at our tent for the Violet Crown Festival.


It is THIS SATURDAY. MAY 4th. Park across from Hope Chapel. 9am-5pm. (2 1/2 hour shifts preferred but you do what you can)


What does that mean? It means you sit in the tent, being willing to write/draw/paint on the spot, praying on the spot, or displaying artwork. It means being prepared to discuss art and faith on the spot.


There will be NO ABSOLUTELY NO selling of art at this event.

The Wednesday Night Arts Group is meeting in the studio this week, 04/24. Dinner in Family Room at Hope Chapel @ 5:30 P.M., Group time @ 6:30 P.M.
HopeArts NEEDS VOLUNTEERS for the HopeArts Booth @ Violet Crown Festival, May 4th in the Brentwood Park -- next to Brentwood Elementary and across the street from Hope Chapel. Contact Art Ministry Director for more information, or / and watch the HopeArts Blog. The current plan is display(only, not sell) our art, to perform spontaneous pieces when requested, and to "Pray Art" over all who come by. A mash-up between the open house ministry presentation and what I call an "Art-Bless(ing) of others. 
Lastly, and since there will be no Art Salon until June, I would encourage all artists / performers to sign-up for the May Gifts Night (hosted by Hope Chapel as part of its Community Life Ministry, and not a HopeArts event). Details can be found in the Community Updates section of Hope.Org.  

We are having Family Night Studio Group, dinner at 5:30-5:16 P.M. in the Family Room at Hope Chapel, and then on to the studio space for our open creation / group time. Bring some liturgy and a  piece of art (yours or a classic master's) to share with the group, and be ready to pray (for revival in our city) before we begin our discussion / creation time.




There are no HopeArts Events planned until June, though the Hope Chapel Family is having its May Gifts Night, and I strongly strongly strongly urge all performance-based artists (eg slam poets, musicians, thespians, dancers) to sign-up for a slot -- it blesses in significant ways to be a part of this event.
Likewise, April 19th is Good Friday, and personally speaking, the Good Friday service is an incredible intersection of the existential and artistic within the life of faith, the narratives of which stir in me worship. I encourage us to attend, but sign up for childcare through the Children's Ministry page soon.


(Thomas Cole "Falls of Kaaterskills" -- American Romanticism, source: WikiCommons)

Arts Community Updates 02-04-2019

Hope Arts Group meets :

    With this being the first Wednesday of the month we will be meeting for regular group time together in the studio space at Hope Chapel. We will all meet in the studio @ 6:30 PM after the 5:30 Wednesday night dinner.


Deadline for entry as a presenter or RSVP as an attendee for the Feb. 15th Art Salon is Tuesday 02-12-2019 by noon. See the sign-up form under the relevant tab on www.hopearts.org to do so.

Deadline for entry into upcoming gallery show “Gates & Fences: How We Enter” is 02-26-2019 by noon. See the sign-up form under the relevant tab on www.hopearts.org to do so.


Maker’s Fair sign-up for the March 9th slots is going on now. Be sure to go to www.hopearts.org to get space.


Major Changes :

1)    From this point forward artists will meet every Wednesday together in the studio, and our alternating schedule (between group time and free creation) will continue but together in the studio space.

2)    Art Salon attendance : in order to attend the arts salon (not just to present), attendees must RSVP (and presenters must sign up) in order to receive location information. Go to www.hopearts.org to sign up under the relevant tab.

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 Arts Ministry Weekly Update


Big news this week: firstly, Saturday 01-19, Hope Chapel moves back into its building. Loads of hands are needed for that chore, especially in the morning time. After several long years we will now have our building back entirely, and this means some changes for the upcoming semester as well.

Starting Wednesday 01-23 the regular Wednesday Family Night resumes, and the Arts Hope Group will begin having access to the coffee shop / auxiliary gallery space for meetings. Since the 23rd is a scheduled “open creating time” we will meet in the coffee shop for those wanting to be around others and create/write/discuss.


In general, the Arts Hope Group follows the Hope Group Schedule on Hope.Org and regular Family Night meeting times. We will meet every Wednesday from now on, with actual group meetings and discussions on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays, as we had been doing in the past at Liz Morgan’s house. We will continue to reserve the 2nd, 4th, 5th Wednesdays of the month for open creating time, and when the studio is completed (a task still not begun) the studio arts group will be able to fully utilize that space on those 2nd, 4th, 5th Wednesdays while non-studio artists (like the writers) can utilize the coffee shop / auxiliary gallery for open creative time.

Work on the studio will begin roughly in early February, and we will update you as things progress on that front, but that project too rests entirely on the efforts of those volunteering their time and elbow grease, much as the work on the building and the move-in did.


Beginning Wednesday 01-23 HopeArts is starting a “52 Project” -- every week artists of all mediums are encouraged to produce some new piece of art, or choose from that weeks worth of production one piece, and share the work to the HopeArts Realm Group. This project will feed into upcoming goings on, to be sure, so keep up the effort. There really are no parameters or themes to follow, except those that make 52 weekly projects sustainable to you.


Lastly, for this week’s update at least, we will soon be making an open call for art for the themed gallery show “Gates & Fences”. Follow the HopeArts Blog posts on Realm, Hope.Org, and HopeArts.org for entry forms and updates on this and other opportunities. And be sure to check out and chime in on the latest HopeArts Art Topic of the day.

Remember, our very own Ashley Littlefield heads up our Instagram and Social Media presences, so be sure to pop into those places for more from current and past HopeArts goings on.

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In our last Art Topic we broached the question of the relationship between Art and Worship, and whether art alone led to worship, or if worship could lead to art, and just what if anything could be meant by "art-ing" (or, "art-ifying").
We are told to submit our bodies as living sacrifices, which is our holy and pleasing form of worship. No where are we told in scripture to "make art," and scripture only seems to discuss artisans and craftsman  in the fashioning of the ark of the covenant or the temple (but not as in any other role within temple worship). This assumes artisans and craftsmen had places within the community, and that such places were assumed natural.
But here is a question: the artisans and craftsmen were given a mandate in the fashioning and building of the temple, yet the new temple is the Body of Christ, what is the mandate for artists today in fashioning and building the new Temple?
What art leads one to worship God? What subject matter? In what manner do we, through "art-ing" make art in a way which is holy and pleasing "art-ing"?  What does "art-ing" in general look like -- does it go beyond making a piece of art in a certain way, and found manifestation even in how live our lives and perform our tasks? If so, a Christian aesthetic comes into play, right, an aesthetic which is applied not to a piece of art but to how an artist lives their lives and performs their tasks? What "materials" are used in "art-ing" in life? Faith? Fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control, not keeping records of wrongs or coveting but trusting and believing)?

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In the course of a discussion with an arts pastor friend of mine the claim was made that all Art leads to worship, and it is a question really only of that to which we are lead to worship -- God, or other.
The thought bears a great deal of chewing for any artist. Through the ensuing discussion other questions were raised: can Art itself be worship; does worship ever lead to Art? The discussion stopped at this point to delve into the definitions of "Art" and "Worship."
At the risk of appearing to needlessly ask tired questions, either through rhetorical device or for which we have little practical need to ask, Today's Art Topic would initially want to consider the questions of those definitions, what are Art and Worship? It is arguably safe to say we as artists never actually leave off  from answering this question. More saliently, it could be said that never leaving off from answering (from being within or doing the activity of answering) those questions is in part what it means to be an artist, and notably a Christian artist.
Abraham, in a moment, was asked to sacrifice his only son, the son of promise, and that a moment of believing in God (to be able to raise Issac from the grave if necessary to honor the promise) was credited to Abraham as righteousness. In the Christian scriptures we are told to "offer [our] bodies as living sacrifices, this is [our] holy and pleasing spiritual act of worship". Elsewhere we are told to "love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our strength, with all our mind, and Christ himself said that was the greatest commandment, the second unto it being to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Unlike with Abraham's singular act (which occurred over the course of a few hours), our spiritual act(s) of worship (as believers) seem to be ongoing, continual even, albeit perhaps continual across numerous instances specifically (as, in general, as we seek life, and Life). Put differently, submitting our bodies as living sacrifices is a continual act. Experience tells us that, as parents trying to follow the Lord and to raise our children in the knowledge and admonition of the Lord we are repeatedly "offering our children" (back) to the Lord, or, rather, are seeking His direction continually with what He would leads us in doing with His children He has entrusted to us. Again, continual action.
Putting a fine point on it, worship thus understood never stops. Worship is not (merely) singing songs, hymns, and praises on Sunday. And singing songs and praising are but one manner of worshiping (whereby notably we are submitting our bodies in a traditionally artistic way).
If worship is a continual, ongoing act, then what is "art-ing"? Can "art" be a continual act, as worship is a continual act -- could "art" ever be a verb? We use the term "creating," and we are arguably creating just as continually as we are worshiping when we create (or worship, respectively).
So, let me just make the personal claim here (and stop pedagogically seeding the flower bed for that claim) which I want to make. L'Engle brings up the young virgin Mary, asked to bear the seed and bring to life the person of Christ. L'Engle goes on to draw the similarity of the artist to Mary, saying that the Story we tell as a writer (or visual artist, or sculptor, or weaver, ect.) comes to us, asking us to perform artistic midwifery and give it "incarnation." And like with Mary, we artists have the choice to serve it or not. We never stop being parents / artists, and we repeatedly as parents / artists are giving the children with whom we are entrusted back to the Lord. And, sometimes we are asked, as Anne Lamott is found of saying, "to sacrifice our darlings".  Earlier before this reference to Mary, L'Engle discloses how everything she does flows out of her nature as a Christian and as a writer, and verily speaking, we Christian artists are adopted children of God and new creations in Christ, invested with the Holy Spirit causing us to will and to desire (thus to create) according to His good pleasure (if it is to the spiritual nature submit).
So I ask again, what is the relationship of Art to Worship? What is the profound calling to which we are called as artists? As worshipers and as the redeemed?
Afterthought: {and, also, a digression from the above}
In the truest philosophical senses, an "argument" can easily be made for the case that, as God's creation we are His art, creating ever continually within an ever continually creative creation (which is that of Creation), ergo, we are art and are always creating, always "art-ing". Art, in this philosophical argument, is a state of being, just as worship is a state of being, that is, when we participate in being (according to the spiritual nature), and when we don't (according to the flesh).

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