Elise Bergsten Grandmothers Shrine Front Closed Grandmother's Shrine, Detail (Interior) Grandmother's Shrine, Detail (Exterior Back) Grandmother's Shrine, Detail (Exterior Right Side) Grandmother's Shrine, Detail (Exterior Left Side) Grandmother's Shrine, Detail (Interior Top Shelf) Grandmother's Shrine, Detail (Interior Middle Shelf) Grandmother's Shrine, Detail (Interior Bottom Shelf) Loading Video . . . Artist Elise Bergsten wrestled with the passage of 1 Timothy 5:3-16 and produced this gorgeous piece that stands as a personal tribute to overcoming adversity and as a memento to the universal journey through life that we all take. 1 Timothy 5:3-16 Grandmother's Shrine By Elise Bergsten Credits: Curated by: Laurel Justice 2018 18 x 14 x 5 inches Mixed Media Collage Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link This passage is referred to as "The Widows List". Paul was giving guidance to others for the new church, and most of the passage is in regards to defining requirements that a true widow ought to meet in order to merit help from the church. Widows seemed pretty unfortunate, whether they fit into the narrow rules or whether they were left outside of them. Widows that brought property to their marriage or widows that had sons that could inherit their father's property and take care of their mothers were the most fortunate. I found that there were three different words for widow in the original Hebrew that differentiated between three types of widows. The widows list only pertained to widows with no means and no family to take care of them. As the passage makes clear, these widows still had a very small eye of a needle to fit through to receive help from the church. I researched the passage and the historical context, and found myself processing my own feelings regarding marriage, various ways humans become trapped by their circumstances, and the concept of "widow" as helpless victim versus the opportunity of any human to make choices about how they act within their life circumstances. We humans have the ability to be free within very difficult conditions. I was reminded of the Hero's Path, written by Joseph Campbell : We have not even to risk the adventure alone for the heroes of all time have gone before us. The labyrinth is thoroughly known…we have only to follow the hero path. And where we had thought to find an abomination we shall find a God. And where we had thought to slay another we shall slay ourselves. Where we had thought to travel outwards we shall come to the center of our own existence. And where we had thought to be alone we shall be with all the world. The widow story that is most personal to me and is also a hero's journey is that of my maternal grandmother, so I reflected about her life, the ways in which she was trapped within very difficult circumstances, and how she lived her life in response to those conditions. She lived for more than two decades as a widow, and was fortunate to have property and means to live independently during that time. This three-dimensional piece is a shrine honoring my grandmother. It has three levels, which represent many different trinities: Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Maiden, Mother, Crone. Death, Life, Transcendence. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Elise Bergsten was educated at the University of Wisconsin where she in majored in Fiber Arts. Her recent work is in paper and mixed media collage, and explores archetypal symbols and humanity’s search for meaning. Website Elise Bergsten About the Artist Elise Bergsten Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

nicora-gangi_2013-air-1_spirit-of-god-the-spirit-hovering.jpg Loading Video . . . A prolific artist, Nicora Gangi responds to the theme of "Light and Darkness" from Genesis 1:2 in her first work created for a collection inspired by each of the six themes for the year as a 2013 Artist in Residence. Genesis 1:2 Spirit of God-The Spirit Hovering By Nicora Gangi Credits: Curated by: Spark+Echo Arts, 2013 Artist in Residence 2013 19 x 25 inches Pastel on Canson Paper Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link The Spirit of God is the first mover; He moved upon the face of the waters. Herein is hope: the Spirit of God begins to work. And if he works who will hinder? God's Spirit moved upon the deep; He is the fountain of life and spring of motion. The first of all visible things the Lord God created was light. Not that He Himself needs to see in order to work, for the darkness and the light are the same to Him. Rather, He created it that by it we may see His works and His glory in them. "For the one that practices the truth, comes to the light that his deeds may be manifest as having been founded in God." (John 3:21) Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Nicora Gangi was educated at Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA (BFA 1974 and MFA 1976). She was a Professor of Art at Syracuse University for 29 years. Gangi has been awarded many Grand Prize and First Place awards and grants. She has been and continues to be published in numerous artist’s books on pastel paintings. She has lectured regionally and nationally as a visiting artist at universities and artist’s guilds. She is represented by: Edgewood Gallery (Syracuse, NY), and Gangi Studio (Winter Garden, FL ). Website Nicora Gangi About the Artist The Mountain of the House of The Lord I See Him but Not Now So Shall Your Descendants Be This One The Body without the Spirit | 1 The Body without the Spirit | 2 The Body without the Spirit | 3 The Sealed Ones Peace with God The Everlasting Protective Love of God Our Father When the Lord Gives Us The Land I See Him but Not Now The Mountain of the House of The Lord Paneled and Ruins Series The Harvest Memories Lies Fool Dance Your Truth from the Great Congregation Psalm 18 Sound of Their Wings Psalm 16 Kiss the Son EAST, WEST, NORTH & SOUTH AT HIS TABLE Nicora Gangi Other Works By Nicora Gangi created a collection of mixed media works in response to scripture and the six themes of the year as a 2013 Artist in Residence. Explore her works created throughout the year: Spirit of God – The Spirit Hovering (This piece) Light and Darkness (February 4, 2013) Fool Fools (April 13, 2013) Dance Dancing (June 13, 2013) Lies Lies (August 22, 2013) The Harvest Harvest (October 17, 2013) Memories Memory (December 12, 2013) Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Poet John Fry explores the intersection of prophecy, the crucifixion of Christ, and the suffering present in current events within this stunning, visceral set of poems reflecting on Obadiah 1:2-4,10-18. Obadiah 1:2-4 Obadiah 1:10-18 If Obadiah walked the stations of the cross By John Fry Credits: Curated by: Rebecca Testrake 2018 Poetry Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link Artist Statement | Frontera Ofrenda About Obadiah we know little beyond what scholars can conjecture from the text of Obadiah’s book. The shortest of all the prophetic books in the Hebrew scriptures at 21 lines of verse, the words of Obadiah’s vision nevertheless thrums with the same intensity that readers/listeners of the books of Isaiah or Jeremiah call “prophetic.” The long poem I’ve written in response to—and in dialogue with—these verses from Obadiah’s vision attempts to recreate the intensity of that prophetic voice speaking to our nation’s fraught sociopolitical here and now. * I write this from the central Hill Country of the state that has more detention centers where immigrants of all ages crossing the nation’s southern border in search of asylum are being held than there are stars on our national flag. 184 such facilities as of this July, though the number may have increased since then. Some of these detention centers are operated by ICE in county jails, among other places, across the state. The detention centers that concern this long poem, however, are ones where not only adults but children have been detained—ranging in age from infancy to seventeen years—often after being separated from their parents or adult family members in ways more than dubious at best. And continue to be detained apart from adult family members who, we now know, have in some cases been deported back to their countries of origin. And, even after a judicial intervention, the federal government has struggled to rectify the humanitarian crisis it manufactured. The children who’ve been separated from their parents— thereby becoming “unaccompanied minors” according to the law—do not know where their family members are. The desperate adults, still in detention or now deported, likewise often don’t know where their children are. As of this Fall, 13,000 minors are still being held in detention centers (a number inclusive of those who entered the US unaccompanied and those who’ve been separated from their families). * What makes a prophet(ess) speak the way they do? What alchemy coalesces inside a person to produce what we recognize as the proverbial voice crying out in or from the wilderness? A prophet is someone who brings urgent but unpleasant news to their community. Unwelcome because a prophet speaks truth to the power of a community’s center from the edges of its margins. Disliked because truth often tastes more bitter than sweet. So much so that the Bible repeatedly recounts the kinds of violence telling the truth—in biblical terms, speaking with the authority of God’s own voice—invites. Jeremiah finds himself thrown into a pit by the very people to whom the Lord sends him to witness. John the Baptist loses his head. Prophets are not, of course, perfect and are subject to their own foibles. But to speak prophetic truth, the biblical exemplars make clear, requires a willingness to court potential personal disaster. (Who among us\ wouldn’t—at least for a moment—be as reluctant as Jonah?) Prophets know this. And prophets speak the truth anyway. * If you’ve followed the news in any medium this year, you already know some facet of the story of asylum-seeking immigrant families being separated at the border. You may also know that detaining children and adult immigrants has become a billion-dollar industry for the companies who receive the lucrative government contracts to do it (some of whom also run for-profit prisons). Two such agencies running such centers detaining children in Texas are Southwest Key and BCFS. Southwest Key is a national nonprofit with its headquarters in Austin whose mission is “opening doors to opportunity so individuals can achieve their dreams.” How detaining children separated from their parents opens doors stymies my faculties, and they have other programs in addition to the numerous “shelters” with rhetorically disingenuous names like “Casa Nueva Esperanza”—that’s House of New Hope—where these children have been (are being) kept. BCFS, which stands for Baptist Child and Family Services, is a Texas-based “global network of non-profit organizations operating health and human services programs” that aims to “meet the needs of at-risk populations.” Neither nonprofit pays its bills solely on the basis of this ongoing humanitarian catastrophe but, to be clear, they nevertheless financially benefit from the federal government’s logistical disasters. * I’ve always been struck (and, secretly, pleased) by the contiguity between prophecy and poetry. And, more generally, that so many of our world’s sacred scriptures also happen to be poems, although there’s nothing happenstance about this. (Of course I’d say this, being a poet myself.) The hymns to the Sumerian Inanna written by her priestess Enheduanna, who’s incidentally the earliest known poet by name in recorded history.The Dhammapada . The thousand plus hymns of of the Rigveda Samhita and the Bhagavad Gita . The Blessingway ceremony of the Diné. Maria Sabina’s healing chants. Poetry’s proximity to prophecy, like its origin in song, is as ancient as it’s storied. By no means am I unique in finding this coincidence—that’s anything but—endlessly inspiring, but it’s an autobiographical given that the Jewish and Christian scriptures, especially those that are also poems, are wells of water for this poet preacher’s son that never run dry. They also never fail to provide provocations. * The humanitarian crisis unfolding in Texas has routinely been described as an “invasion” by conservative pundits and politicians. As of the 2010 census, 38.2% of the state’s total population was of Latinx ancestry. Research suggests that, by 2020-2022, the majority of Texas residents will be Latinx and, as is the case now, primarily Mexican American. In certain parts of Texas, Latinx people dramatically outnumber Anglos, although those in municipal, county, state, and federal positions of leadership and power do not necessarily reflect these demographics. West Texas in and surrounding El Paso; all of the communities running the length of the Río Bravo/Rio Grande from Del Rio to Laredo; South Texas, by which I mean everything from San Antonio southward and eastward to the coast, including the Rio Grande Valley or El Valle. To those who haven’t traveled in these parts of Texas, including those who’re Texans themselves from elsewhere, any one of these areas may seem more “Mexican” than “Texan,” where the latter means white by another name. In any one of these areas of Texas, the likelihood of Spanish or one of its derivatives being the vernacular increases the closer to the border you are. * In her cantankerous and achingly beautiful love letter to American poetry that she calls a vigil, the late C.D. Wright describes her restlessly various aesthetic sense as “a way to vocalize, perform, act out, address the commonly felt crises of my time.” In book after book, she does exactly this. She also writes: “[t]hese are spiritual exercises.” So too was writing this poem for me both an attempt to find a language adequately electric and capable of delivering readers a shock of recognition—even if one of outrage or offense. It was also an exercise in searching for a form sturdy enough to contain the depth of my grief and anger over my country’s inhumane practices that was still supple enough to sing. A stereotypically brief lyric freezing an instant of time in place while flirting with eternity wouldn’t suffice. It needed to be long enough to gesture toward the catalog and capable of gaining intensity through accretion. Something approaching the series, sequence, or serial—but not, given the exigency of time, something going on without end (even though such a litany could). As I read and reread the book of Obadiah like a good monastic engaged in lectio divina and wondered where on earth, heaven, or hell I was supposed to begin, I remembered an observation of the poet Charles Wright that distilled what I aimed for when composing a poetic line for years: “Each line should be a station of the cross.” Once I began thinking about using the Catholic practice of walking the stations of the cross as a poetic structure, I knew its symbolic weight would be able to carry the theological and, yes, political argument of what I felt but had yet to find the words for. * This borderland area of Tejas/Texas, “la frontera” as the Tejana Gloria Anzaldúa theorizes it, is my home even though I currently write several hours north of it. Being a United Methodist preacher’s kid meant my family moved all over the state. And although I was born in Kentucky while my father finished seminary, I have lived in Texas all my life save for a four-year college sojourn in North Carolina. My parents moved to Alice, Texas, when I was roughly six months old, a small town about an hour from Corpus Christi. After childhood and early adolescence in central and west Texas, I graduated from high school in Kingsville, Texas, a half hour or so away from Alice and about an hour from Corpus Christi. Prior to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, these places and everything south of the Nueces River was México. Kingsville, the seat of Kleberg County and the vast King Ranch, also lies half an hour north of a major Border Patrol checkpoint not far from Sarita, Texas, along the I-77 corridor into and out of El Valle. Depending on traffic, Kingsville sits 2 hours and 9 minutes from Matamoros, the sister city of Brownsville. I’d argue it’s the most underappreciated and unknown area of the state. A landscape crisscrossed by languages and the histories of multiple countries and the inevitable violence of geopolitics and racism. Contrary to popular (see under: overridingly Anglo) opinion, South Tejas vibrates with art, music, and life like the bougainvillea that flourishes there. Nevertheless, it remains a liminal space between both countries with all the blessings and banes you’d expect, and this is one reason why Anzaldúa calls it “una herida abierta,” an open wound. * How then, poetically speaking, to try to craft a voice that might be a “throat of these hours,” as Muriel Rukeyser puts it? I read and reread a lot. The poetry of Latinx poets also from Tejas whose voices keep me honest like Anzaldúa, Emmy Pérez, ire’ne lara silva, and mónica teresa ortiz. Long poems and sequences by Rich, Rukeyser, Carolyn Forché, and C.D. Wright. And, for the first time in my writing life as a poet, I found myself combing through news article after article for the frequently elusive facts related to these detention centers. And, to the extent that this poem documents reality, it was important to be as accurate as possible. As I began to draft using each station as an anchor, I quickly realized several things. Conventional punctuation, the kind that parses syntax into easily digestible units, wouldn’t suffice. Perhaps with Charles Wright’s observation in the back of my head, I found myself composing where individual lines (longer than I usually write) stood as stanzas in and of themselves while the lack of punctuation caused them to enjamb with the frenetic rush of what a prophet talking might sound like. The Obadiah of the poem is an admittedly anachronistic fiction of poetic license on my part, a slippery “I” who addresses the “you” of the poem, which is simultaneously singular and plural. Equally objectionable, perhaps, is the allegorical way the poem responds to the book of Obadiah itself. Being a poet instead of a scholar of biblical hermeneutics, I felt completely justified in interpreting Obadiah in a way some might call eisegetical instead of exegetical. To those who might take issue with how the poem uses Obadiah and the Passion in the service of an allegorical argument, I would only point out, also being a scholar of medieval literature and culture, that no less than St. Thomas Aquinas believed that scripture signifies in more than a literal, or a historical, way. The longer I wrote, the more I realized that the actual stations of the cross in the poem weren’t the iconic moments leading up to and following the crucifixion. Rather, in the allegoresis the poem attempts, the detention centers were the real stations where—given that the crucifixion renders any divisions between American “us” and Latin American “them” irrelevant and illusory—the mystical Body of Christ is crucifying Christ again in time. In our here and now. * In the place I call home, and even more so south of where I’m from, you’re as likely to hear Spanish, Spanglish, and TexMex being spoken as often as English. Both languages sang in my ears as I formed my first words. Spanish is my second language and, even though I’m not quite a fluent speaker of it, does not feel like a “foreign” language to me at all. That is to say, Spanish sounds like home to me as much as English does. It is the first language of the man I love and am soon to marry, a first-generation Mexican American whose parents immigrated to the US from Monterrey, México, and the primary language we use when we spend time with his family. Because half of my family (given and chosen) are Mexican Americans because of my relationship with my beloved, to say nothing of the many Latinx women and men I’m lucky to call dear friends, I’m a gringo unusually sensitive to the linguistic imperialism still rife in Texas and in America more generally. The vilely racist and Mexiphobic rhetoric spouted on the campaign trail by our current president and after his election—and the degree to which it has enabled more of the same, in addition to an array of equally noxious rhetoric about other minority groups—offends me in the extreme because it aims to demonize many of the people I love, who I live beside, and with whom I align myself artistically, spiritually, and politically. This is why the Spanish quoted by Obadiah—the voices of Jeremiah, St. Teresa of Ávila and, most of all, Jesus of Nazareth—are neither italicized or, with one exception, translated into English. In this current political climate, it’s important to remind primarily or exclusively English-speaking readers that no one language has a monopoly on the sacred. And that words, as a kind of matter, matter. A recent case in point, of course, being the caravan of Central American asylum-seekers making their way through México that Trump, among others, calculatingly calls an “invasion” to justify deploying 5,200 active-duty troops to the border—crisis manufacturing, again. Conspiracy theories are spreading like kudzu vines about these beleaguered people and, to hear the most conservative media venues talk about it, you’d think every single one of them (grandmothers, mothers, fathers, children) are felons guilty of violent crimes. But these refugees currently making their way through México with the intent of seeking asylum in the United States are breaking no U.S. laws in doing so. Despite the fear-mongering of Trump & co., these migrants have every right to do so according to our laws. * In case it wasn’t already clear, this poem arises from my conviction that the crisis going on in Texas and other border states is unequivocally evil and, although undeniably complex in sociological terms, a crisis that has been unnecessarily compounded and worsened by our nation’s current administration. An evil, which a word I don’t use lightly, that flies directly in the face of the Christian commitments publicly and loudly espoused both by the majority of our elected officials and their constituents. I hope it reminds readers—especially those who identify themselves as Christians, and even more particularly white Christians—that scripture does not equivocate on how we should treat strangers, guests, and refugees. The Bible may speak in contradictory tongues about many things, but on this the Hebrew scriptures and the New Testament are reassuringly clear. As St. Benedict writes in his rule, guests are to be welcomed as Christ. Not as if. But as. A paradox, to be sure, but is Christianity not all paradox at its heart? For me this, in the language of the liturgy, is the mystery of the faith that won’t let me go anymore than I’d ever call its grasp comfortable. Paradox, after all, is where I live. The reasons why that’s so appear throughout these notes. I’m a gay man who grew up in the mainstream Christianity of the 1980’s and 90’s that told me I was both beloved by God and hell-bound for my orientation. Was raised resolutely Protestant and am a recent Roman Catholic convert for reasons only my poems can explain. Am a white man who became artistically, politically, and sexually active in a place where I was in the racial minority who, because of all of the above, has chosen to align myself with Latinx Americans (and other persons of color and minorities of all kinds) to challenge the systematic racism and Christo-fascism that has never not riddled this country. And, gringo though I am, I wrote this to speak out and stand up (as a gringo) for the place and the people who, as Benjamin Alire Sáenz so beautifully puts it, “are my heart, my heart .” Like him, “I do not say that for rhetorical effect” about the border. It’s my hope that this offering humanizes and particularizes a place and persons that our national discourse too often effaces to the point of abstraction in the service of a talking point. And even if the poem scandalizes or offends, my intent, to the extent that intent matters, will have been realized. * Postscript: December 7, 2018 | Since drafting this statement that seemed hell-bent on becoming an essay from the beginning, the litany of border- and Latinx refugee-related outrages grows longer before the recording angel of this particular moment in the violent history of these Americas. Teargas, outlawed by the U.S. on the battlefield, has been used against Central American asylum-seekers attempting to enter from Tijuana including tender-age children. News stories have circulated revealing that the staff working at the infamous Tornillo detention facility had not been subjected to an FBI background checks, a decision made by the former director of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement. I write in the second week of Advent—only Lent do I love as much as—the liturgical season when Christians wait for God’s entrance into the wilds of embodiment in the form of Jesus of Nazareth born to the Virgin Mary. The Word made flesh. Light from light , reads the Nicene Creed in my missal, the light of the world coming into the world days after the winter solstice, the longest night of the solar year. And Christians, who collectively make up the body of Christ that the church is (for better and for worse), are waiting. Just as so many of us in the US are waiting for the American elected powers that be to recognize that the God in whom they profess belief became flesh in no Bethlehem inn room. In the least likely of circumstances for any divinity. And the easiest to overlook by anyone who forgets or misses the point that, as the medieval literature I study envisions it, Jesus was born in a humble manger. A Jewish child born to parents living under the oppression of Roman rule. Recently, I scrolled past a photograph on Facebook that stopped my index finger in its aimless tracking. The photo depicted a life-sized Nativity—Mary, Joseph, manger-laden Christ-child—set on a church lawn. To which the congregation had added chainlink fencing enclosing the Holy Family like every one of these recent families who’ve been placed behind the same. The families waiting at the authorized entry points at the mercy of every element. As the infant Jesus, however well-swaddled, was. I once wrote in a poem that “every city is Bethlehem on the solstice.” An ikon for this here and this now, the Holy Family detained (and potentially separated). And every refugee family, a holy— the Holy Family. References Anzaldúa, Gloria. Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. San Francisco: Aunt Lute, 1987. BCFS. https://bcfs.ne t . Forché, Carolyn. The Angel of History. New York: Harper Perennial, 1995. Langford, Terri and Jessica Hamel. “Interactive: Federal Children’s Shelters in Texas.” The Texas Tribune , June 24, 2014. ortiz, mónica teresa. muted blood . Black Radish Books, 2018. Pérez, Emmy. With the River on Our Face. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2016. Rich, Adrienne. An Atlas for the Difficult World. New York: Norton, 1991. Rukeyser, Muriel. Collected Poems of Muriel Rukeyser. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2006. Sáenz, Benjamin Alire. Elegies in Blue. El Paso: Cinco Punto Press, 2002. silva, ire’ne lara. flesh to bone. San Francisco: Aunt Lute, 2013. Southwest Key. www.swkey.org . Walters, Edgar, Ryan Murphy, and Darla Cameron. “The number of migrant children in Texas shelters spikes again, reaching new high under Trump.” The Texas Tribune , October 18, 2018. Wright, C.D. Cooling Time: An American Poetry Vigil. Port Townsend: Copper Canyon, 2005. Wright, Charles. Half-Life: Improvisations and Interviews, 1977-1987. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1988. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Originally from South Texas, John Fry is the author of with the dogstar as my witness (Orison Books, 2018), which was a finalist for the Orison Poetry Prize, the Dorset Prize, and the Nightboat Poetry Prize. His poems and lyric essays have appeared or are forthcoming in West Branch , Colorado Review , Blackbird , Waxwing , and Denver Quarterly , among others, and the anthologies Imaniman: Poets Writing in the Anzaldúan Borderlands (Aunt Lute, 2016) and New Border Voices: An Anthology (Texas A&M UP, 2014). A graduate of Texas State University’s MFA program in Creative Writing, he’s currently a poetry editor for Newfound Journal and a doctoral candidate in English at the University of Texas at Austin, where he’s writing a dissertation on medieval English poetry, and an Assistant Program Coordinator in the University Writing Center. He lives in the Texas Hill Country. Website John Fry About the Artist John Fry Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art 1) Dilley, TX | South Texas Family Residential Center | Capacity: 2,400 [Jesus is condemned to death] you pledged allegiance to the Lamb View Full Written Work If Obadiah walked the stations of the cross By John Fry “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”— Leviticus 19:33-34 “this is not somewhere else but here” —Adrienne Rich 1) Dilley, TX | South Texas Family Residential Center | Capacity: 2,400 [Jesus is condemned to death] you pledged allegiance to the Lamb like life liberty & the pursuit of happiness one nation under God indivisibly with the liberty I already said justice for all but I’m walking around the roads this country this state signified by a lone star like the star everyone hung their hopes upon two millenia isn’t really so long ago if you think about it I shouldn’t even be here where not one of them should sisters brothers you no longer know as how have you forgotten so much when there’s so much farther to walk Lord knows I’ve my doubts about whether the eyes of your heart are open but I’ve come a long way to remind you that you pledged allegiance to the Lamb my God my God you’re killing Him 2) Raymondville, TX | BCFS HHS International Emergency Children’s Shelter | Capacity: 48 [Jesus carries his cross] so easily you can’t remember the words of that holy book you brandish everywhere made into a graven image worshipped chiseled from the hardest of heartstone an idol fashioned of sharp edges only unable to see or hear or touch or taste did Elijah teach you nothing at all with the charred end of a scapula pulled from the pyre your imaginary enemies are smoke bothers your eyes no longer able to read what words actually say now that they wait in chainlink cages from 8 months to 17 years of age you name them “enemies” cannot conceive violence leaves everyone a refugee some of them arriving unaccompanied others with adults you’ve removed them from because jail is no place for children detention facilities reclassified as childcare centers that the law be faithfully upheld with space blankets that feel like tinfoil 3) San Benito, TX | Southwest Key Casa Antigua | Capacity: 260 [Jesus falls the first time] will you hear that still small voice one gutter above a whisper I’m sorry I cannot help stop what’s coming the story’s already written everyone knows how it ends so why am I here tasked to tell something just God alone knows our feet remember as we walk on this Via Dolorosa road yes understand you’re writing it all over again you don’t seem to realize true Texas isn’t the Jerusalem of old by your dim lights but to God’s always every then is now & now then again 4) San Antonio, TX | BCFS Region Children’s Assessment Center | Capacity: 152 [Jesus meets his mother] now wait a damn minute you say was that Spanish this isn’t who we are say this bristling now angry you’re happy no longer walking here that you brought your children to something supposed to be about religion no less than the Passion Catholicism not at all required but not politics Lord anything else yet what did you think this was says the Lord why are we here if not to shelter each other clearly you’ve yet to learn the sun has never set where 5) Karnes City, TX | Karnes City Residential Center | Capacity: 1,158 [Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry his cross] what’s so very hard to understand are the gospels not your daily bread maybe one of the saints can help Cristo no tiene cuerpo sino el tuyo no tiene manos o pies en la tierra sino los tuyos tuyos son los ojos con los que ve la compasión en este mundo tuyos son los pies con los que camina para hacer el bien tuyas son las manos con el que bendice todo el mundo do you know what this means O people no translating isn’t a prophet’s job 6) Harlingen, TX | BCFS International Children’s Shelter | Capacity: 290 [Veronica wipes the face of Jesus] you won’t like it but it bears repeating the Lamb says En verdad les digo que en cuando ustedes no lo hicieron a uno de los mas pequeños de éstos tampoco a mi lo hicieron 7) Conroe, TX | Southwest Key Conroe | Capacity: 120 [Jesus falls the second time] look if you accepted the Lamb as your Lord this shouldn’t be so difficult if the water’s invisibly marked your forehead forever as God’s O my people why do your ears not see who’s weeping do your eyes not hear who’s weeping once twice three times a rooster’s crowed you look nothing like Peter but are like the disciples dreaming in Gethsemane as someone without dignity denies less than a goodbye kiss for her-his children while you wring your hands as if asleep do not look away you pale of face says the Lord it’s time to wake it’s time to wake the fuck up 8) Manvel, TX | Shiloh Treatment Center | Capacity: 43 [Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem] maybe this will rattle your memory loose así dice el Señor se oye una voz en Ramá lamento y llanto amargo Raquel llora por sus hijos I will translate only once for you Rachel weeps for her children words indeed spoken by another prophetic speech is never welcome mothers fathers aunts uncles cousins sisters brothers weep refusing to eat cannot call or write do not know where their children are can you imagine such a hell at all could you abide the Sheol of it knowing your child yes the littlest one must be crying not knowing if is anyone going to wipe her wet face will someone hold his crying head 9) Clint, TX | Southwest Key Casita Del Valle | Capacity: 97 [Jesus falls a third time] feeling personally attacked you yell such a predictable litany of protestations say I didn’t do this am not responsible it puts one in mind of that parable you know I am not who you should be blaming that makes believers break out in hives these people should have crossed legally on Sundays when in the gospel according to obey the law or suffer the consequences ever ask yourself which one of them you are can’t believe they brought their children anyway are you the priest or perhaps you’re the Levite whatever is going on in Mexico Central America good Samaritans are nowhere to be found things can’t possibly be as bad as they’re saying 10) Brownsville, TX | Southwest Key Casa Padre | Capacity: 1,500 (approximately) [Jesus’ clothes are taken away] to avoid getting punished or receiving “vitamin” cocktails against their will Klonopin Geodon Zyprexa etcetera children observe the following or else — do not misbehave — do not sit on the floor — do not share your food — do not use nicknames — lights out at 9pm — crying may hurt your asylum case — lights on at dawn — make your bed — wash mop bathrooms scrub sinks toilets — do not touch each other even to comfort a sibling — absolutely no running — absolutely no horseplay — no letter writing no phone calls — several hours of schooling — if you’re good you can play videogames — if you’re good you can make friendship bracelets one by one moo after the flourescents wink out like a herd of cattle spangled by the night sky instead of more than a thousand young boys mooing in a once-Walmart renamed Casa Padre as if it were any kind of father’s house 11) Baytown, TX | BCFS HHS International Children’s Services Emergency Shelter | Capacity: 168 [Jesus is nailed to the cross] I could have sworn you called this a Christian nation following your founding fathers do you not declare wait now the separation of church & state applies when beholding the faces of desperate women men children those founding families fled persecution violence that they then visited a thousandfold here understand Golgotha isn’t a place of the past it is wherever the body of Christ has been broken if we refuse the responsibility to suffer with sandpaper throats blisters for soles sunburn like you can’t even believe the only signs of life a cow gone to skull buzzards circling around water jugs emptied on video by the Border Patrol death has a body here in the Wild Horse Desert so exactly what kind of Christianity is this again every day Good Friday when Golgotha’s where you live 12) Fabens, TX | Tornillo Detention Facility | Capacity: 4,000 (approximately) [Jesus dies on the cross] not just at the sky-darkening hour heaven’s endless light-years witness every star breathed then named by the Lord neither slumbers nor sleeps says though your nest is set among the stars from there I will bring you down for you gloated over your brother on the day of his misfortune it shall be done to you on this day when you stand idly aside beneath the desert sun’s implacable eye children walk single-file in an internment camp 13) Falfurrias, TX | Sacred Heart Burial Park [The body of Jesus is taken down from the cross] Lord whose mercy remembers the forgotten los desaparecidos Brooks County buried en masse plots named after the most sacred of hearts without respect for the dead found in chaparral more than 160 persons whose remains were dumped in mass graves multiple bodies in one body bag skulls stashed between coffins worst of all in shopping & trash bags bones jumbled together no way to notify next of kin unless she or he left a name telephone number in ink that can withstand what happens when a body begins to decompose in case you were wondering how this could happen at all is it even legal according to the Texas Rangers no law as yet exists to prevent this desecration 14) Corpus Christi, TX | Bokencamp Corpus Christi Lutheran Social Services | Capacity: 120 [Jesus is laid in the tomb] Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world do not have mercy on us Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world do not have mercy on us Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world do not grant us peace Close Loading Video . . . 1) Dilley, TX | South Texas Family Residential Center | Capacity: 2,400 [Jesus is condemned to death] you pledged allegiance to the Lamb Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . In this set of images, Jonathon Roberts imagines cows sharing deep truths about the toil of work, as expressed in Ecclesiastes 3. This exploration is also inspired by a letter-turned-song from his father, a veterinarian for dairy cattle, shared in his artist statement. Ecclesiastes 3:9-22 Ecclesiastes Cows By Jonathon Roberts Credits: Photo Credit: FreePhotoBank.com Artist location: New York City/Wisconsin Curated by: Spark+Echo Arts 2010 Digital images, satire, music Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link The way Ecclesiastes talks about meaninglessness and the toil of work has always captivated me. Around the time I was thinking about these concepts, my father, John Roberts, a veterinarian who primarily serves dairy farms, sent me a letter. He is a beautiful writer and often has poignant thoughts about his work and his life in rural northern Wisconsin. The letter turned into a song called "State of the Art Veterinarian." This got me thinking about cows and the way they stare at us, at farmers and veterinarians as they work. What are they thinking about? Do they have some sort of wisdom or insight into the meaningless and toil of work? Then, to be honest, it just really made me smile and laugh to think of cows speaking verses from Ecclesiastes. So... there you go. Oh, one more thing. I often imagine an Ecclesiastes cow would make a great t-shirt. Who's with me? Here is the design by Paula Roberts . We're already half way there! Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection J onathon Roberts is a composer and sound designer for games, film, theatre, and ensembles. His style grew out of classical and jazz training, and evolved through quality life adventures: touring the country in an RV with a one person theater piece on the Apostle Paul, living in Brooklyn with an improv music ensemble, performing in a downtown NYC absurdist comedy band, and a long stint writing music for the renowned slot machine company, High 5 Games. He has released four albums including the latest, Cities a song cycle personifying biblical cities. He created the popular podcast/web series ComposerDad Vs. Bible , in which ComposerDad accepts intense compositional challenges from a mysterious Bible while out with his kids. He frequently collaborates on music and theater projects with his wife, actor Emily Clare Zempel. They live in Beacon, NY, with their two boys and a tangled box of electrical cords. www.jonathonroberts.com Website Jonathon Roberts About the Artist Loving Arms I Make Tents The Sower Response There Is Room These are My Sons Consider Me a Partner Weakness The Day Is Almost Here Surrogate Babbler Remember Me Prayer How Beautiful I Am a Fool The Constant Blessing Fools for Christ More Than Rubies Only a Few Years Will Pass Dear Friend Jonathon Roberts Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . This song by returning multi-disciplinary artist Aaron Beaumont beautifully captures a sense of ache and hopeful longing felt in the midst of suffering in response to 2 Thessalonians 1:5,11; 2:15-17. 2 Thessalonians 1:5 2 Thessalonians 1:11 2 Thessalonians 2:15–17 Lightness of the Pines By Aaron Beaumont Credits: Written, Performed, Produced by Aaron Beaumont Violin and Viola by Pauline Kim Harris Cello by Christine Kim Curated by: Spark+Echo Arts 2018 Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link I made the mistake of telling my primary care physician that I’m “probably a hypochondriac” on my first visit. He gives me unequivocal side-eye whenever I pass by his office, apparently healthy, to pick up a referral (his office being en route to the train, I have ample occasion to evaluate the nuances of my health). His skepticism isn’t without merit. I’m in good health, and if anything, tend to go longer than I should between check-ups. However, while not quite What-About-Bob level, when some faceless infirmity does arise, you might as well call me Henny Penny Beaumont. I’ve mistaken mild gum recession for an abscess in need of a life-saving root canal. Or there was the time I needed either A) a day or two to properly break in my new shoes or B) knee replacement surgery. It turns out it was the former. Phew!) Goodness knows how much shade Doctor P. would’ve thrown had I only been able to determine which and how many surgeons to call that one time I had heartburn. Point is, however minor the affliction, when something hurts, I want relief. What stands out to me in this text is its conspicuous lack of relief. The recipients of Paul’s letter find themselves suspended in a state of “suffering,” awaiting some ambiguous future reckoning. Justice may be “on the way,” but this seems a cold comfort to anyone currently in distress. And yet, this does not preclude them from finding “unending help,” “confidence,” “a fresh heart,” invigorated work, and enlivened speech. The act of sitting with one’s suffering, unresolved and uncomfortable, let alone finding in it “a fresh heart” would seem anathema to a thinking, feeling human. It only seems possible through some transformative inner reframing - spiritual work allowing distance between thought and thinker, feeling and feeler. This extension of the passage intrigues me most - the idea, as in Job’s story, of sitting in the ashes of human experience, in the bleakest parts, in places where we’re perhaps unmoored from spiritual anchors, and rather than attempting to hurry through, escape, or evaluate our circumstances as somehow curative or punitive, simply abiding in them. Easier said than done, right?! Our instinct in darkness is to find a light, and in discomfort to restore and relieve. While suffering may ultimately become a seed for growth and even triumph, and darkness may compel us forward to some breakthrough, we aren’t naturally given to mindfully considering that place in which there is no light at the end of the figurative tunnel. We’ve all heard platitudes like “it’s always darkest before dawn.” But what about when it’s just plain dark? This is the space I tried to imagine in my piece… albeit reluctantly at first! This isn’t my first Spark and Echo rodeo (it is in fact my sixth official S&E post!). Therefore I should know by now that when I tell Program Manager Rebecca that “the vibe I’m feeling” is something “more redemptive,” this naturally consigns me to instead exploring the Dark Night of the Soul, “a period of spiritual desolation suffered by a mystic in which all sense of consolation is removed.” As such, I took pains (no pun intended) to resist pat assurances of comfort or redemption here, and rather, sought to consider the act of sitting within a fathomless, desolate, indeterminate wilderness of mind or spirit. As in my previous (admittedly sunnier, zoological-leaning ) Spark pieces, I rely heavily on nature as the exploratory vehicle. Along with a “night vs day” dichotomy and seasonal imagery, I use “the pines” symbolically as an allusion to the Biblical cross (as a likely candidate for its make-up), the eponymous traditional song, and a literal pinebox, and as a literal impenetrable natural setting. I attempt to subvert the “blind vs sighted” and “night vs day” binaries by acknowledging their distinctive modes of perception, rather than conceiving one as simply a lack of some property in the other. Similarly, the string arrangement and palette serve as a foil to somewhat sonically undercut, complicate, and perhaps ultimately elevate the bleakness. I tilled the lyrical fields by re-visiting favorite literary seekers and grapplers: R. S. Thomas , R. M. Rilke , and Wendell Berry. Referencing Berry’s “Peace of Wild Things” in the last stanza, the singer re-imagines God as a solitary beast ranging over this spiritual wild, shunning crowds and cluttered daylight, unencumbered by the limited projections of our faith, yet nevertheless kindred in his own infinite loneliness positioned as the Most High. There’s a sort of “dark night of the soul” at the beginning of every new project, especially one with few parameters, and usually a point in the middle where I think to myself, “maybe I just won’t show this one to anyone.” Here again, as is my S&E M.O., I’ve wandered outside my musical comfort zone, and in the process created something I find, in the end, tonally awkward and ill at ease - perhaps not intentional, but also maybe fitting, given the subject. As a self-professed pop-head, I committed a cardinal sin of pop lyricism - while I set out to write a lyric, in the end I only managed something more like a poem, which, for me, a lyric should never be. I try to use a weird word or two in every song for fun (the hopeless word-nerd in me is shamelessly amused to no end by, say, rhyming “ocelot” with “...Spanish moss I thought”). That said, I don’t see “fathomless” or “unfettered” going into regular lyrical rotation anytime soon! However, rather than retreat to the warm, familiar blanket of pop convention, I leaned into the more oblique, imagistic, less easily-digestible lyricism, for better or worse. Similarly, I resisted my usual maximalist urge for a florid vocal arrangement and kitchen-sink orchestration. But in the spirit of this project and text, I will sit within the artistic discomfort, and abide the dark night of my sunny pop-loving soul. However, if my pop-loving soul still hurts in the morning, I’m probably stopping by Dr. P.’s for a referral. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Aaron Beaumont has toured the U.S. and Europe as a pianist and songwriter and been invited to share his work in wide-ranging venues from the Sziget Festival in Budapest to KCRW Santa Monica to the Tribeca Film Festival to off-Broadway Theatre 80 in the East Village to the main stage of the West Hollywood Carnaval. L.A. Weekly wrote that Aaron's music brings "a new life to the ancient music-hall/pop piano-man tradition, with clear-headed songs of genuinely witty lyrical oomph and, most of all, a historically informed musical depth – all delivered with style, grace, wit and elan, of course." Aaron wrote one song, arranged two others, and served as a piano performance coach for the feature Permission (Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens, Jason Sudeikis, 2017 Tribeca Film Festival), which premieres worldwide February 2018. He also contributed two songs to the forthcoming series Dan is Dead (Drake Bell, Maker Studios) and two songs to the indie feature film Alex & Jaime (2017 Roxbury International Film Festival). Aaron contributed an original co-write (“17”) and several arrangements to Gil McKinney’s 2017 debut album, How Was I to Know, which reached #1 on the iTunes jazz chart and #8 on the Billboard jazz chart. He also co-wrote “Good Love” for Briana Buckmaster’s 2018 debut album (#1 iTunes blues, #3 Billboard blues). Other recent TV and film placements include original songs written for Cedar Cove (Andie McDowell) and Where Hope Grows (Billy Zabka, Danica McKellar; Dallas Film Festival, Roadside Attractions). Aaron has composed original scores for films and theatrical productions, including All the Lovely Wayside Things; Tall, Dark, and Handsome; Heart; Until We Have Faces; Shrew; The Fire Room; the Breakfast Show with Adam O; Companion; and Beyond Imagination, winning best score and sound design at the Hollywood Fringe Festival for his work on Fugitive Kind’s production of The Fire Room by Ovation Award-winning playwright Meghan Brown. In 2016, Aaron wrote a commissioned work for the Spark & Echo Arts project, and in 2017 Aaron created a larger scale work as an Artist in Residence. Aaron also works as an in-house arranger, producer, composer, and mix engineer for the Gregory Brothers / Schmoyoho, whose original music has earned them a gold and platinum record and nearly one billion views on YouTube, along with myriad collaborations on other platforms. Recent Gregory Brothers collabs include the Justice League film (ft. Gary Clark Jr.), Weird Al Yankovic, Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bassnectar, Alex Wassabi, LaurDIY, Markiplier, Slow Mo Guys, Todrick Hall, J. Fla, The Resident (Fox Network), and the International Olympic Channel. Songs Aaron has worked on with the Gregory Brothers have received over 175 million plays on YouTube. In 2015, Aaron participated in the Ultraviolet Music and Arts Festival in Los Angeles as a featured artist and presenter, and performed with his band The Mots Nouveaux for the 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 Rockwood Music Festival in Frankfurt, Germany. Aaron wrote the music and lyrics to the original musical, Behind Closed Doors, which sold out every performance at the historic Hayworth Theater, received multiple Broadway World L.A. Award nominations, and played for thousands of festival goers on the main stage of the West Hollywood Carnaval. Behind Closed Doors was selected to participate in the New York International Fringe Festival as a national show, enjoying a mostly oversold run at off-Broadway Theatre 80 in the East Village. Aaron was selected as a finalist as a composer and lyricist for the Fred Ebb Foundation / Roundabout Theatre Company Fred Ebb Award for musical theater songwriters, and received the Hal Gaba Scholarship for Excellence in Lyrics from UCLA/Concord Records. Aaron is currently developing new musicals with playwrights Meghan Brown, Andrew Crabtree, Peter Berube, and Cassandra Christensen, and a one-woman show with soprano Lorelei Zarifian. Lorelei and Aaron’s first musical triptych, Midtown Antoinette, was featured on NPR-affiliate WFIT in March 2016 and debuted as part of the Florida Tech / Foosaner Museum French Film Festival. Aaron also occasionally helps produce the outrageous bingo raves phenomenon, Rebel Bingo, in New York and Los Angeles, as featured in the L.A. Times, Guardian, and BBC , and recently played a run of five capacity shows in the downtown L.A.’s Globe Theatre as part of 2016 Night on Broadway. Aaron has collaborated as pianist, musical director, and/or co-writer with a panoply of music buddies, including Jason Manns, Gil McKinney, Sara Niemietz, Tim Omundsen, Dave Yaden, Nicholas Zork, Aaron Roche, Nick Bearden, Emma Fitzpatrick, Amanda Wallace, Shane Alexander, Ben Jaffe, Brett Young, Courtney Bassett, Eden Malyn, Luis Selgas, Aly French, Sam Heldt, Karma Jenkins, Emily Iaquinta, Lynette Williams, Meshach Jackson, Roy Mitchell-Cardenas, Kamasi Washington, Chad Doreck, J.T. Spangler, and Katrina Parker. He claimed several distinctions as a young classical pianist, including two-time Wisconsin Academy Musician of the Year, Andrews University Concerto Competition Finalist, and the British Royal Conservatory of Music Award of Highest Distinction for Piano Performance at the Newbold Creative Arts Festival. He currently serves as co-chair of the Carnegie Hill Concert Series in New York, featuring leading interpreters of classical and New Music from around the globe. In 2015, Aaron founded SongLab, an online songwriting community for emerging songwriters. The inaugural SongLab Series welcomed GRAMMY-winner Dave Yaden as special guest. In addition to working with other artists, Aaron performs as one-third of the pop trio, The Mots Nouveaux, alongside vocalists Emma Fitzpatrick and Amanda Wallace. The band celebrated their latest album release with a residency at Hotel Café, a six-month residency at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, and residencies at Rockwood Music Hall and Sidewalk Café in New York. They were invited to join the lineup for the Broke L.A. Music Festival in downtown Los Angeles, where Lyynks music hailed their set as the “greatest revelation” of the festival, one that “really thrilled the crowd” of thousands at the Lounge Stage (GroundSounds.com). The Mots Nouveaux recorded a new EP in Spring 2017 with co-producer Peter Barbee / Among Savages, with forthcoming tracks slated for 2018 release. Aaron released his debut solo project, Nothing's Forever (Not Even Goodbye), featuring the first ten songs he wrote, on Milan Records (Warner-Ryko) in 2008. In his spare time, Aaron enjoys playing the piano, traveling, eating, writing songs, making coffee, drinking coffee, collecting records, going for brisk walks, being near coffee, and composing extensive autobiographical sketches in the third person. Website Aaron Beaumont About the Artist Artist in Residence 2017: Aaron Beaumont - Part 3 Artist in Residence 2017: Aaron Beaumont - Part 2 Artist in Residence 2017: Aaron Beaumont - Part 1 Artist in Residence 2017: Aaron Beaumont Narwhal and Ocelot (Dietary Restrictions) Aaron Beaumont Other Works By Read the lyrics to "Lightness of the Pines." Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . This soulful piece, composed by Nehemiah Luckett in response to Joel 2:3, produces a sound that is reminiscent of church choirs combined with Broadway. Joel 2:3 Devouring Fire By Nehemiah Luckett Credits: Composed and Performed by Nehemiah Luckett Curated by: Katie Reimer 2017 Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link It should be noted that while I was ruminating on this piece many wildfires broke out around the world; from North America to Europe to Greenland. 2017 was an unprecedented year for both actual and metaphorical fires. In this piece I wanted to explore the inner monologue of the lone voice crying out in the wilderness to anyone who will listen. Inspired by Joel and T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland and in conversation with my engineer, producer and friend, Travis Tench, we landed on the concept of a solitary figure seeing this all consuming fire approaching. The sparseness of the orchestration reflects the stunning effect of this vision. Throughout the song with increasing intensity the warning bell sounds: "Fire!" Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Originally from Jackson, Mississippi, Nehemiah Luckett has been composing, conducting and performing for over 20 years. He has been a featured soloist at the National Cathedral, Carnegie Hall and has performed all over the US and Europe. He has composed solo, choral and instrumental pieces. His Secular Mass (a five movement work for chorus, string quartet and oboe) was premiered in 2004. In 2015 he was commissioned by Greenpeace UK to compose Requiem for Arctic Ice: The Northernmost Par t. In January 2017 his piece Kyrie 2017 was premiered at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. He has also written two full length musicals: Hamlet: Prince of Funk (1999) based on the Shakespearean classic with collaborators Owen Beverly (Evans) and Matthew Smith and Brick by Brick (2006), based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe with collaborator, Ross Wade. Nehemiah is the Music Director and composer for Rev. Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir and is the choral accompanist and Drama teacher for Manhattan Country School. He has a deep gratitude for Power APAC (Academic and Performing Arts Complex) in Jackson, Mississippi where he studied music and theater and his family that allowed him to dream crazy dreams. Website Nehemiah Luckett About the Artist Nehemiah Luckett Other Works By Read the lyrics: "Devouring Fire" Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

aaron-beaumont-air-post-3-feat.jpg Loading Video . . . One of my earlier memories is a short exchange I had with my mom when I was somewhere around 4 or 5 years old, probably at the end of summer. I sat on my bed ruefully, and mom came in to investigate the cause of distress. Find the complete progression of the work linked below. Daniel 4 Artist in Residence 2017: Aaron Beaumont - Part 3 By Aaron Beaumont Credits: Curated by: Spark & Echo Arts, Artist in Residence 2017 Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link September 18, 2017 One of my earlier memories is a short exchange I had with my mom when I was somewhere around 4 or 5 years old, probably at the end of summer. I sat on my bed ruefully, and mom came in to investigate the cause of distress. I informed her that my gloominess was down to the realization that I was growing up, and the fact that I didn’t want to. You might say I’ve had a adult-sized dose of nostalgia from birth. While, paradoxically, I’ve usually welcomed change, moving coast to coast, switching schools nearly every year, marauding over the frontier of my comfort zone, I’ve been equally obsessed with preserving my own past, or guilt-stricken when I fail to do so. This summer I pawed through a mountain of boxes back home in Illinois, filled with travel maps, notes from classmates, restaurant receipts, train fares, soccer jerseys, book reports, and concert tickets — I’m not a pack rat (he tells himself in the mirror every morning)… at least not in the age of limitless digital photos and magical apps like Genius Scan. Obsessively documenting and recording one’s life is not unique — rather, it seems like a prerequisite of the social media age. Grappling with this passage’s complicated depiction of madness (presumed to be clinical lycanthropy), while simultaneously grappling with whether or not to keep that 90s era 6 Days, 7 nights movie stub, or simply take a photo of it, finally revealed something of the crux of Nebuchadnezzar’s plight: he found himself suddenly bereft of a past. The sudden absence of my own history, of memories of any kind, would for me represent the purest kind of madness, and maybe the worst kind of hell. Uprooted, and thrown into a completely unfamiliar state, the king had no context or sense of identity — one might even imagine Nebuchadnezzar as having been “born” into some new reality, plunging from solipsism into a complete loss of self. Indeed, the relationship between what we are and what we imagine ourselves to have been is challenging enough at full mental capacity. Imagining such a state, and ruminating generally on the dynamic nature of identity and the fragmentary process of memory-and-meaning-making, guided much of my progress on my project during this phase. “Sampling” seemed an especially well suited analogue to this exploration of identity, memory, permanence, and personal histories. As such, I’ve made use of dozens of samples from my own existing musical catalogue, all the way back to my very earliest recordings of the first songs I ever wrote. Similarly, I’ve used field recordings and audio samples from my own life – time I’ve spent with my family, the sounds of rooms and rivers and seashells and fireworks. Many of these field recordings did not originate for this project, but rather out of my own quest to simply remember and record things that are most important to me. I tried to choose from these recordings samples that represent a journey through the wonder and terror of newness and things that might relate the very human experience of birth, growing, and self-realization to the story in Daniel 4. I also tried to place more emphasis on the mania, darkness, and alienation of Nebuchadnezzar’s bestial state, represented in the unsettling disintegration sketched out in movement three with its chopped and mangled samples and heavy effects. I’ve pieced all these materials into a very rough construction of the full musical collage, which I’ve imagined in five movements (expanding on the four sketches I included in post #2 ). In addition to considerable polishing, mixing, rearranging, and inevitably, trimming, I plan to record more live instruments to flesh out the sections, and especially, add non-sampled vocals for movements three through five. All music written, performed, and produced by Aaron Beaumont. 2017 Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Aaron Beaumont has toured the U.S. and Europe as a pianist and songwriter and been invited to share his work in wide-ranging venues from the Sziget Festival in Budapest to KCRW Santa Monica to the Tribeca Film Festival to off-Broadway Theatre 80 in the East Village to the main stage of the West Hollywood Carnaval. L.A. Weekly wrote that Aaron's music brings "a new life to the ancient music-hall/pop piano-man tradition, with clear-headed songs of genuinely witty lyrical oomph and, most of all, a historically informed musical depth – all delivered with style, grace, wit and elan, of course." Aaron wrote one song, arranged two others, and served as a piano performance coach for the feature Permission (Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens, Jason Sudeikis, 2017 Tribeca Film Festival), which premieres worldwide February 2018. He also contributed two songs to the forthcoming series Dan is Dead (Drake Bell, Maker Studios) and two songs to the indie feature film Alex & Jaime (2017 Roxbury International Film Festival). Aaron contributed an original co-write (“17”) and several arrangements to Gil McKinney’s 2017 debut album, How Was I to Know, which reached #1 on the iTunes jazz chart and #8 on the Billboard jazz chart. He also co-wrote “Good Love” for Briana Buckmaster’s 2018 debut album (#1 iTunes blues, #3 Billboard blues). Other recent TV and film placements include original songs written for Cedar Cove (Andie McDowell) and Where Hope Grows (Billy Zabka, Danica McKellar; Dallas Film Festival, Roadside Attractions). Aaron has composed original scores for films and theatrical productions, including All the Lovely Wayside Things; Tall, Dark, and Handsome; Heart; Until We Have Faces; Shrew; The Fire Room; the Breakfast Show with Adam O; Companion; and Beyond Imagination, winning best score and sound design at the Hollywood Fringe Festival for his work on Fugitive Kind’s production of The Fire Room by Ovation Award-winning playwright Meghan Brown. In 2016, Aaron wrote a commissioned work for the Spark & Echo Arts project, and in 2017 Aaron created a larger scale work as an Artist in Residence. Aaron also works as an in-house arranger, producer, composer, and mix engineer for the Gregory Brothers / Schmoyoho, whose original music has earned them a gold and platinum record and nearly one billion views on YouTube, along with myriad collaborations on other platforms. Recent Gregory Brothers collabs include the Justice League film (ft. Gary Clark Jr.), Weird Al Yankovic, Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bassnectar, Alex Wassabi, LaurDIY, Markiplier, Slow Mo Guys, Todrick Hall, J. Fla, The Resident (Fox Network), and the International Olympic Channel. Songs Aaron has worked on with the Gregory Brothers have received over 175 million plays on YouTube. In 2015, Aaron participated in the Ultraviolet Music and Arts Festival in Los Angeles as a featured artist and presenter, and performed with his band The Mots Nouveaux for the 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 Rockwood Music Festival in Frankfurt, Germany. Aaron wrote the music and lyrics to the original musical, Behind Closed Doors, which sold out every performance at the historic Hayworth Theater, received multiple Broadway World L.A. Award nominations, and played for thousands of festival goers on the main stage of the West Hollywood Carnaval. Behind Closed Doors was selected to participate in the New York International Fringe Festival as a national show, enjoying a mostly oversold run at off-Broadway Theatre 80 in the East Village. Aaron was selected as a finalist as a composer and lyricist for the Fred Ebb Foundation / Roundabout Theatre Company Fred Ebb Award for musical theater songwriters, and received the Hal Gaba Scholarship for Excellence in Lyrics from UCLA/Concord Records. Aaron is currently developing new musicals with playwrights Meghan Brown, Andrew Crabtree, Peter Berube, and Cassandra Christensen, and a one-woman show with soprano Lorelei Zarifian. Lorelei and Aaron’s first musical triptych, Midtown Antoinette, was featured on NPR-affiliate WFIT in March 2016 and debuted as part of the Florida Tech / Foosaner Museum French Film Festival. Aaron also occasionally helps produce the outrageous bingo raves phenomenon, Rebel Bingo, in New York and Los Angeles, as featured in the L.A. Times, Guardian, and BBC , and recently played a run of five capacity shows in the downtown L.A.’s Globe Theatre as part of 2016 Night on Broadway. Aaron has collaborated as pianist, musical director, and/or co-writer with a panoply of music buddies, including Jason Manns, Gil McKinney, Sara Niemietz, Tim Omundsen, Dave Yaden, Nicholas Zork, Aaron Roche, Nick Bearden, Emma Fitzpatrick, Amanda Wallace, Shane Alexander, Ben Jaffe, Brett Young, Courtney Bassett, Eden Malyn, Luis Selgas, Aly French, Sam Heldt, Karma Jenkins, Emily Iaquinta, Lynette Williams, Meshach Jackson, Roy Mitchell-Cardenas, Kamasi Washington, Chad Doreck, J.T. Spangler, and Katrina Parker. He claimed several distinctions as a young classical pianist, including two-time Wisconsin Academy Musician of the Year, Andrews University Concerto Competition Finalist, and the British Royal Conservatory of Music Award of Highest Distinction for Piano Performance at the Newbold Creative Arts Festival. He currently serves as co-chair of the Carnegie Hill Concert Series in New York, featuring leading interpreters of classical and New Music from around the globe. In 2015, Aaron founded SongLab, an online songwriting community for emerging songwriters. The inaugural SongLab Series welcomed GRAMMY-winner Dave Yaden as special guest. In addition to working with other artists, Aaron performs as one-third of the pop trio, The Mots Nouveaux, alongside vocalists Emma Fitzpatrick and Amanda Wallace. The band celebrated their latest album release with a residency at Hotel Café, a six-month residency at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, and residencies at Rockwood Music Hall and Sidewalk Café in New York. They were invited to join the lineup for the Broke L.A. Music Festival in downtown Los Angeles, where Lyynks music hailed their set as the “greatest revelation” of the festival, one that “really thrilled the crowd” of thousands at the Lounge Stage (GroundSounds.com). The Mots Nouveaux recorded a new EP in Spring 2017 with co-producer Peter Barbee / Among Savages, with forthcoming tracks slated for 2018 release. Aaron released his debut solo project, Nothing's Forever (Not Even Goodbye), featuring the first ten songs he wrote, on Milan Records (Warner-Ryko) in 2008. In his spare time, Aaron enjoys playing the piano, traveling, eating, writing songs, making coffee, drinking coffee, collecting records, going for brisk walks, being near coffee, and composing extensive autobiographical sketches in the third person. Website Aaron Beaumont About the Artist Artist in Residence 2017: Aaron Beaumont - Part 2 Artist in Residence 2017: Aaron Beaumont - Part 1 Lightness of the Pines Artist in Residence 2017: Aaron Beaumont Narwhal and Ocelot (Dietary Restrictions) Aaron Beaumont Other Works By Follow the development of Aaron's project by continuing to read his prior first , second and final posts written as 2017 Artist in Residence project. 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genesis1_3highres_1-smaller.jpg Loading Video . . . Actor/Photographer/Filmmaker Michael Markham has brought us a series of photographs in response to the theme of "Light and Darkness" from Genesis 1:3. Genesis 1:3 Genesis 1:3 By Michael Markham Credits: Curated by: Spark+Echo Arts 2013 Photography Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link In this passage I was struck by the ease with which God brought about light. He simply spoke it into existence. Then I thought about our modern scientific understanding of the origins of the universe. When God spoke light into existence it was the giant event that not only brought forth light, but every particle of matter in the Universe. And it is still expanding. Then I consider man's attempts to provide light for himself. I am intrigued by the moment of God's speaking and by the power with which that word is given creation. These images explore the beginning and extended moments of man-made light from the first spark of a match, to the phenomenon of a photographic flash, almost literally lightning caught in a glass bottle, and finally God's enduring creation of light, our sun. We struggle so hard to imitate in an incredibly finite way what God whispered into existence with such power and glory. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Michael Markham is an Actor/Filmmaker based out of New York City. His favorite roles in New York include Platonov in The Spectacular Demise of Platonov at Shapiro Theater; Frizer in christopher marlowe’s chloroform dreams at The Red Room with Lunar Energy; Giant in Giants at HERE; and The Singing Soldier in Mother Courage and Her Children at The New York Shakespeare Festival in Central Park. Film and television include Law & Order; When Things Fall Apart; Home Office; Fumes; Lies; Unearthed; Game Theory; and Blind Date. Though his production company KiteMonkey Productions Michael has created over 10 short films in the past 5 years. His currently project The Decades of Mason Carroll is currently in final stage of post production. Look for it on the festival circuit in 2018. Michael graduated from The Juilliard School Drama Division, and has a Bachelor of Arts in Acting from Washington University in St. Louis. He currently lives in Manhattan with his wife and two children. Website Michael Markham About the Artist The Call Michael Markham Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Elizabeth Dishman, along with dancers Rachel Korenstein and Caitlin Yuhas, created a beautiful piece of modern dance exploring Isaiah 43:2. Isaiah 43:2 Tide By Elizabeth Dishman Credits: Curated by: Emily SoRelle Adams 2012 Dance Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link "Tide" ponders the surging joys and frustrations of connecting with a God who many times answers our suffering simply by being present, by holding our heads above the waves rather than taking us out of the water. Our collaborative process began with a series of improvisations based on images of water, vulnerability and relational give and take. We then crafted set dance phrases that we transformed in various ways and built into duet structures. Finally, we brought in a large tub that on show day was filled with water, which added a third active and metaphoric presence to the work. Rachel and Caitlin joined me in searching out physical and emotional resonances that explored a fluctuating but sweet relationship inspired by God's promises to stay with us in life's surprising waters. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Elizabeth Dishman is the Artistic Director of Dishman + Co. Choreography, a Brooklyn-based experimental dance company founded in 2001. Originally from Colorado, she studied Voice Performance at Emory University, and Choreography at The Ohio State University. In pursuit of ineffable junctures between the abstract and theatrical, the universal and deeply personal, Elizabeth and her collaborators devote themselves to scrupulous exploration and ardent play, probing the elusiveness of live performance in search of lasting things. Over 15 years and 40+ original works, Dishman + Co.’s choreography has been described by critics as “complex skeins and cerebral dreams”, “bodies in rigorous concentration”, and “playful and provocative…raw humanity seeps in”. www.DishmanAndCo.org Website Elizabeth Dishman About the Artist dance in the dances Terra Firma Visitation Stranger Name Elizabeth Dishman Other Works By This piece was also performed at our event, Reflections on Water: New Works of Music, Dance, and Spoken Word Poetry . Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Musician and composer Peter Mawanga wrote this song of confession, pointing to hope for deliverance, in response to Judges 6:1-18. Judges 6:1-18 ULEMU By Peter Mawanga Credits: Music Lyrics + Composition by Peter Mawanga VOX + Lead Guitar by Peter Mawanga Second Guitar by Ndawa Nyanda Saxophone by Richards Mgala Bass Guitar by Alfred Sitolo Nkhoma Drums + Percussion by Lyson Chisuse Produced by Peter Mawanga Curated by: Spark+Echo Arts 2020 Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link The song is inspired by the book of Judges 6, verses 1-18. After the Israelites had sinned against God, He gave them into the hands of Midianites. Later, when they confessed to God and cried out for his forgiveness, God used Gideon to redeem them from the Midianites. ULEMU is a song of confession and total submission. Ndabwera pamaso panu, mogonja ndimothedwa nzeru Ndaona ukulu wanu ambuye ndilandireni inu (Here I am in total submission, I confess my sins and acknowledge you are my lord and saviour.) Ndayesayesa mwa nzeru zanga koma ndaperewera ndithu Ndazindikira kulakwa kwanga ambuye ndikhululukireni inu (I thought I could stand on my own, but instead I have fallen short of your glory, so please forgive me.) Ulemu ukhale kwa inu Ndi mtima wanga wonse ndipereka Ulemu kwa inu (With all my heart, I give glory and honour unto you.) Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Peter Mawanga has attracted worldwide acclaim with his music, the Nyanja vibes, performing on world stages in Africa, Europe and America. Not a stranger to the BBC and other media outlets, Mawanga has established himself as one of the living legends in Malawi and Africa. Blending traditional instruments as the Nyanja’s visekese, malimba , and kaligo , with contemporary instruments, he produces music that is fondly described by many as therapeutic, drawing from the Nyanja’s core values of peace and calm. The Nyanja are the most peaceful people in Africa and their country Malawi, which has never been at war, be it civil or otherwise, is known as the warm heart of Africa. Their instruments are deliberately designed to produce sounds that appeal to different feelings that aim at calming the nerves, celebrating life, pleading for peace and mostly merrymaking. It is from this source that Peter birthed the aMaravi movement and the celebrated Nyanja afro-vibes which mainly took off when he produced the now world renown album, Mawu A Malawi (The Voice of Malawi) , which featured stories of AIDS. For seven months Peter and colleagues had collected narratives from twenty-six of the most inspiring people they had ever met. They shared their loss, pain, joy, courage, and wisdom. The result of the project was Mawu a Malawi . The album was launched at the University of North Carolina and Department of State, making Peter Mawanga the first African musician to perform at the office of the Secretary of State. Since then, Peter’s performances have been holistic, characterized by song, film, dance, talks and sometimes dramatic monologues. His talks, among other things topics, are on: Malawian traditional sounds ; origins, use, relevance, relation to Africa and the world at large, the fusion with contemporary instruments, extinction, and preservation efforts. Music and dance in Malawi , the interplay of music in the social setup. Issues of identity, music as a people’s movement and a catalyst for life. Dance and tribal heritage. Talents of the Malawian Child Project Mawanga’s personal life (self-discovery) and involvement in projects for social change and economic empowerment. Peter, just like the Nyanjas of Malawi, believes that music goes beyond the ear, reaching out into the inner person to produce a healing power. It is one of the keys to a peaceful mind. Website Peter Mawanga About the Artist Nambala Wani NDAUPENYA ASAMALA Peter Mawanga Other Works By Listen without video here: Spark and Echo Arts · ULEMU (Live Studio Version) – Peter Mawanga Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Dancer and teacher Sarah Pope brought together a community to collaboratively create and perform a performance response to their interpretation of Acts 2:42-47. Acts 2:42-47 Growing Together By Sarah Pope Credits: Project Created with Members from Greenwood Baptist Church Curated by: Michael Markham 2016 Dance Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link To create “Growing Together,” I held weekly dance/Bible study workshops with Greenwood Baptist Church community members ages 8-80. None were professional dancers. Resources I used to influence our dance classes included the BrainDance as well as the Dance for Solidarity . I also drew heavily on my experience as a dance teacher and facilitator using creative dance, which is often thought of in relation to young children experiencing dance for the first time. The specific practice of drawing words from text and creating movements to them is widely used in dance education contexts (children in an elementary school classroom choosing words from a poem and creating movements to them) as well professional, collaborative dance creation processes (text generated by the artists, or poems or other writings, being mined for meaning and the inspiration for dance phrase material). I saw that the creative dance practice had exegetical applications. So, it was important to me not only to “make a dance work inspired by Acts 2:42-47” but to bring transparency to the process of doing so: highlighting the community-building and the collaborative aspects of creating from the text with members of my church family who were interested in dancing although they were not necessarily “dancers.” We used the verses as instructions for creating together as a community of faith. The result was not only “Growing Together” but, also, growing together as a community of faith — becoming more like the early church described in Acts 2:42-47. Inspired by this process, I have decided to continue offering dance-based Bible studies at Greenwood Baptist Church. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Sarah Pope is a Brooklyn-based dance artist, dance & fitness educator, and clown. She has worked with many dance companies in New York, most recently Mark Lamb Dance and Renee Gerardo Dances. Her clown character, SarahBesque, debuted new work at the NY Clown Theatre Festival at The Brick Theater , September 2016. As an educator she has taught in many NYC public schools with Together in Dance , as well as at Spoke the Hub Dancing and the Prospect Park YMCA. For the 13 years she has been located in NYC, Sarah has actively served as a volunteer and a staff member at Metro Baptist Church, where she performs regularly with Mark Lamb Dance. She is currently a member of Greenwood Baptist Church in Park Slope. Website Sarah Pope About the Artist Sarah Pope Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

April Knighton Leviticus16 V2 Loading Video . . . Responding to Leviticus 16, this beautiful painting by April Knighton explores the hope of reconciliation in the midst of a list of rules. Leviticus 16 Scapegoat By April Abesamis Knighton Credits: Curated by: SEA 2021 6 x 4 feet Acrylics on Canvas Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link Like many (I'm sure), I'd never spent much time reading the book of Leviticus. From a distance, it presents itself as a book of long, winding passages with plenty of unintelligible phrases. How could I illuminate a text that seems obscure and repulsive? In a book that centers around the rituals and legal practices that defined the Old Testament, the chapter of Leviticus 16 stood out for me. It suggests hope. A promise of atonement in the midst of rules and rituals. Leviticus highlights the consequence of sin and the cost of resolution. As I painted this piece, I constantly thought of several themes over and over: sin, absolution, and restoration of relationship. In the process, my heart always longed for the latter. How is that restoration possible within the complicated and often-confusing paradigm of a devastated, yet hopeful, world? Leviticus 16 makes it seem impossible to experience a restoration of relationship with God. It presents a daunting process that culminates in resolution through the physical embodiment of ritualistic forgiveness. My heart longed for reprieve. Is there an alternative path? This work explores the multi-faceted and often dichotomized relationship between consequence and promise, and unrealistic laws and hope. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection April Abesamis Knighton is a Chicago-based artist as well as a registered art therapist and licensed clinical counselor. She received her Master of Arts in Art Therapy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) in 2012 and has extensive experience helping individuals struggling with depression, anxiety, substance abuse, sexual assault, and trauma. She currently works as an art therapist/psychotherapist at a private practice using integrative, trauma-informed, and compassion-focused therapy. A certified Mental Health First Aid Instructor, accredited by the National Council for Behavioral Health, April previously worked as the Mental Health Promotion Specialist and Art Therapist at SAIC, managing a federal grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), providing therapeutic support to students, and curating a variety of art exhibits showcasing art and its ability to transcend stigma. Her work at SAIC also focused on initiating creative programming that promoted mental health and wellness, which was featured on NBC’s TODAY Show and highlighted by professional organizations — including the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD), American Art Therapy Association (AATA) and Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault (ICASA). Trained in multiple disciplines with a deep appreciation for outsider art, April’s art practice currently centers around oil and acrylic painting and digital illustration. Website April Abesamis Knighton About the Artist Until Then April Abesamis Knighton Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work