R E Colvin Untitled 24X20 2013 Loading Video . . . Artist R. E. Colvin created a work exploring "Light and Darkness" through Ecclesiastes 7:23. Ecclesiastes 7:23 Untitled (Colvin) By R. E. Colvin Credits: Curated by: Ebitenyefa Baralaye 2013 20 x 24 inches Acrylic and Oil on Canvas Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link I have always tried my best to let wisdom guide my thoughts and actions. I said to myself, “I am determined to be wise.” But it didn’t really work. (Ecclesiastes 7:23 NLT) Ecclesiastes has always been my favorite book in the Bible. I was in art school when I first read it, and maybe it is what lead me to study philosophy later. In rereading it, this verse struck me as profoundly funny; because it’s true. The painting I have made, although similar to my current work, tries to get at this existential grasping more literally. Three shapes, essentially, “work” and “don’t work.” The figural white center – seemingly bright – is part of a single shape that inhabits the top and bottom of the composition too. The dark shapes on either side then vacillate between presences (as parallel vertical planes extending out into space) and absences (as windows into an etherial blackness). This effect then shifts the center element forward and backward. Everything is unstable. In photographing my abstract work, I choose to include the wall surrounding the piece rather than cropping down to the image. This preserves the physicality of the work – it is a painted object – which is important to its experience. The painting has an existential presence like us. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection R. E. Colvin is an artist and arts writer based in New York City. Website R. E. Colvin About the Artist R. E. Colvin Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Joseph Chapman's contemplative poem examines the relational dichotomy of the powerful and those who support them, inspired by 1 Kings 5:13. 1 Kings 5:13 Tower and Document By Joseph Chapman Credits: Curated by: Laura Eve Engel 2016 Poetry Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link One thing I love about the Hebrew Bible is that it's full of competing and contradictory narratives. There are two creation stories. The book of Ruth includes a Moabite in the genealogy of King David even though Deuteronomy 23:3 prohibits intermarriage between Israelites and Moabites. The book of Joshua very clearly states that the Israelites killed all the Canaanites who were in the Promised Land, but then the same Canaanites who were supposedly killed show up again later. Likewise, 1 Kings 9:15 and 20-22 assure us that Solomon only conscripted Canaanites to build his temple, but 1 Kings 5:13 tells a different story. Solomon not only conscripted his own people, he conscripted thirty thousand of his own people. What's fascinating to me are the reasons why a redactor might add or juxtapose a second, competing narrative. Of course, it's all speculation but I find myself wondering what the second creation story adds; why the book of Ruth contradicts Deuteronomy 23:3; why a redactor needed to claim the utter annihilation of the Canaanites in Joshua; or why 1 Kings 9:15 and 20-22 protests that Solomon only conscripted foreign labor. Much of the redactor's interest might inhere in the legacy particular historical figures leave behind as characters in the text. Take Solomon, for example. The text tells us, quite often, that Solomon was a wise king and that God even favored Solomon over David, at least when it came to the construction of God's Temple. But in 1 Kings 5:13, Solomon enslaves his own people, which is hardly the thing a just and wise king should be doing in the Hebrew Bible, given the stigma and undesirability of slavery, and the decidedly bad taste the whole Egyptian episode left in the mouths of the Israelite people. Solomon also makes a deal with the Phoenician king Hiram for building materials. At first glance, Solomon seems like a shrewd king. But once you do the numbers and look a little closer, you realize that Hiram dictates the terms of the deal. You also notice that the terms favor Hiram. Hiram tacks on cypress to Solomon's order of cedar surely an early example of the "upgrade" gambit‚ and charges him 20,000 cors of wheat per year. The cost might not mean much until you do some further math and stumble upon the fact that Solomon's royal household only takes in 33,000 cors of wheat per year in taxes and tributes. Solomon ends up devoting more than half of Israel's income to building materials for the Temple. Debt accrues rapidly and in 9:11 Solomon decreases the deficit by selling Israelite land to Hiram. It all starts to sound a little familiar, especially for those of us in the U.S. who see an exorbitant amount of our tax dollars going to military spending and unjust wars and not to the underprivileged of our society. In my poem, I not only wanted to call out Solomon for enslaving his own people, I also wanted to place Solomon alongside other historical kings and political leaders who oppress others through "tower and document." I'm not sure that I was successful in my attempt to weave together these multiple narratives, however. There can be a clumsiness to juxtaposition, especially when it comes to suffering. In the famous opening of Anna Karenina Tolstoy writes: "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." I think the same could be said of the suffering that results from oppressive regimes, and so I worry that the poem equates the enslavement of Israelites with that of Native Americans, or that it equates either of those enslavements with an unjust economic system in the U.S. That said, the tools of oppression and power, "tower and document," often look strikingly familiar across historical epochs. And so, I hope that the reader's attention is drawn more to those similarities instead. If nothing else, I would hope that my poem and artist's statement opens up the reader to the richness and variety of the biblical voice(s). For every story of an oppressive Solomon, there's another that lifts up equality and justice, like the opening of Psalm 133 : "How very good and pleasant it is / when kindred live together in unity!" In our own contemporary society, poetry can serve as one of those other voices, a voice imagining an alternative to oppression and injustice. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Joseph Chapman studied English, philosophy, and creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and went on to earn a Masters of Fine Arts in poetry at the University of Virginia, where he was the recipient of the Henry Hoyns Fellowship and Academy of American Poets Prize. His poems have appeared in Boston Review , Gulf Coast , The Collagist , The Cincinnati Review , DIAGRAM , The Best American Poetry , and elsewhere. He is currently an Inquirer in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and in the first year of a Masters of Divinity program at San Francisco Theological Seminary, where he is the recipient of a Presidential Scholarship, Merit Scholarship, and Presbyterian Study Grant, as well as the Eugene C. Dinsmore Scholarship from the Omaha Presbyterian Seminary Foundation. Website Joseph Chapman About the Artist Joseph Chapman Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art We shall bind you to the yoke of Church and Their Highnesses; we enslave your persons, wives sons, sell or dispose as King sees fit; View Full Written Work Tower and Document by Joseph Chapman King Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel— thirty thousand men. —1 Kings 5:13 King Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel—thirty thousand men. —1 Kings 5:13 We shall bind you to the yoke of Church and Their Highnesses; we enslave your persons, wives sons, sell or dispose as King sees fit; seize possessions harm much can disobedient resisting vassals. —King Ferdinand Taino-Arawak Indians A mother hen gathers her brood. She unspools the thread. The garden— that one —in us like stillness. Someone rends soul in silence. Someone stitches it up. Then clear rain spills over culverts into streets. In Hebrew class we are learning how Israelites had words for wind and breath and life but no concept soul, word for that. No matter, King Solomon built his temple on exact hill where Eden vanished: a palimpsest connecting all living things. Except, of course, thirty thousand who cut quarried stone. Except, Pedro Angela, with whom I cooked burgers fries every summer during college, and sipped coffee long afternoons, talking about our lives, actual dreamt, Spanish. • Driving south, Spanish missions litter California coast like wildflowers. Out here winter greens hills. The green hills winter. Out here pleasure gets simpler as you age and suffering comes shifts, five years at time, life time. Sometimes they said we had souls, & so broke bodies. Sometimes didn’t have souls, & bodies. When can’t sleep picture golfers whose orders took turnhouse window, their neatly pressed slacks, Angela back kitchen dropping baskets fries mocking Mr. So-and-So’s ridiculous V-neck sweater. History is an argument against those who survive, against king sacrament, tower document. A family lived near my high school, although never saw them. blue tarp covered roof and goats wandered yard. Toy bikes engine blocks, smoke escaping from lone stovepipe winter. Bashō wrote this haiku two weeks before he died: Deep autumn— my neighbor, how does live, wonder? For drove by yard, thinking same, empty thoughts. At end history, most won’t be able to say, exactly, who conscripted them, bodies, and healed them."> Close Loading Video . . . We shall bind you to the yoke of Church and Their Highnesses; we enslave your persons, wives sons, sell or dispose as King sees fit; Download Full Written Work

About This Project Throughout history and at pivotal moments, the Bible has been translated, updated and revised to speak to the culture and times of that period. Between 1100 and 1600, "illumuniated manuscripts" illustrated the Bible's texts to add a visual element describing the stories on the pages. During the age of cathedrals, stained glass windows were dazzling examples of artistic renderings of Scripture so that even the illiterate population of the day could experience the Bible's message. Artists across history have painted, sculpted and etched the most important narratives of the Bible, inspiring generations and inviting them into the pages of God's Word. Today, engagement with the Bible is on a steep decline. Perceived relevancy is plummeting, and Bible literacy is at an all-time low. At the same time, we live in a world where artistic expression is exploding. The opportunity and availability to create is immense. We believe we're at another pivotal moment in history. We are inviting artists to create expressive art as they engage with Scripture, and inviting people everywhere to experience the Bible through the lens of that art. Spark+Echo presents the Illuminated pages of Scripture for our generation. This is a catherdal for our time.

Loading Video . . . "A Friend" is a short story essay written and performed by Kyle J Smith. It was premiered as part of "Preludes," a multi-disciplinary arts event thrown by Salt Space in NYC's Flatiron District during the "waiting" period between Good Friday and Easter 2011. Luke 22:1-6 A Friend By Kyle J Smith Credits: Artist Location: New York City Curated by: Spark+Echo Arts 2011 Short Story/Essay Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link "Through my writing I share bits of myself with others in hopes of growing closer to each other and Truth." -Kyle J. Smith Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Kyle J. Smith is a writer and personal trainer living in New York City. He is a member of the Gallery Church of Manhattan and Editor-In-Chief of weasel and gun: variety magazine. Website Kyle J Smith About the Artist Kyle J Smith Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art I have a friend I want to tell you about. As an adult he had a beard, a really fantastic beard and growing up his dad was really hard on him. View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . I have a friend I want to tell you about. As an adult he had a beard, a really fantastic beard and growing up his dad was really hard on him. Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Elias Popa finds himself in conversation with the material and text in this third post for his artist in residence project. Find the complete progression of the work linked below. Job 38 Job 39 Job 40 Job 41 Artist in Residence 2018: Elias Popa Part 3 By Elias Popa Credits: Curated by: Spark & Echo Arts, Artist in Residence 2018 2018 Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link June 4, 2018 As a sculptor, the materials I use often inform me of what shape they would like to take. Although I begin with a concept in mind, the journey to the finished project surprises me. This is also the case with the Scriptures. Often, re-reading meditatively over certain scripts draws out new nuances I missed before. It deepens my understanding. While reading and re-reading over Job, the passage reminded me of other moments where God allowed a larger percentage of His power to be witnessed. Whether in passing by Moses; a great wind, fire, and quake; or in the illumination of all creation, there is one common thread: It is always in passing. God passed Moses, and let him witness His backside just for a moment. His presence—direct presence—or rather the fullness of it in its entirety is something we cannot obtain on this side of Heaven. It’s dangerous, even deadly perhaps. As I worked on models over models of this sculpture, I felt stifled by the concept of a room. In my vision of God. In His display of power to Job, he doesn’t ever ask Job to come into a room. What He really asks is that Job pass through . What we pass through doesn’t lead us to an end per-say, but to the beginning of eternity. It is the never-ending, growing curiosity and wonderment of the universe and everything beyond it unfolding. I often have glimpses of these beauties in my work or travel. A small taste, like I had passed down a long corridor and I accidentally saw all of creation beyond a cracked door. It sometimes happens when I pray and work hard at it, other times, when I simply just arrive at a lake or the ocean. For a moment, I glimpse eternity, like Job, and it humbles me. As I placed the four mirrored walls together, I realized that even though the sculpture repeated itself ad infinitum, it was still a room, not a moment. I opted to remove two of the walls, and just reflect two of the walls back to each other. When I listened to the material strip itself down, I had the sense of walking through. Almost like a surprise, we stumble upon eternity in passing day to day. The effect remains the same, a slice of eternity that runs in perpetuity. However, now the sculpture will stand more as a gate. As before, the same challenges remain: finding space for a larger sculpture to build the final work in. It can be quite frustrating as an installation artist and sculpture. It can go from 3D rendering to model, and reconfiguring back in 3D to modeling before the final structure is built. As an artist, it is something I am constantly learning: how to be humbled by the process, realizing that even with my intellectual and emotional understanding of the work I am still also bound by the physical structure. I’ve finally settled on the structure I will use, not only for its meaning and repurposing like a gate, but its feasibility and simplicity as well. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Elias Popa was born April 7, 1987 to Romanian immigrants in California. After traveling between his home in Romania and throughout the United States, he continued his travels into his adulthood by moving to China, traveling Southeast Asia, South America and working with refugees. During his travels around the world, his worldview in art was deeply impacted. “My art expresses the struggle of identity and hope, worship and expressions of life. It explores common world views and challenges them. My work shines a light on the temporal solutions we put in place to replace what we really need deep inside”. As an installation artist, Elias uses conventional materials such as paper, wire, thread, and clothing to evoke a deeper understanding about social structures. His aim is to solidify abstract ideas about the nuances that make up sociological structures. By doing so, he retrains the eye to build a visual literacy again and treats the art as a fundamental language. He also studied dark room photography for 10 years, as well as writes poetry. Through his art, Elias started The Human Rights Network, a non for profit organization aimed at “telling stories that change lives.” The organization aims to build narratives through art that can impact social issues and generate activism. He currently works as a curator and manager of the esteemed Waterfall Mansion and Gallery on the Upper East Side, as well as the founder of the Human Rights Network. He resides on the Upper West Side of Manhattan where he works out of his home. He was the recipient of CFW’s artist vocational intensive, held at Princeton University. He also was selected on an Interfaith and Arts Panel at Columbia University, as well as regular participates in speaking engagements. Website Elias Popa About the Artist Artist in Residence 2018: Elias Popa Part 1 Artist in Residence 2018: Elias Popa Part 2 Artist in Residence 2018: Elias Popa The Art of Kintsugi and Sacrifices in Sidewalks Elias Popa Other Works By Follow the development of Elias' project by reading his first , second and final posts written as 2018 Artist in Residence. Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Composer Alexander Douglas created three movements entitled "Songs for Joy" with responding to the theme of Joy as it appears in different passages of the Bible. The first movement, "Joy and Peace in Believing" is inspired by Romans 15:13, "Shout for Joy, All Ye Upright in Heart!" responds to Psalm 32:11, and the final movement, "Strength and Joy are in His Place" comes from 1 Chronicles 16:27. Psalms 32:11 1 Chronicles 16:27 Romans 15:13 Songs for Joy By Alexander Douglas Credits: Composed by Alexander Douglas; Piano by Alexander Douglas; Recorded and Mixed by Ben Sharpe Curated by: Jonathon Roberts 2012 Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link Joy is one of the deepest words we have in our language. Whether in general linguistic terms, or in a theologically-specific context, this word represents both a concept and a reality simultaneously. The tragedy is that many of us learn the concept of joy, but few of us experience the reality of joy. Jesus Christ is more than the real “Joy Giver” – He is the ONLY Joy Giver and this truth is at the heart of the gospel. C.S. Lewis talked about being ‘surprised by joy’ and there is a sense in which joy trumps happiness as a paradigm in much the same way that justice trumps fairness as a paradigm. If God was merely ‘fair’ then we would each get what we are entitled to – which is eternal death for our sins. But God is more than fair – He is just, and this concept of justice is in fact relevant to this mini-discourse on joy. Why? Because the end of the gospel is the reality that sin will end forever one day when Jesus returns! And all the prophecies from the Old Testament about the restoration of justice to this world that were partially fulfilled with the first coming of Jesus will be fulfilled in entirety. This is the conceptual framework that undergirds these Songs for Joy. Each of these songs is in response to a verse, and each verse contains two serious elements (one of which, surprise surprise, is joy): #1 Joy; Peace #2 Joy; Uprightness of Heart #3 Strength; Joy #1 is a tune that is directly written to words in Romans 15:13, part of which reads, “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope…” Now, joy and peace are not saccharine ideas, and the improvisatory journey around what is essentially a very simple theme is reflective of the spiritual reality that it is very easy to talk about the peace and joy which the gospel is supposed to bring – but so many Christians don’t have much peace – we have learnt a very Christianised ‘busyness’ to hide the burning lack of life-changing peace in our hearts. But there IS a joy and real peace in Jesus, the only true source of hope, and He is with us through all the twists and turns. #2 is maybe the most theologically important of the three pieces. Many people want to be ‘made whole’ but wholeness is utterly impossible without holiness, and if there is one deadly cancer in the Church, it is that too many of those engaged in all forms of worship to God (public and private) are not ready to “be holy, even as God is holy”. We cannot make ourselves holy, but we can choose to live a life of faith and to pursue righteousness with God’s help. Real joy is only possible when you are as upright in your heart as you know how to be and when you and God are on good terms. So there is something more prophetic in this – it points to a truth deeper than that of merely ‘shouting for joy’ and the recurring chord-melody is actual melody-set-to-text (from Psalm 32:11) – hopefully you can hear the piano ‘singing in parts’ (as it were)! #3 was written as an improvisor’s response to the idea of strength and joy being found in His place – the sanctuary of the most High God. What an incredible idea from 1 Chronicles 16:27, (which also tags to Nehemiah 8:10). So this piece has more of a ‘concept’ (that word again) framework as opposed to the type of outline you would find on a lead sheet or other form of music manuscript. And as both jazz musician and theologian, that is one of my favourite ways to work. I am increasingly fond of explaining to people who struggle to reconcile jazz with Christianity that as an improvising musician “it’s about more than just playing jazz; it’s about playing faith.” I wish that my technique was better but deficiencies notwithstanding, I offer this humbly and thank you for making time to listen. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Alexander Douglas , having started his professional life as a jazz pianist with a uniquely enigmatic style, became one of the pre-eminent gospel choral directors in the UK whilst developing as a composer/arranger of both jazz and gospel music. He went on to develop his interests in anthropology and philosophy only to find his way towards theology – and since then he has realised that this is where God was leading him towards all along. He has now set up an organisation called ADM Productions which is dedicated to sacred music in all three of his genres. In 2011 he completed a Masters degree in Choral Conducting, where he specialised in Protestant European sacred music. In the same year he was awarded the Jazz Factor Artist Development Award for his solo piano work in sacred jazz. He recorded an EP entitled ‘Welcome’ which will finally be released by the end of the year. During 2012 it has become resoundingly clear that both theology and music are twin pillars of his ministry vocation, and while there has not been much time to practise of late, plans are underway for a second solo piano record (full-length album this time) in 2013, along with developing his compositional output. He was recently appointed as the Advisor for Music and Worship to the North England Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, and plans are underway for doctoral studies. More about Alexander: Website: http://admproductions.sharepoint.com/Pages/default.aspx Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/ADM-Productions/192229827467958 Blog: http://theomusicology.wordpress.com/ Website Alexander Douglas About the Artist Alexander Douglas Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Iv Amenti's 'silent film' contemplates the juxtapositions of reality and dreams, foolishness and wisdom found in Ecclesiastes 5:3. Ecclesiastes 5:3 A Silent Movie: in Poem and Stills By Iv Amenti Credits: Curated by: Lauren Ferebee 2017 Visual Poetry Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link Ecclesiastes is one of those books of the Bible that has lodged itself firmly into my psyche. It’s commentary about the boundaries of our humanity, within life and death, time and seasons, and what powers we possess to exist within them, resonates with me on various levels. This year it was particularly relevant because I turned 40, and not just 40, but 40 with a vengeance. If you haven’t crossed this bridge yet, let me tell you, there is something quite definitive about it. I found myself looking at the time that has passed, and the time I have left, you know? If I do the same 40 years I have already done on this earth, I will be brushing against my mortality, and that is an enlightening feeling. What have I done with my time? What will I do with what’s left? Ecclesiastes in its entirety, sobers my mind on what is possible. It takes pressure off as it eludes to the omnipotence of God’s plan and how we must simply show up, ready to work, in order to see the plan unfold. As a girl growing up I was most familiar with Ecclesiastes 3, that speaks specifically to everything having its season. All my life I have methodically gone about how to shape each of my seasons. Something in me has always desired the life of a late bloomer. I made personal choices to hold off on my career so I could grow roots with a family first. I also wanted to take time to get to discover what life looks like as a pioneer, charting my own path. Call me for coffee or tea so I can tell you about my experiences with college and jobs, and what it looks like to stand firm in my own dream to be an artist. Which brings me to my chosen Bible verse, Ecclesiastes 5:3 “ A dream comes when there are many cares, and speech marks the words of a fool.” My project, A Silent Movie: in Poem and Stills , takes a look at a girl busy in her world of dreams, led by a poetic narrative that deconstructs her thoughts on Ecclesiastes 5:3. The project itself is a storyboard for a silent film, – “silent film” being used as a metaphor for the absence speech to communicate words. This was my play towards the reference of speech marking the words of a fool, which during this age of politics, and 24 hour access to social commentary has become our social norm. Interwoven between the images of the girl, (portrayed by me), is a poem which examines her personal relationship with her dreams, her intentions to manifest them, her desires to advocate for humanity through her work, and her words of encouragement for her fellow dreamer. Set in three parts, I sought to visually convey the dreamscape, while rooting my words firmly into the reality of our time. During the process I felt moments of a utopian writer synergized with the original author of this book. I imagined what it must have felt like to be feverishly endowed with spirit, and see a vision so wide as Ecclesiastes. I imagine that all of us that have a vision permeating our being such as the author, must share it. I appreciate the author’s wisdom in knowing that if we are fertile with a dream, so must we be in our willingness to make it happen. Often times, when we are in this place, there is very little time to brag or boast the process, there is only time to do, with brief moments of reflections and edits. This is my ode to such wisdom. The storyboard is shot in the Bishop Arts District located in Dallas, Texas. I first saw this area in back 2015 where there was the most enchanting store with a really cool storefront that had all of these inspirational words and sayings painted on benches and mounted on its walls that beckoned any passerby to take a picture next to it. When I saw it, I knew I had to do a photoshoot there. Fast forward two years later and additional more open space art forms popped up around it, and so did this assignment! I operated as the director and co-photographer on this piece. The shots are not overly professional, but they are personal, and so is this story. As said in the film, I am a native dreamer, and now at 40, after proclaiming for myself that I have the right to be a late bloomer, I have decided that it is my time. I also accept the wisdom not only just of this passage, but of the entire book of Ecclesiastes, to know that as long as I show up, ready to work, that I will surely see the plan specifically designed for me unfold. Amen Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Iv Amenti is a Creative Social Practitioner residing in the city of Dallas. As a professional dancer, storyteller, writer, actress, and vocalist, she partners with communities to create storytelling opportunities using her various artistic mediums. She prides herself in presenting the performing arts as a platform for social commentary and community engagement in a way that creates voice and identity for communities. She studied theater at the University of Texas at Arlington and is an AmeriCorps alumni who received intensive service training on how to enter into communities, administer asset mapping, and build on those assets in a way that empowers underserved neighborhoods. Through arts and service she has developed a sustainable practice in creative social engineering. Well known for thinking outside of the spectrum when it comes to designing and executing projects, her practice has extended into the likes of the TRANSLATION Project, TWU’ Lend Us Your Voice, BC Workshop’s Activating Vacancy, SMU’s Arts and Urbanism’s Complex Movements Cohort, Bricks and Bones performance Cohort, and St. Philips School and Community Center, to name a few. She is the sole creator of the annual !Felabration Dallas!, a music tribute celebrating the life of famed Nigerian Musician and Activist Fela Kuti. A 16 year veteran on the Community Arts Program roster of Dallas’ Office of Cultural Affairs,2015 Cultural Vitality Award Recipient, and self-proclaimed master collaborator. Website Iv Amenti About the Artist Iv Amenti Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art Part 1: Deconstruction of a Dreamer View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Part 1: Deconstruction of a Dreamer Download Full Written Work

! Loading Video . . . This post presents the fourth and final update from 2015 Artist in Residence Benje Daneman and his jazz suite on "Light" in the Bible. John 1:1-11 Psalms 27:1 Psalms 119:105 Psalms 36:9 Psalms 43:3 Matthew 5:14-16 Psalms 18:28 Artist in Residence 2015: Benje Daneman By Benje Daneman Credits: Title: “Light in the Darkness” Performed by SearchParty Composed and Written by Benje Daneman Curated by: Spark+Echo Arts 2015 Live Music, Jazz Suite Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link It’s amazing it’s been nearly a year since I began writing my jazz suite “ Light in the Darkness ”. Thanks to Spark & Echo Arts for this amazing opportunity to give me space and time to create something of what I am now seeing is of great personal importance. I’ve been brewing with the concept of this suite for years, but it was the commission entrusted upon me that helped me take the steps to create it. I now realize the timing was perfect … as I’ve found, these things often are. My newest musical group, SearchParty, debuted the full suite on November 15th at Marble Collegiate Church Jazz Revelation Series. This came only a few days after the terrorist attacks in Paris that shook the world. It also awakened (or reminded) many people, including myself, of the darkness that lurks everyday all throughout the world that we are not told about in the media – Israel, Syria, Kenya, Colorado, California, our own backyard… the list goes on. It’s saddening and confusing on many levels. I found it as no coincidence that only two days later we were standing in front of an audience performing a piece based upon the concept of light, goodness and life for 45 minutes. I know from talking with many folks after the debut, they also found it timely and inspiring amidst the current state of affairs. I’m not a fan of coincidence. I don’t think coincidences exist. I think that things coincide for reasons; reasons within our understanding and reasons well beyond our understanding. The fact that I spent all year digging into “Light” in scripture only makes sense that it be debutedduring one of the darkest weekends of our year. In the very least, it was a reminder to me as to what I should be standing for. While darkness surrounds us, we are commanded in Matthew 5:14-16: “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the sameway, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” It is not coincidental that this scripture (Matthew 5:14-16) that was so meaningful at the moment of pure darkness was the inspiration to the finale of my suite. It was the message I wanted to send the listener away with weeks before I knew how dark the world would feel on November 15th. One, that I feel, encompasses the whole concept of the Gospel – YOU ARE THE LIGHT. You don’t have to be a Christian to agree with this… while it is a Christian philosophy, almost all world religions preach this in some sense. Even Atheist Stanley Kubrick says “Our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfillment. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.” In the weeks to follow Paris and the debut of “Light in the Darkness”, we have been struck with continued pain, hatred and sadness in our world including the recent attacks in Colorado and California. These events just scratch the surface as to the darkness in our world, and seem to be acting as strong public reminders that change is needed. “What is the answer?” We ask. There is an unsettledness in our world at the moment – there isn’t necessarily an agreed upon answer, but there is rumblings of the need of change which is pretty united. I personally think it shows the ingrained goodness that is instilled in us all (check out Desmond Tutu’s Book “ Made for Goodness ”), but also shows the great need for change. As the Reverend Michael Jackson preaches “If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make the change” (Man in the Mirror) . Only you can choose to make a positive change, and it takes one person at a time. I sense a movement on the rise, but we all need to have the strength to make that change – and in my mind that comes through love, caring, understanding and kindness for ALL . Hate in response to hate is NOT the answer… as Mahatma Gandhi said “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” That has never been truer than today. And sadly, much of our world is very, very blind. When approaching this recap I thought about all of the things that I could tell you about my suite: The recurring harmonic and melodic themes that I labeled as “The Light Theme,” the process I went through composing, developing and arranging the movements, the musical structure of the whole composition or even my future endeavors with the music. But those are details. They are important, but I think this post wasn’t meant for details – at least not musical or compositional details. Maybe a later post. This post is meant to shine the “light” on the beauty and amazingness of timing . Probably the most amazing thing in this whole process was the timing – the timing of the commission to create the piece, the timing of my life in needing a reminder of who and what I stand for, the timing of the debut and even the timing of this specific update. It’s pretty amazing when you really look at it. Timely… yes. Coincidental… no. That’s my opinion. —————— “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; Only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King Jr. – Below are the six movements of “Light in the Darkness” and the scripture that inspired each one: Movement 1: “The Light” John 1:1-5;14: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Movement 2: “Lamps” Psalm 119:105 – “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Psalm 36:9 – “For with you is the fountain of life, in your light we see light.” Psalm 18:28 – “You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.” Psalm 27:1 – “The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear?” Psalm 43:3 – “Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me. Let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.” Movement 3: “Just A Little While Longer” John 12:35-36: “Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.” Movement 4: “Children of the Light” Thessalonians 5:5-11: “You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” Movement 5: “(Our Fear of) Exposure” John 3:19-21: “Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” Movement 6: “You Are The Light” Matthew 5:14-16: “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection About Benje Daneman A sought after musician for his personal approach, creative musicality and strong versatility, Daneman got his start professionally in 2007 on a national tour with with Doc Severinsen’s Big Band. Since then he has performed with the world renowned Jose Limon Dance Ensemble, recorded for the Grammy nominated album “Elevation” (HMI Big Band) and has appeared as both a leader and sideman at prestigious venues across the country including The Kennedy Center, Baryshnikov Arts Center, FONT (Festival of New Trumpet) Music Festival and The Iridium. As a composer/arranger, he has received commissions from the United States Air Force Band (in Europe), Dr. Steve Zegree, Spark and Echo Arts and Lutheran Music Missions. His 2015 Artist in Residence for Spark and Echo Arts, is the catalyst for one of his newest projects called Search Party which approaches faith topics through original music, with a band including some of the top musicians on the jazz scene today, including Ike Sturm, Jon Cowherd, Jaimeo Brown and Ashley Daneman. Another new project of Daneman’s, Life Stories, calls upon his deep interest and history in musical storytelling by musically creating a personal and unique experience for the audience by aurally recreating true stories of people places and events. Daneman’s 2013 EP release Estelle’s Farewell Gift features all original compositions featuring Jeremy Siskind, Ashley Daneman and Andrew Rathbun and has been described as “Simple songs that open doors to complex reactions” (David Sumner, Bird Is The Worm). A Teaching Artist for the New York Pops, Daneman is a passionate educator and has led clinics and workshops throughout the country at such institutions as McNally Smith College, Western Michigan University, Concordia University and for the Michigan State Band and Orchestra Association. He is also the co-director of the Jazz & Creative Institute (http://www.jcinstitute.org), which has a mission to inspire artistic development and cultivate creative entrepreneurship for all levels of creative musicians. Benje has attended and holds degrees from Western Michigan University, The Henry Mancini Institute (Los Angeles, CA), and Manhattan School of Music (New York, NY). Benje lives in New York City with his wife, jazz singer-songwriter, Ashley Daneman and daughters, Rivi and Elise. Website Benje Daneman About the Artist Artist in Residence 2015 | Benje Daneman 1 Artist in Residence 2015 | Benje Daneman 2 Artist in Residence 2015 | Benje Daneman 3 To Lay Down One's Life Benje Daneman Other Works By Follow the development of Benje's jazz suite over the course of the year by reading his first , second , and third posts as a 2015 Artist in Residence. Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . This week we featured Alex|Xan: the Median Movement as they bring us a fascinating study on the theme of "Lies" in response to Ecclesiastes 4:10-11. Ecclesiastes 4:10-11 A Study in Lying By Alex|Xan: the Median Movement Credits: Curated by: Emily Dishman 2013 Dance Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link The film features a woman set against two backgrounds. One is a bed and one is a hanging sheet. They are deceptively similar, but the bed provides sturdy support while the sheet gives way under the pressure of a falling body. It flaps and flies and flounders. As one goes to “lie down” onto it, its lies are revealed in the fall. But this does not stop the dancer from trying, from falling, from trusting. We must take the risks of falling, of letting go, and trust and believe that we will be helped up. We must give in to know trust at all. There is not so much a resolve in this short film, but rather the constant questioning of one’s faith and one’s belief in the greater good – a study among many lifelong studies. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection XAN BURLEY a native of Youngstown, OH and a graduate of the University of Michigan (BDA Dance; BA English), is an active performer, creator, teacher, and arts administrator. She has had the great pleasure of working with artists and companies such as Nancy Bannon, Daniel Charon Dance, Shannon Gillen + Guests, Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance, Donnell Oakley, Leyya Tawil/Dance Elixir, and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, among others. She joined Doug Varone and Dancers in 2012. Xan also acts as co-producer of WAXworks. She has held teaching positions at BAX/Brooklyn Arts Echange, Cora School for Dance, PAVE Academy Charter School, and Poly Prep Performing Arts Camp and is currently on faculty at the 92Y. She occasionally teaches technique for professionals at Dance New Amsterdam, Triskelion Arts, and the Playground. ( photo by Vesa Loikas ) Alex Springer originally from Farmington Hills, MI, is a dancer, choreographer, teacher, and video editor. After graduating from the University of Michigan with a degree in Dance and a minor in Movement Science he joined Doug Varone and Dancers in 2008. He has enjoyed working with Alexandra Beller, Amy Chavasse, Elizabeth Dishman, Leyya Tawil/Dance Elixir and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet. Additionally, Alex has staged Varone’s work for various companies and universities and has taught at the Bates Dance Festival, the 92Y, Dance New Amsterdam, the Playground, and Triskelion Arts. He is the co-producer of WAXworks and the company manager/media archivist/video designer for Doug Varone and Dancers. ( photo by Vesa Loikas ) The Median Movement is the artistic intersection between Xan Burley + Alex Springer. This husband and wife team has been working together for almost 10 years. Since 2008, they have shown work in NYC at the 92Y, DanceNOW[NYC], the TANK, Triskelion Arts, Movement Research at Judson Church, Brooklyn Arts Exchange/BAX, Rooftop Dance, among other venues. They won the 2011 DanceNOW[NYC] Joe’s Pub Encore Challenge, and they were selected as a 2011 BAX Space Grant Artist. Their choreography can also be seen in the feature length film Frances Ha (2013). They have been commissioned to create work by the Oakland Dance Theater (MI), Cora Youth Company (NY), the Collective (MD), and Ohio University (OH). They have taught master classes in modern technique, partnering, composition, improvisation, creative movement for young children, movement for actors, and dance film. They also create dance for the camera and have screened their film work at various festivals including Moviehouse, WESTfest, the Flea, Motion Captured, and currently on Hulu as part of TenduTV’s Essential Dance Film. www.theMedianMovement.com ( photo by Ian Douglas ) Website Alex|Xan: the Median Movement About the Artist Alex|Xan: the Median Movement Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

danny-kline_one-step-one-breath-photo.jpg Loading Video . . . We are pleased to present this meditative work by artist Danny Kline in response to Psalm 46:10. Psalms 46:10 One Step, One Breath By Danny Kline Credits: Curated by: Carey Wallace 2012 4 x 8 feet Photography, Ink Jet Print Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link My work is about simply seeing. I work in a variety of media to research and experience where the intellectual mind starts and stops. Creating visual koans (riddles), I work to short circuit the intellectual mind in order that the intuitive mind can be experienced more fully. The raw materials I choose (shed antlers, rust, grass, etc.) help me to get closer to the experience rather than being pulled into judgement and intellectual analysis. I am always searching for the vein (or divining rod) in the work that has a natural flow and direction toward new space. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Born in 1973 in a small industrial town in central Ohio, Danny Kline has always found expression in his life as an artist of one sort or another. Whether in formal studies at University art programs from the age of 12 or traveling the U.S. and Europe playing his own unique brand of American roots music, Kline has made it his central effort to mine the intuitive experiences of life. The common thread in all of his work (in various media – 2D, 3D, Installation, Music, Aikido) would have to be the desire for connection and expansion of the mind through intuitive expression. To walk through this life clinging to little, creating in one an openness to as much as possible. Kline’s work can be found in both private and public collections and has been exhibited throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. He has recently completed a new body of work on the subject of non-attachment using various photography and sculptural processes to play with naturally cast-off materials such as shed antlers, bone, and various other natural materials. Kline currently works as a freelance photographer in Ypsilanti, Michigan where he is founder and chief instructor of Michigan ASU Aikido . Recent Exhibitions include Cellar Roots , Booker Gallery, EMU Form and Emptiness , Student Gallery, MFA Exhibition, Eastern Michigan The Peace Bell Annual , Peace Bell Museum, Cincinnati Being Again Union Gallery, Ann Arbor; and Stages of the Cycle , University of Michigan. See more of Danny’s work at www.dannykline.com and www.klinework.com Website Danny Kline About the Artist Danny Kline Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Nicora Gangi Psalm 18 Loading Video . . . We are delighted to feature this image of Psalm 18, a vivid collage by renowned visual artist Nicora Gangi. Psalms 18:1-17 Psalms 18:29-50 Psalm 18 By Nicora Gangi Credits: Curated by: Jonathon Roberts 2011 Paper collage, digital media Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link David gives praise for all of the deliverances God has given him. He takes comfort that his integrity is restored. He gives to God the glory for all of his achievements and encourages himself with the expectations of what God would further do for him. To create this collage I used magazine clips to illustrate the colors which were inspired by the different themes of this psalm: holy faith, love, joy, praise and hope. 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 Spirit of God-The Spirit Hovering Memories Lies Fool Dance Your Truth from the Great Congregation Sound of Their Wings Psalm 16 Kiss the Son EAST, WEST, NORTH & SOUTH AT HIS TABLE Nicora Gangi Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Aaron Beaumont unveils the impressive product resulting from his 2017 Artist in Residency in response to Daniel 4: a musical soundscape exploring the universal human experience of existence, identity, and consciousness. Daniel 4 Artist in Residence 2017: Aaron Beaumont By Aaron Beaumont Credits: Title: “The Strangest Thing” All Music Written, Performed, and Produced By Aaron Beaumont. 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 For the past week, the maintenance crew has been replacing the heating system in my apartment building. I've been subjected to an extensive palette of clatters, buzzes, thumps, pounds, hisses, and every manner of aural assault (incidentally, I could not resist including a few samples in the third movement of my piece - an apt demonstration of the sinister, untold horrors that familiar objects like toys and seashells take on when wrenched from their harmless contexts). We've had no hot water over the weekend, and today, after vacating the premises completely from 9 to 3 while drywall dust settled on every surface of my apartment, I've spent the last two hours being shuffled from room to room, tragically and callously displaced from my disheveled home studio workspace, currently seeking refuge in the kitchen, the tapping on my iPhone-linked Bluetooth keyboard hopelessly drowned out by drilling and welding in two other rooms. Oh, the humanity. This tongue-in-cheek lament of my current status in no way means to make light of any actual suffering in the world. Rather, it shows how easily our comforts and physical state can be thrown into seemingly irrevocable disorder - where something as simple as lack of hot water for a day or two (a comfort I admittedly take for granted) can produce existential anxiety and spotlight the roving line between security and destitution. Few things make us as cognizant of the tenuous nature of our place in the universe as being forced to prop one's iPhone perilously against a toaster oven simply to send an email. Daniel 4 serves up perhaps the most spectacular Biblical example of existential upheaval. On first glance, it would seem tricky for plebs like me to empathize with Nebuchadnezzar and his "emperor problems." Here is a man painted as a megalomaniac, narcissist, and authoritarian; in the dramatic psychological mutation of his fall from grace, we are, perhaps, meant to believe he's gotten his comeuppance. As all ancient myths agree, hubris must be chastened. Indeed, the powerful-powerless, authoritarian-benevolent ruler, and God-human binaries initially attracted me the most in the early days of this project . But Daniel 4 turned out to be less tidy and more challenging than that. For starters, we see a man who, in some respects, is not inaccurate in his boasts - Neb did accomplish some of the most spectacular feats in recorded history, as the provider-tree of his community depicted in the vision. Daniel seems to sincerely lament the judgment pronounced on the king in his dream. If justice is served here, it is at the very least a complicated one. In my last post , I offered one possible reason for my vague unease with Neb's plight. The king found himself swiftly bereft of a past, abruptly wrenched from his previous exalted state. We don't know the extent to which Neb was self-conscious of or able to contextualize the amplitude of this fall. But regardless of the specifics of his madness (subject to considerable discussion - lycanthropy is one potential analogue in modern medicine), it would have been a precipitous and disorienting transformation, and the suffering therein is sure. The sudden absence of my own history, of memories of any kind, would for me represent the purest kind of madness, perhaps the worst kind of hell. Uprooted, and thrown into a completely foreign state, Neb would have no context from which to derive a sense of identity. Deeper than simply losing a few physical artifacts of one's own personal narrative (e.g. the beloved 90s era DVDs I mentioned in post #3 ), my empathy with Neb's plight stems from this: his sudden reappearance as a brand new creature in a foreign state is analogous to the experience of every human at birth. At some point, we all "wake up," born with consciousness in a physical body. Our only context is some vague subconscious genetic hangover, a cellular knowledge of things, a sensation almost like trying to remember something you just dreamed, but can't quite pinpoint. We acquire an operating manual bit by bit, get busy trimming back the weeds of the absurd and the surreal from the manicured lawns of culture and civilization, and do our level best to organize our home within a cosmos in which our position is ultimately uncertain. In my work, I extend Nebuchadnezzar's story as a metaphor for the universal human experience, ruminating on the idea of birth as a plunge into a surreal, dreamlike state as we undergo the halting, erratic process of forging our own identity and bringing into focus a personal narrative. My work draws heavily on the most potent purveyor of identity and culture - the family. The arc of my piece, entitled "The Strangest Thing" (unfortunately in no way affiliated with or inspired by the celebrated Netflix series) seeks to represent the dynamic, fragmentary way our own personal narratives and identities develop and persist, as we navigate uncertain circumstances and unfamiliar contexts, wading through all the wonder, confusion, and occasional terror that accompanies growth. "Sampling" seemed an especially well suited vehicle to this exploration of memory, permanence, and personal history. Our very identities are derived from prismatic "samples" of our accumulated stories as creatures. As such, the connecting tissue between the five movements of my piece is a musical mosaic taken from dozens of samples from my own existing musical catalogue, including my very earliest recordings of the first songs I ever wrote - artifacts of a previous state, if you will, recontextualized (sometimes wildly) here. Similarly, I've used field recordings and audio samples from my own life - playing with my nieces, chatting with my parents, sitting by a lake in the Midwest, shaking a handful of seashells in a beach in Maine. Many of these field recordings did not originate for this project, but rather out of my own simple desire to remember and somehow preserve what's most important to me, and in so doing, document and cultivate my own sense of identity. I used my great uncle's guitar and my grandma's mandolin, heirlooms that are bound up in my own origin story as a music maker. I tried to select from all these raw materials samples that could relate the very human experiences of birth, self-discovery, evolution, decline, and redemption, to the surreal arc of Daniel 4. Appropriately the medium itself recreated a sense of nascence and even discomfort for me, in that I was artistically off the map - I'd never tried my hand at an electronic, ambient, through-composed soundscape (see Narwhal and Ocelot , my decidedly more "pop" Spark & Echo tune from last year). The piece closes in familiar territory though, with a pop song that ruminates on the thread tying every participant in this narrative together - we all wake up as creatures, bound together by our shared experience of wonder and newness, terror and tenuousness, and exuberance in our creature-ness, revelling as simultaneous minds and bodies. Neb's experience is bizarre no doubt - but the weirdest part of his story is still the part it has in common with our own - the simple, wild fact of waking up as a conscious corporeal creature, whose very composition - whose very cells - herald toward the future aeons of seismic victories and instructive failures. It's an experience that, if we give ourselves enough pause from the comforts we seek to shore up around it, is altogether strange. The strangest thing, you might say. The Strangest Thing I had a dream, what a strange thing - I became a creature with a beating heart. It had a body that kept changing - Sure felt like the same thing even as it fell apart. And that’s when I woke up I had a dream I was the falling snow Learning everything about the ground. But any pretty thing that’s ever fallen knows You can never quite forget the clouds, And you never quite wake up No, you never quite wake up. I could be a king again If only I could just go back to sleep, back to sleep. Every Body understands That a body is no kinda place for a mind to be. God has never learned a thing, While my holy brain bursts at the seams Seems life is just remembering What you saw in a dream - It’s the strangest thing, it’s the strangest thing. I dreamed about a dark room in my mind Where I woke up just as something left And life was just the time I spent Trying to paint the scent they left behind. My brain is clenched, it can forget My bones still blindly carry it My blood will be a chariot and I’ll find that I could be a king again If only I could just go back to sleep, back to sleep. Every Body understands That a body is no kinda place for a mind to be. God never learns a thing, While my holy brain bursts at the seams Yeah, it seems life is just remembering What you saw in a dream - It’s the strangest thing, it’s the strangest thing. I heard my name on the whistling wind It passed right through me like a shiver in An old man with old eyes glistenin,’ Spittin’ fireside yarns like they’re listenin.’ But who’s got time for reminiscin’ when A fresh snow’s fallin.’ So kissing him On sandpaper whiskers, God slips in To a loud snow suit, Laces little winter boots And races outside to play. 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 Lightness of the Pines Narwhal and Ocelot (Dietary Restrictions) Aaron Beaumont Other Works By Follow the development of Aaron's project by reading his prior first , second , and third posts written as 2017 Artist in Residence project. Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work