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Artists In Residence Spark+Echo Artists in Residence spend a year developing and creating a major work in response to Scripture. The progression of their work is documented and displayed throughout, and the final work is showcased. View This Work 2020 Artist in Residence: Marlanda Dekine Marlanda Dekine 2020 View This Work Artist in Residence 2019: Lancelot Schaubert Lancelot Schaubert 2019 View This Work Artist in Residence 2018: Elias Popa Elias Popa 2018 View This Work Artist in Residence 2017: Aaron Beaumont Aaron Beaumont 2017 View This Work Artist in Residence 2017: Lily Maase Lily Maase 2017 View This Work Artist in Residence 2016: Chris Knight Chris Knight 2016 View This Work Artist in Residence 2016: Stephanie Miracle Stephanie Miracle 2016 View This Work Artist in Residence 2016: Lauren Ferebee Lauren Ferebee 2016 View This Work Artist in Residence 2016: Ebitenyefa Baralaye – "Bam Bam" Ebitenyefa Baralaye 2016 View This Work Artist in Residence 2015: Spark & Echo Band The Spark & Echo Band 2015 View This Work Artist in Residence 2015: Jason DaSilva Jason DaSilva 2015 View This Work Artist in Residence 2015: Melissa Beck Melissa Beck 2015 View This Work Artist in Residence 2015: Don Nguyen Don Nguyen 2015 View This Work Artist in Residence 2015: Christine Suarez Christine Suarez 2015 View This Work Artist in Residence 2015: Benje Daneman Benje Daneman 2015 View This Work Artist in Residence 2013, Emily Ruth Hazel Emily Ruth Hazel 2013 View This Work Memories Nicora Gangi 2013

Loading Video . . . Oregon poet Nathan Hunt responds to Psalm 131, one of David's "song of ascents". Psalms 131 Psalm 131 By Nathan Hunt Credits: Artist Location: Eugene, Oregon Curated by: Jonathon 2011 Poetry Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link Psalm 131 is one of my favorite verses. I love that it is a song of ascents, sung as David climbs the steps to minister in the Temple, and yet his eyes are downcast. This is the great and still humility in the face of divine love. The Temple and the work there are the “great matters or things too wonderful for me” which David is ascending to, but instead of thinking of pomp and splendor, he’s quieting his soul. The central image, the soul stilled like a weaned child with its mother, is something I couldn’t possibly improve upon. And the final verse comes in as a triumphant refrain! I tried to interpret this psalm through imagery, through contrasting the glory and joyous noise of a parade with a speaker more enraptured by a small plant and its world. He thinks on a tiny, natural, sincere thing, rather than “great matters or things too wonderful…” I explored the child’s transformation from teething to weaned, as the great commotion makes it forget its pain. The parade must be ignored to see the aphid’s tender moment, as it “nuzzles the green,” but yet the wild celebration (and the Temple worship) are the glory that provide the reason for silence. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Nathan Hunt grew up on a small farm near Eugene, Oregon. He received a Bachelor's Degree in Writing and Literature (with a minor in Spanish language) from George Fox University in the fall of 2009. In his spare time, he works at two wineries in Newberg, Oregon. His poems have been featured in The Iconoclast, Mudfish, Perceptions, The Houston Literary Review and Boston Literary Magazine, among others. He is the co-founder and co-editor of the upstart literary journal Cartographer. Website Nathan Hunt About the Artist Nathan Hunt Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art Among the streaming people on hazy summer streets, a sprouting weed. View Full Written Work PSALM 131 Among the streaming people on hazy summer streets, a sprouting weed. In the thorns a tiny aphid nuzzles the green. The crowd blinks at the marching band. The floats crawl slowly past. Overhead a huge balloon tosses its shadow on the beaming upturned faces. The melodies ascend. The cymbals splash. My eyes are downcast and next to me a teething child is amazed into silence. Close Loading Video . . . Among the streaming people on hazy summer streets, a sprouting weed. Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Playwright Judith Leora responds to the theme of "Fools" from Ecclesiastes 4:5 and one of the vivid translations of this passage that reads: "The fool folds his hands together and eats his own flesh" (ESV). Ecclesiastes 4:5 Drowning in Cake By Judith Leora Credits: Trix read by: Jody Christopherson Trina read by: Julie Fogh Fern read by: Alana Rader Lawyer read by: Giverny Petitmermet Curated by: Michael Markham 2013 Play Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link I love theatre because I'm thrilled when I hear the truth. And there's something exhilarating about being in the same room with the performer when you hear it. I don't get that same connection in other mediums. And there is something dramatic about hearing and seeing an idea in conflict. As a young writer, I had a tendency to write about abstract ideas. When you start with an idea, it tends to not be that dramatic. What is dramatic is the human element. The world is profoundly unfair. Things do not work out that well for most people in the world. But there is something innate in us, which always seems to think that the world is supposed to be fair. That there is an ideal we can attain. And we are continually shocked when we miss the mark. I think most people live in the space in between these two ideas. How happy we are usually depends on how well we adjust to this dissonance. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection JUDITH LEORA is a playwright and screenwriter who grew up half in upstate NY and half in Berlin, where her parents worked. Since then she has also lived on all four sides on the United States, and feels free to write about pretty much anything in the world. Judith began her career writing sketch, animation, television pilots and screenplays. More recently, Judith was one of the Founding writers of New York Madness and is now the Managing Director. Her play Gideon was recently commissioned by the University of Massachusetts (Lowell) and will premiere in April 2013. Recent projects: Fumes (film), directed by Michael Markham; Crying in Nigeria, Pussyfest Redux, Caplocks Theatre; The Raven (co-librettist) Emerging Actors Theatre March 2012. Numerous short plays produced in New York, including multiple plays with the Great Unknowns showcase, ESPA Detention series, New York Madness, One Minute Play Festival, Stampede Lab, Playwrights for Pets, 15th Floor Playwrights, the Have Another Bar/Play Crawl, Above the Bridge, Street Festival and Arkham Playwrights. Full-lengths: broken, The Cookie Fight, Elijah, Gideon, The Cad (musical). Co-produced Gate B23 , NYC International Fringe Festival (2010). M.A. (Playwriting): Texas A&M University (Charles Gordone, Mentor) Graduate Playwriting Award. Contact info: Judithleora@gmail.com Website Judith Leora About the Artist Judith Leora Other Works By Read the script. DROWNING-IN-CAKE-by-Judith-Leora .pdf Download PDF • 38KB Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Marc Morin offers this impassioned reflection on the struggle to do the right thing in the face of ongoing adversity in response to 1 Samuel 24:3-7. 1 Samuel 24:3-7 Caves and Echoes By Marc Morin Credits: Recording by Marc Morin Curated by: Michael Markham 2020 Spoken Word Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link This poetic reflection of a time in King David's life touches the area of our lives where our cave-like experiences in life have the power to direct our journey to the promise God has given us by the way we handle our storms. Too many times in life people see our accomplishments but rarely witness our struggles or pain experienced during our journey to arrive at that place of desired completion. With this said, our character invites us to look deeper in our caves and storms where they hear an echo of experiences turning into wisdom, lessons and beautiful characteristics of our hearts. Our destiny must be processed through these trying times so God can release the promise to the character we must become… who He promised it to. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Marc Morin is a father of three who abides in Brooklyn, New York with his wife Vimana. He serves as a deacon at Mission Network International For Human Services. He first felt the calling of a poet in the spring of 2015 where he wrote his first poem. Since finding this new desire for poetry he has written well over a thousand poems expressing his love for God, inner reflection and encouraging believers to have a closer relationship with Jesus Christ. Website Marc Morin About the Artist Marc Morin Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art Trapped in the caves of my promise, In the caves of misery and darkness With brethren yet no water View Full Written Work Title: Caves And Echoes by Marc Morin Trapped in the caves of my promise, In the caves of misery and darknessWith brethren yet no water (Simple days where I took walks about in confidence) Is this the reflection of the promise process? Helper of Joseph, remember me, my soul is in Egypt... I hang low with the fanged winged fiends And I hear their worries of hunger: "Let me see!" But I am like them except with holes in my flight Just when I soar, my enemy pierces me with words "He has fallen;" Arrows of lofty thoughts and discouragement of weighty nights Progression has one Master but I am it's servant... (My head is bowed and my eyes arise to the sounds of the morning My gaze quickly finds the horizon through the murky floor reflection The flooding of light approaches, coming to my countenance But the mouth of the cave has become darken- Wait! Clarity has sought my soul Here it comes in the hands of my own) And here, here comes my adversary... Upon my tools I stare, upon the choices I can grasp: With anger I can slay, but would this bring character delay? But with love, I know I can create- An example for others to follow. And just then I remembered when I led my sheep to peaceful waters (How I remember those days...) When my songs were simple, Words dancing with praise unto my starry Teacher And now look! My pen is dried in the staleness of my position And my ink is filled with pain and questions My canvas continually cries "too what end will you finish writing inward destruction?" I am being watered by His promise and the weight of memories Yes! How I loved Samuel... The one who blanketed my prayers while my head lay on rocks with our Rock My eyes strain with the grandeur of my possessions lost He has exposed himself and my sword cries vengeance: "Let me take back my light with his life in my knife!" But... But love calls me to raid his robe [The sound of clothing shredding] I WILL NOT LEAVE MY PROCESS! So let the caves whisper to many and their inner storms: "He echoed love" Close Loading Video . . . Trapped in the caves of my promise, In the caves of misery and darkness With brethren yet no water Download Full Written Work

Breadth2 Loading Video . . . Melissa Beck's work, Breadth, reflects on 1 Kings 17:7-16 and the theme of "meals." 1 Kings 17:7-16 Breadth By Melissa Beck Credits: Artist Location: Brooklyn, New York Curated by: Rebekah Kim 2014 Mixed media, sculpture Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link On the Art: A road is a journey The same surface over and over Given a small amount over and over Steadily and consistently Amounting to something significant Little bit for a long period of time Becoming part of the ground on which it falls Elements that meld Incomprehensible depths of comfort from consistent provision On the Passage: The story of the Widow at Zarephath is one of depletion, sacrifice, and miraculous provision. The Lord directed Elijah to this widow who was about to prepare her last meal for her and her son. She only had enough oil and flour for them to eat one last time. Yet when this stranger asked her, she obeyed and made bread for Elijah instead. For her obedience a miraculous thing happened. She was told her "jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry." From giving up of her last meal she was provided for indefinitely. Out of utter depletion came inexplicable provision for so much time beyond even when this passage ends. What I love about this story is the length of provision. She was given oil and flour everyday for the rest of her life. She was given unto abundance, but not all at once. Rather these elements of simplicity and basic need were provided for steadily and consistently. There was a little bit for a long period of time. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Melissa Beck ’s work explores elements of the everyday redefining the familiar in unexpected ways so as to reawaken our eyes to what is often overlooked. She is an emerging artist living and working in Brooklyn, NY. Melissa grew up in Los Angeles and San Diego. She achieved her MFA in sculpture at Pratt Institute and graduated in 2013. Her dream is to create large-scale public artwork and to become an art professor. When Melissa isn’t making art, life for her consists of freelance sewing and display work, nanny-ing, dancing, laughing with her friends, visiting the California sun and taking life one step at a time with her Creator. Website Melissa Beck About the Artist Artist in Residence 2015: Melissa Beck Part 1 Artist in Residence 2015: Melissa Beck Part 2 Artist in Residence 2015: Melissa Beck Part 3 Artist in Residence 2015: Melissa Beck Part 4 Artist in Residence 2015: Melissa Beck Melissa Beck Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Dancer Elizabeth Dishman's rich performance reflects on the exchange between the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon as recorded in 1 Kings 10:1-10. 1 Kings 10:1-10 Visitation By Elizabeth Dishman Credits: Directed, filmed and edited by Elizabeth Dishman Collaboratively choreographed by Elizabeth Dishman and the performers: Julie Seal, with Larissa Asebedo and Corinne Shearer Music by Giuseppe Sammartini, recorded by Camerata Köln Curated by: Spark & Echo Arts, Self-Submitted 2016 Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link I’ve always been fascinated by this passage…a big time queen decides to play tourist and ends up getting the wind knocked out of her. She had heard rumors but was totally unprepared for the wisdom, beauty and richness she would experience in Jerusalem. She came to test Solomon with hard questions, but instead she can’t even breathe for wonder. I know the feeling. I was born with my arms crossed. I make up my mind about life’s hard edges, but I am more often than I’d like to admit humbled by its greatness, its kindness, the purity of delight that is available to me, but which I doubt or resist. In this work I meditated on that moment of confusion when a belief is tested and found to be shifty. When a deeper truth asks to sit down at the table. The conversation is awkward and glorious. 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 Tide dance in the dances Terra Firma Stranger Name Elizabeth Dishman 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 post features the final update from Melissa Beck regarding her projects as a 2015 Artist in Resident. Exodus 28:1-5 Exodus 28:29-30 Proverbs 19:20-21 Isaiah 50:7 Hebrews 12:2 Romans 7:15 Artist in Residence 2015: Melissa Beck By Melissa Beck Credits: Titles: Shared Sustenance, Decision Threads Title: Decision Threads Curated by: Spark+Echo Arts, Artist in Residence 2015 Installation, Film Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link Shared Sustenance Remember those plates?…The ones that were made to last a lifetime, but had been turned into something disposable. This piece highlighted how we often break our own commitments, causing damage to relationships and turning what was meant to last forever into something temporal. After I did that piece in response to Romans 7:15 , I realized how often we see the Bible in this way. It becomes this book focused on what our faults are, on what we should and shouldn’t do. While the Bible is a guide for morals, that is just a fraction of the picture. The real meat of the story is this relationship; a dynamic one that continues forever. At the crux of this faith is a relationship with Jesus Christ. He is a person we serve, worship, commune with, pray to, wrestle with, and were made by and for. Each person knows relationship. Even if all we know are broken ones, we know the desire for a whole one because we’ve experienced brokenness. Even if we are the ones who break our own commitments and become disloyal to the ones we intended to be loyal to, a fixing of this is still possible, but not by us. Over the past few months, I had meals with friends and family using these plates. We met at restaurants, homes, one on one, in groups…sometimes planned, sometimes spontaneous. Each time, we each ate from these plates. My friends were given the plate to keep after our time together. However, in the end, it’s not about the plates. At every meal we forgot about the plates because we were sharing life through stories, listening, laughing… which is how it’s supposed to be. The plates are merely a backdrop for life, for interaction, essentially an experience to take place and relationships to be built. Reflective of God’s redemption of us, these plates were rescued and elevated and restored to what they were originally intended for. Like any meal, they’re not meant to stand on their own. Other elements such as food, forks, tables, people, talking, listening and orchestration of time and place are what truly make the dishes the beautiful things they are meant for. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Just as these dishes cannot be what they’re fully meant to be without a communal gathering, we humans cannot be fully alive without each other and our God, who is the author of everything in our lives. Decision Threads "Pay attention to advice and accept correction, so you can live sensibly. We may make a lot of plans, but the LORD will do what he has decided." Proverbs 19:20-21 CEV Decision Threads is a video piece I worked on each season this year. Certain elements from Exodus 28 guided the aesthetics of the piece. Aaron was called to be a decision maker for the Israelites. The four colors of yarn used to make his garments were blue, scarlet, purple and gold. While these colors were made to be bold, in the video they are subtle, barely noticeable. Making decisions can be like that. While they can have a great impact on our lives, we are often making subtle decisions. Excerpt from Decision Threads preview post : “It’s a video that looks at the subtleness of decisions. In the making and breaking of our commitments, we are essentially making a million little decisions. Often those decisions are so subtle we don’t even realize them until we find ourselves somewhere we never thought we’d be in life. Those decisions weave a thread through our lives everywhere we go, in the people and places we interact with, the work we do, the attitudes we have… Sometimes it’s a lot of pressure to decide if we should do this or live here or take this job or…” However, I realized that we don't have to make decisions alone and ultimately it's not us who are creating the results. Even when we do have to make a final decision on our own, it's often better when informed by someone trustworthy. Decision-making is just as much a solo thing as it is communal. Like the meals we share, this life is far less about the individual or about perfection and so much more about community, relationships and life interactions between people and with our Maker to see things redeemed...even if all we see is brokenness, failure, a tangled mess, lint or dirty dishes. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Melissa Beck ’s work explores elements of the everyday redefining the familiar in unexpected ways so as to reawaken our eyes to what is often overlooked. She is an emerging artist living and working in Brooklyn, NY. Melissa grew up in Los Angeles and San Diego. She achieved her MFA in sculpture at Pratt Institute and graduated in 2013. Her dream is to create large-scale public artwork and to become an art professor. When Melissa isn’t making art, life for her consists of freelance sewing and display work, nanny-ing, dancing, laughing with her friends, visiting the California sun and taking life one step at a time with her Creator. Website Melissa Beck About the Artist Artist in Residence 2015: Melissa Beck Part 1 Artist in Residence 2015: Melissa Beck Part 2 Artist in Residence 2015: Melissa Beck Part 3 Artist in Residence 2015: Melissa Beck Part 4 Breadth Melissa Beck Other Works By View Melissa's first , second , third , and fourth posts to follow the development of her 2015 Artist in Residence project. Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

! Loading Video . . . This week we present a work by Aaron Soldner in response to the theme of "Memory" and Luke 3:23-38. Luke 3:23-38 Luke 3:23-38 By Aaron Soldner Credits: Curated by: Spark+Echo Arts 2013 Film, Animation Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link Biblical genealogies are often-ignored readings. They are not in the lectionary, they are rarely addressed in bible studies and are treated more like historical remnants than the more easily accessible scriptures that have become familiar. They are afterthoughts. When read straight-through, they are a mix of unfamiliar – and admittedly, sometimes difficult – names as well as the names of people whose stories are so widely-known that they have often made their way into the popular consciousness. The genealogy of Jesus Christ in Luke has it’s own narrative. A narrative that is brought out solely because of the reader’s knowledge/lack of knowledge of the people these names belonged to – after all, inside the context of the genealogy itself The reader is not told who did what (except for having parents); instead everyone is equal. When fifteen or twenty names go by that are otherwise not known there is a sense of alienation, confusion, frustration, and embarrassment for the reader, but when a name does appear that the reader recognizes there is a flurry of association in the reader’s mind with the memories they have of these stories. This recognition makes a feeling of ease, perhaps even a coy sense of having inside knowledge. The pattern of rising and falling in action in reading the genealogy repeats until the final name of God creates the feeling that the reader has “made it” successfully through. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Aaron Soldner was born in Colorado and attended the University of Colorado at Boulder – as well as some time at the Film and Television School at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague – earning a BFA in Film Production and a BA in Film History. An artist whose work attempts to focus on the ordinary in everyday life and whose pieces tend to deemphasize the unique and decentralize the climactic, Aaron is interested not in highlighting the mundane, but in appreciating it for being common. Website Aaron Oldner About the Artist Aaron Oldner Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

still-life-with-blood-orange_medium.jpg Loading Video . . . Spark+Echo Arts is delighted to feature a new painting, Two Bites: Still Life with Blood Orange, by Braden Williams. Mr. Williams created the work in response to Genesis 3:6, as part of our collection of artworks exploring the theme "Beginning". Genesis 3:6 Two Bites: Still Life with Blood Orange By Braden Williams Credits: Artist Location: Michigan Curated by: Charis J. Carmichael Braun 2012 20 x 16 inches Oil on linen Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link This piece is intended to represent the moment of the beginning of sin. The forbidden fruit represented by a blood orange (In contrast to the popular thought that it was specifically an apple) spills its juices on barren earth, bringing to mind Jesus' blood that stained the ground in order to bring redemption to the earth. Pairs of feet pointing in opposite directions surrounded by failed attempts at covering show the broken relationships brought by selfishness, rebellion, and pride. My primary desire as an artist is to reflect the Christian idea of redemption (one I personally experience) through finding, revealing and expressing value in what has been otherwise considered trash, worthless, useless, or despised. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Braden Williams received his BFA from Western State College of Colorado, in Ceramics. He received his MFA from the New York Academy of Art. His sculptures and paintings can be found in various public and private collections. Braden has experience in a very wide range of media from marble to homemade walnut ink. He is most comfortable, however, working in oil. He currently lives and works in Grand Rapids with his wife Stacy. Website Braden Williams About the Artist Braden Williams Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . American clawhammer banjoist and songwriter Cameron DeWhitt takes a look at yeast in his new piece Leavener. The work is in response to the theme of "meals" and 1 Corinthians 5:7-8. 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 Leavener By Cameron DeWhitt Credits: Written by Cameron DeWhitt; Mixed by Christian Guerrero Curated by: Jonathon Roberts 2014 Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch-as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Recently I made the switch from commercial yeast (like, from the packet) to wild Philadelphia yeast. And boy, it's sure made a big difference in my bread. I got my sourdough starter from my neighbors, who got theirs from a friend, so I like to think that all of our loaves and boules and baguettes are related. I had a conversation with my good friend Jon Roberts about baking sourdough and maintaining a starter. Apparently some starters are very fragile; the yeast inside will die if they have any competition for the available sugars. He used to work at Sullivan Street bakery in Hell's Kitchen, and when he'd try to bring home a lump of starter it would start producing acetic acid before he could use it. Once removed from its sheltered existence in one of America's finest bakeries, it couldn't handle the pressure of the real world, and allowed itself to be eaten up and turned to vinegar. So, I'm proud to eat bread with the hearty and worldly yeasts of Kensington, Philadelphia. It's yeast is like it's people: determined to survive, willing to fight, and not deterred by a little pollution or systematic oppression. This is how the Kingdom of Heaven is spread. It's a resilient culture, and it's all around us, waiting to be fed. If your culture is eating itself, and getting sour in all the wrong ways, throw it out, and start a new one. Maybe you need something a little less fragile, a little less pretentious. A culture that won't disintegrate at the first sign of stress. Chances are, you know someone who can help get you started. Special thanks to Christian Guerrero for mixing this song. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Cameron DeWhitt is an American clawhammer banjoist and songwriter born in Portland, Oregon. His live show is interactive, with sing-along sections, open discussions about song themes, and storytelling. He new self-titled record is available now on Bandcamp. Cameron’s songs explore themes of love, death, marriage, judgment and forgiveness. His lyrics display a quick, profound wit, enriched throughout with weighty metaphors and literary cross-references. Through personal and biblical stories, he prompts the listener to contemplate the definition of love, the character of God, and the human struggle towards hope and redemption. Cameron has developed a unique, melody-driven banjo style. While fluidly shifting modes and meters, he quotes popular melodies, improvises with other musicians, and makes musical jokes. His songs feature trumpet, string bass, drum set, complex vocal counterpoint and improvised solos. Cameron lives with his wife, Rebecca, in the East Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, where he is a part of the Circle of Hope Community. He plays an Ome Jubilee banjo with a Moon bridge and a John Balch goat skin head. Website Cameron DeWhitt About the Artist Fig Tree Cameron DeWhitt Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Brooklyn Composer Michael Hearst rounds up the local jam band for a hootenanny on injustice and the words of the prophet Habakkuk. Habakkuk 1:1-4 Habakkuk's Hootenanny By Michael Hearst Credits: Composer, guitar, vocals by Michael Hearst Band: The Huffbunnies Artist photo by Franck Bohbot Artist Location: Brooklyn Curated by: 2018 Cinematic Hootenanny Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link While trying to decide which direction to take this project, the minute I read the "Habakkuk's Complaint" verse, I knew! As it turns out, there's a "jam band" on my block in Park Slope, Brooklyn. For the past three years, every Wednesday night a handful of us get together (each week at a different house) and play old-timey music, drink wine, eat snacks, and vent about politics. The verse couldn't have been more fitting or timely. I recorded the band playing the song using two iPhones (to get stereo) and then brought the recording into my studio the next day, over-dubbing a few more instruments and vocal tracks. All along I knew I wanted to end-cap the piece with something more cinematic, turning it into an imaginary section from a movie or modern dance. And there you have it. P.S. I told the band I would use the proceeds to take us all out for dinner : ) Composed, Recorded, Mixed by Michael Hearst Performed by Michael Hearst and The Huffbunnies John Fabricant - vocals Stephen Gerard - banjo, vocals Robert Glasser - guitar, vocals Michael Hearst - guitar, vocals Steve Lewis - ukulele, vocals Nicki Pombier Berger - washboard, vocals Toby Snyder - mandolin, vocals Tom Swafford - fiddle Doyle Warren - vocals Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Michael Hearst is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and writer, whose vast output is marked by a fascination with extremely specific themes, and with wanting to learn as much as he can about almost everything. His most recent project is a three-part book series, each book geared toward a different large theme: Unusual Creatures , Extraordinary People , and Curious Constructions . The first book, Unusual Creatures, includes the companion album, Songs For Unusual Creatures , and sections of the book have been made into a PBS Digital series. His previous album, Songs For Ice Cream Trucks has been used by at least 50 ice cream trucks around the world. Hearst has also composed soundtracks for the movies To Be Takei , Magic Camp , The House Of Suh , and The Good Mother among others. Michael Hearst is a founding member of the band One Ring Zero , who have released nine albums, including the literary collaboration As Smart As We Are (The Author Project), featuring lyrics by Paul Auster, Margaret Atwood, Dave Eggers, and Neil Gaiman, among others; Planets , a collection of new compositions to represent the solar system and beyond; and their most recent, The Recipe Project , in which the band has taken recipes from today’s top chefs (Mario Batali, Tom Colicchio, David Chang, etc.), set them to music, and sing them word for word. Hearst has performed and given lectures and workshops at universities, museums, and cultural centers around the world. He has toured with The Magnetic Fields, performed with The Kronos Quartet at Carnegie Hall, and has appeared on such shows as NPR's Fresh Air, A+E's Breakfast With The Arts, and NBC's The Today Show Website Michael Hearst About the Artist Michael Hearst Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . So I have been thinking lately about the importance of two simple things: the notion of circles (in particular concentric circles), and the meticulous keeping of lists. Find the complete progression of the work linked below. Revelation 11:3-7 Revelations 9:10-20 Isaiah 8:11 Proverbs 4:23 Artist in Residence 2017: Lily Maase Part 1 By Lily Maase This album contains some strong language, references to violence, and allusions to drug use, and may not be suitable for all audiences. Discretion is advised. Credits: Composed, Written, and Performed By Lily Maase. 2017 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 March 13, 2017 So I have been thinking lately about the importance of two simple things: the notion of circles (in particular concentric circles), and the meticulous keeping of lists. Because we experience our lives in a linear fashion we tend to take a very list-like approach to taking stock of our experiences. This is useful for us, for the most part, because it enables to get from point A to point B in our daily lives. But, if our lives really were as linear as we think they are, why does history have this pesky tendency to repeat itself? Wouldn’t it stand to reason that we would encounter a problem, learn from it, and then check it off our ‘list’ of life lessons and move on? If learning an instrument worked like this, my students would all learn their first song, master it, go on to the next song, and after doing this a dozen tunes or so have a relative mastery of the instrument. But anyone who has picked up a creative endeavor will most likely learn the hard way that this is not the case. It is only through learning six or seven (or sixty, or seventy!) pieces of music that we develop the skill and diligence to be able to go back an truly perfect the first. I spoke recently with a pastor who suggested to me two things: that the best way to interpret holy scripture is through the scripture itself, and that the things we experience within ourselves run in confluence with the things we experience outside ourselves. This runs in apparent conflict with the same pastor’s idea that no elements of the Bible should be taken figuratively. Attempting to conflate these two concepts into something applicable has been, to say the least, a fascinating prospect. There is a popular phrase in Eastern medicine that echoes this sentiment with a simplicity and elegance that so much of Eastern thinking brings to us Westerners, who like to deal in concrete details but who also like to make our understandings of even the most basic things unbelievably intellectually complex: “As within, so without. As above, so below.” This is actually a concept that I first encountered when being treated for my physical pain and, by extension, my PTSD. Interpreted literally, it means that if something is wrong with your right shoulder, you might see it reflected in the way you carry your left ankle. Or, if you have a disease of the gut, you might see evidence of this ailment present in places on your skin. But for me it has also meant that, as I learned to honor and work through my emotional pain, I have been slowly been relieved of my physical torments as well. Taken from a spiritual perspective, this becomes a fascinating way to interpret the Bible, and in particular, to interpret Revelation. Are we living in the end of times? Perhaps. But the human ego is, in the words of a popular public figure, ‘tremendous.’ And so every generation seems to have thought that it was perhaps destined to be the last to walk this earth. Nevertheless, in my own life I have experienced a myriad of personal crises that made me feel as if the world was coming to an end. And in each of these I had to dig into the darkness in my life, bear witness to the challenges before me, and decide which parts of my life will be asked to come to an end so the better parts may live. If this isn’t an apt metaphor for the concentricity of the apocalypse, I don’t know what is. There are some scriptural precedents for the idea of looking within for answers to the struggles that lie without. Proverbs 4:23 tells us “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Similarly, Isaiah 8:11 reads “The Lord hath said to me in the strongest terms: ‘Do not think like everyone else does.” To me this means that a Godly life is one of constant inventory of the self (the within) and a skepticism of majority thinking, even if this thinking happens to be the norm (the without). In other words, I am observing patterns in my life and in the world emerge in perfect circles, am taking stock of my interactions with these patterns, and as a result I am finding that I have quite a bit to write about. In some ways this process is one of concentricity—the evil within is echoed by the evil without, and the struggles and salvation within mirror the struggles and salvation in the world at large as suggested in the book of Revelation. In short terms, I am working on a song cycle from the perspective of the Devil and the angels who conspired together in the undoing of the earth. But the cycle is also about my mother, whom I am sad to say, is the purest representation of evil within my own limited worldview; and about the way this heritage has manifested in my own life and had to be held at bay. I am writing about bearing witness to these things and accepting the consequences of having open eyes, and about the fearlessness that this process—which is essentially a keeping of lists—requires. In the Bible these witnesses manifest as two pillars of light in the storm and I believe this has some pertinent political relevance—of all the protests signs I have seen since the turning of the political tide in this country, my favorite has been this, held by an elderly women in rural New Mexico: ‘I am the storm, I leave light in my wake.’ In mid-March I will begin recording some of this music and look forward to sharing the results with you before I continue onward in this process of self-discovery, creative development, and striving both internally and through my relationship with the outside world to continue to grow towards the light. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Lily Maase is a rock, country, jazz and classical guitarist raised in New Mexico, educated at the University of North Texas, and living in Brooklyn, New York. She is contributing writer for Premier Guitar Magazine and has contributed to Guitar World and Guitar World’s Acoustic Nation, who recently lauded her as a “master guitar teacher.” She is the founder and owner of Brooklyn GuitarWorks, a workshop-oriented center for guitar and bass guitar education located in Williamsburg. Lily is the lead guitarist, musical director and bandleader with the Rocket Queens all-female tribute to Guns N Roses and the Suite Unraveling (Tzadik). She is the lead guitarist with Gato Loco, and is endorsed by Godin Guitars. Her playing has been featured by Vans.com, Maxim.com, Guitar World’s Acoustic Nation, Teen Vogue, and Elle Magazine. Website Lily Maase About the Artist Artist in Residence 2017: Lily Maase Part 2 Artist in Residence 2017: Lily Maase Part 3 Artist in Residence 2017: Lily Maase Look Out Below Lily Maase Other Works By Follow Lily's project's development throughout the year by reading her previous second , third and final posts. Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work