Loading Video . . . Stephanie Miracle's performance in "Treasure Heart" responds to the theme of "Memory" from Luke 2:19. Luke 2:19 Treasure Heart By Stephanie Miracle Credits: Curated by: Elizabeth Dishman 2013 Dance Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link Luke 2:19 is a mysterious passage to me. It is oddly placed in the middle of a narrative: it is the middle of the night, angels are singing, Christ has just been born and the shepherds have come to worship the newborn Savior. And then, in the middle of the scene, Luke interrupts the account to give us a tiny window into Mary’s heart. A small pause and then the story of the shepherds continues. I chose the German translation of the verse because it highlights movement rather than static meditation or contemplation. I imagine a mix of uncertainty and awe tumbling inside of Mary. And I imagine that the tumbling continues well beyond that moment but continues to return throughout her whole life; kind of like a motion sickness that is more wonderful than awful. Unlike the shepherds who tell the town of all they have seen and heard Mary does not seem to have really any clear or concrete words just an incommunicable sense of … How do you deal with something so ineffable? Like the memory of a home you have never actually lived in… like the scent of the sweetest flower in a recurring dream… like the melody of a secret song you know by heart but can’t remember the words to…. like the feeling of being weightless though your feet are still resting on the ground…. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Stephanie Miracle is an American born independent choreographer and performer currently based in Essen, Germany with her husband visual artist Jimmy Miracle. She earned her MFA in Dance at the University of Maryland and a BA in Dance from Belhaven University. She is also a teacher of Klein Technique™ and holds prestigious honor of being a 2014/15 German Fulbright Fellow in the Performing Arts. In 2015 she joined as a full-time dancer with the Folkwang Tanzstudio/FTS. In addition to performing with the company she often works in collaboration with Henrietta Horn (DE), Carla Jordao (PT), Ana Farfan (MX), Paola Ponti, (IT) and Anna Shchkleina (RU). She is the director of Fakers Club, a site-specific performance experiment based on film and serial television. Stephanie's choreography has been described as “iconic and nuanced…with an irreverence that makes you smile unconsciously”(Rick Westerkamp, 2014). Often in vivid technicolor, Miracle’s works are crafted with a cinematic sensibility and follow subtle narrative threads. In addition to creating choreographies for traditional proscenium theaters her unique aesthetic finds special significance in common spaces for example, parking lots, bus stops, woman's prisons, hallways, staircases, and rooftops. in Germany, Hungary, Mexico, Russia, New York City, and Washington DC by various institutions including MetLife Foundation, Exchange Festival, Dance Place, Supernoval Festival, Open Look Festival, Performatica, Belhaven University, ES WIRD SOGAR SCHÖN, Barnes Crossing, The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. Other awards include the Smith Scholarship Grant to attend ImPulsTanz in 2012, dance artist-in-residence at OMI International Residency 2012, DC Innovation grant in 2013, Bates Dance Festival Merit Scholarship 2013, Goldhaber Travel Scholarship 2014, and NextNOW new work grant 2014. Her collaborative piece “Drafting Plan” was awarded Best Duo at Barnes Crossing Festival 2015 in Cologne and at the 2016 SzoloDuo Festival in Budapest. She is honored to be a 2016 Artist in Residence at Spark and Echo Arts. Website Stephanie Miracle About the Artist Artist in Residence 2016: Stephanie Miracle Part 1 Artist in Residence 2016: Stephanie Miracle Part 2 Artist in Residence 2016: Stephanie Miracle Part 3 Artist in Residence 2016: Stephanie Miracle Stephanie Miracle Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Poet Philip Metres created this meditation on suffering, pain, and release in response to the theme of healing and Matthew 8:5-13. Matthew 8:5-13 For the Prison of Skin (A Prayer Triptych) By Philip Metres Credits: Artist Location: Cleveland, Ohio Curated by: Hayan Charara 2014 Poetry Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link For nearly all of 2010, after a muscle tear, I was flung into the hell of chronic pain. The months of pain felt like a divinely-inspired torment, and I could not understand why it was happening to me. Everything I thought I knew about myself, my body, and life was cast into the fires of that suffering. At the time, I read somewhere that mathematics of suffering could be described as pain, times our psychic resistance to this pain. My resistance to that pain was Job’s: Why do I deserve this? Why has God done this to me? What is the meaning of this meaningless abyss? After having written many poems about the War on Terror for the book Sand Opera, I wondered if somehow I had taken inside myself the suffering to which I was mere witness; it was if that now I could no longer separate myself from the physical and psychic torments of the abused at Abu Ghraib or in black sites. The usual suspects of Western medicine could not help me. I turned to prayer, to meditation, to acupuncture, to physical therapy, to acupuncture, to spiritual direction. I owe my healing to many people—my wife Amy, my kids, my parents, Doctor Lui, Father Don Cozzens—all of whom stroked or stoked me back to me. The poem “For the Prison of Skin” (an early version of which was published in Poems of Devotion) draws on that particular personal odyssey/theodicy, and also reflects on Matthew’s story of the centurion, a soldier of empire, who asks Jesus to heal his servant; he knows he is unworthy of hosting Jesus, but he believes and is healed. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Philip Metres is the author and translator of a number of books and chapbooks, including Sand Opera (2015), A Concordance of Leaves(2013) , abu ghraib arias (2011), and To See the Earth (2008). His work has garnered two NEA fellowships, the Watson Fellowship, five Ohio Arts Council Grants, the Beatrice Hawley Award, two Arab American Book Awards, and the Cleveland Arts Prize. In 2014, he received a Creative Workforce Fellowship, thanks to the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture, residents of Cuyahoga County, and Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. He is professor of English at John Carroll University in Cleveland. Website Philip Metres About the Artist Philip Metres Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art You threw me down, Lord, on the bed I did not know I was making, unmade. View Full Written Work For the Prison of Skin (A Prayer Triptych) 1. You threw me down, Lord, on the bed I did not know I was making, unmade. Your arms held me down until I could feel the panic of prey, could taste the bitter of ends, the tunnel stripped of light, Lord, you pressed your terrible weight against the length of my indivisible body, your invisible inexorable weight, your hands around my neck until I could see nothing but the black in front of me, your hurting whole behind me, in me now shivering, praying for this prison of skin to release this voice to air, that these needle nerves unshackle the this I am, the this you are. 2. Lord, I am not worthy, I am unweal- thy without you, but I am not unwilled, am not still in you. Yes, my soul is rest- less and does not rest in you, my Lord, and I’m not ready to be seized by you in receiving you. Unsteady in swells of you, I’m unmasted in the squall of you in the sea of you, cannot outlast you. But only say the word and I shall be hurled from all hurt, thrown beyond shoals, unswal- lowed in shallows. Say the word and I shall be held, will the world and I shall be born, say it and I shall be beheld and hold you, my Lord, say it with my mouth, I’m yours. 3. Lord, in the fracture of the bleakest black, under this roof, in the dying dark, let me turn and slide my aching hips up to the back of this day, curl my arm beneath the still-dreaming side of this day, Lord, let me cup the soft breast of this day, tender as the tender child who opened its door with loving suck, let me bury my face in the fragrant scalp of this day, then turn this day toward me, open my eyes to eyes now leading everything to light, and stroke the dream- flung hair that frames the lovely face of this day that breaks into waking. Close Loading Video . . . You threw me down, Lord, on the bed I did not know I was making, unmade. Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Multi-talented artist Janielle Kastner explores the similarities between us and those whom we would distance ourselves from in this vulnerable and raw poem based on Jude 1:5-7. Jude 1:5-7 To watch is to watch is to watch By Janielle Kastner Credits: Curated by: Lauren Ferebee 2017 Poetry Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link I have a long-standing (and complicated) personal and literary relationship with the Bible. Ever since I was a child, I have wrestled with my place in this giant story. As a little girl, I would skip to any book with a female title, asking my mom to read and re-read Esther and Ruth. (Perhaps this practice is the origin of my decidedly feminist approach to storytelling and female representation.) I often found myself most concerned with the wrong protagonists, taking a side entrance into important Biblical moments. (But what exactly is the backstory on “Potiphar’s wife”? Why do the Egyptians’ horses have to die in the Red Sea too, what did they do wrong?) Oftentimes the Bible was used in damaging, distorted ways, but in its purest essence the Bible was a launching pad for my writing and theatrical career. These pages were my very first exposure to long-form poetry, to lyrical expression, to the precise way words can explode onto a crowd when spoken with intention from a stage. Jude 1:5-7 is not one of those passages teeming with metaphor and beauty. When commissioned for this piece, I felt myself on the outside of these words. And then I found myself ten years old again, not relating to the writer or the recipients of Jude’s epistle, but instead fascinated by the point-of-view of the cautionary tale: the ambitious fallen angels who “he [God] has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgement of the great day”. Never had it occurred to me these angels might be shackled in hell, as prisoners beneath humanity, watching us from below. These creatures who knew what heaven was – what must they think of us humans who have never tasted holiness? What must it be like to watch us rebel and inflict pain and then ask for redemption, while as angels they were eternally banished for rebellion on the spot? And would angels have nuanced thoughts? They probably have a pretty direct communication style, right? What follows is a poem juxtaposing the fallen angels’ perspective on humanity with fragments of true stories transcribed from real humans who, like me, know what a complicated thing it is to regret. I asked for 30-second anonymous submissions, and transcribed every pause, stammer, and “um”. By asking people to describe a moment they treated someone as less than human, I suspected I might tap into unique tiny moments of spiritual captivity, not unlike the trapped angels themselves. I wondered how readily people would be able to pinpoint a moment they treated someone as less than human, if we innately feel that betrayal of dignity in our own bodies as well. The answers were sad and small and confusing and heart-breaking and lovely. To deny another’s humanity is to cast them in darkness, it is a momentary experience of hell on earth. This poem is intended as the opposite gesture, standing in the light together and fully acknowledging our shoddy hindsight, our too-late empathy, our messy, worthy humanity. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Janielle Kastner is a writer, performer, and producer based in Dallas, Texas. She was recently named “Best New Playwright” in Dallas Observer’s Best Of 2016, and her play OPHELIA UNDERWATER was selected as one of TheaterJones’ “Best New Play by Local Writers” . Other plays include FEED ME and HEAVEN’S GATES, HELL’S FLAMES. She is an inaugural member of the Dallas Playwrights’ Workshop at Dallas Theatre Center with Will Power, and her plays have been produced by WaterTower Theatre’s 24 Hour Play Festival, L.I.P. Service Theatre Company, The 1 Minute Play Festival, The Stella Adler Academy, and The Tribe, of which she was a founding member and recipient of Dallas Observer’s 2016 “Mastermind Award” . Additionally, she co-runs Dallas cult classic Shakespeare in the Bar, and has performed with Second Thought Theatre, Kitchen Dog Theater, Amphibian Stage Productions, The In-Laws, Theatre Three, Cara Mia Theatre, and Shakespeare Dallas. She holds bachelor’s degrees in Theatre and English from Southern Methodist University. More of her work can be found at janiellekastner.com . Website Janielle Kastner About the Artist Janielle Kastner Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art From underneath it seems they do not have a choice They do not do what they mean to do Or they do exactly what they mean to do View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . From underneath it seems they do not have a choice They do not do what they mean to do Or they do exactly what they mean to do Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Spark and Echo Arts is pleased to feature the work David, a sculpture by artist Ebitenyefa Baralaye. Mr. Baralaye captures and reflects on the complexities of David's life with a special focus on Psalm 27:1-5. Psalms 27:1-5. David By Ebitenyefa Baralaye Credits: Curated by: Spark+Echo Arts 2011 5 in x 11 in x 18 in Nickel-plated polished bronze Sculpture Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link David, an ancestor of Jesus Christ, was the second king anointed through the prophet Samuel to oversee Judah and all Israel. He came to his reign tensely under service of the then denounced first king, Saul, who, in fear of being usurped, continuously sought to take David's life. A skilled warrior, David's life was marked by warfare and victory, tragedy and praise. In his intimate devotion to God he was known as a man after God's own heart. The stature of the piece reflects David's masculinity and strength. The deepened cracks and inflamed sheared edges reflect his fearless mettle on the battlefield and yet vulnerably broken humanity, while the more elegant curvatures and sinuous planes embody his confident tact as a strategist, diplomat and man of bold faith. The overall energetically outward gestures of the piece capture David's earnest dependence and need for the presence, provision, leadership and love of God in his life. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Ebitenyefa Baralaye is a ceramicist, sculptor and designer. He was born in Lagos, Nigeria, raised in Antigua and lives in the United States. Ebitenyefa received his BFA in Ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design. His studio bases have included Long Island City, Queens; the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts in New York City; and Bloomfield Hills, MI where he is currently enrolled as a Ceramics MFA candidate at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He has exhibited in various solo and group shows domestically and internationally including the 2011 Gyeonggi International Ceramix Biennale in Icheon, South Korea and the 2016 Toronto Design Festival. He has held residencies at the Peters Valley Crafts Center in Layton, NJ and most recently, Talking Dolls in Detroit, MI. Website Ebitenyefa Baralaye About the Artist Artist in Residence 2016, Ebitenyefa Baralaye – Part 3 Artist in Residence 2016, Ebitenyefa Baralaye – Part 2 Artist in Residence 2016, Ebitenyefa Baralaye – Part 1 Abram Artist in Residence 2016: Ebitenyefa Baralaye – "Bam Bam" Ebitenyefa Baralaye Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Pianist, composer and jazz musician Jen Allen explores the intermingling of sorrow and joy in this original work created and performed in response to 1 Timothy 1:12-17. 1 Timothy 1:12-17 Kurinji By Jen Allen Credits: Curated by: Jonathon Roberts 2018 Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link Kurinji is a beautiful blueish purple flower from Shola Forests of the Western Ghats in South India that only blooms every 12 years. In the writing of this composition I wanted to focus on God's immense patience, mercy and grace, bestowed freely on all of us. In the Kurinji flower I see a beautiful image of God's grace and the "immense patience" involved in it's practice. This rare and mysterious flower is long anticipated and surprising in its transformation of entire mountainsides. In like manner, the melody of this piece depicts sorrow and beauty intermingling revealing grace where unexpected; insinuating, delaying and finally revealing surprising bursts of melodic and harmonic brightness. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Jen Allen is a pianist and composer who resides in West Hartford, CT. In all her various creative pursuits, Jen feels that her art is a tangible expression of her relationship with her creator. Jen earned her Bachelors degree in African American Music from The Hartt School and her Masters of Music in Jazz Composition from The University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is currently a Visiting Lecturer and Director of the Jazz Ensemble at Trinity College and a member of the BMI Jazz Composer Workshop in New York City. Website Jen Allen About the Artist Jen Allen Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Poet Annette Wong plays with the story of the ant and the grasshopper in response to the theme of "Fools" from Proverbs 13:18-20. Proverbs 13:18-20 Entomology (the ant and the grasshopper) By Annette Wong Credits: Curated by: Emily Ruth Hazel 2013 Poetry Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link As I was thinking about Proverbs 13:18-20 I was reminded of fables my mother read to me when I was young. Fables, like Proverbs, teach and correct. One of the most fabled fools in my memory of Aesop's tales is the idle grasshopper, who fails to prepare for winter. Despite the urging of his friend, the ant, the grasshopper piddles his summer away. His days are sweet, filled with song and dance but when winter comes, he's left to freeze on his rickety hind legs with nothing to eat. Some of the hardest words to stomach are "I told you so." A fool is someone who needs telling so. Or is told so but chooses not to listen. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Annette Wong is a 2008 Poetry VONA-ite under the tutelage of Suheir Hammad. She was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Beijing and Hong Kong. She received her B.A. in History and International Studies from Yale University, where she was a member of Jook Songs, Yale’s Asian American Writing and Performance Group. In 2007-08 Annette was a part of New Life Fellowship Church’s Writers’ Group where she had the good fortune of meeting Emily Ruth Hazel. She currently resides in Los Angeles, where she practices civil rights law. Website Annette Wong About the Artist Annette Wong Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art Fall: there was time, still, after a summer squandered in song. View Full Written Work Entomology (the ant and the grasshopper) by Annette Wong Fall: there was time, still, after a summer squandered in song. The scythes still whistled the fruit still hung-so he danced after the cicadas had gone. And as she had, all summer long tried to warn (he paid no heed) with jaws clenched, mined what she could, what she had What more could she do? We know how the story goes: winter. A first frost. A rattling wind. No grass, no song, no swarm (one is the loneliest locust). Hobbling now, at her nest's foot His feeble shrill. Silence. And then- an antennae's twitch (her knowing look) that all familiar refrain: "Don't say I didn't tell you so." Close Loading Video . . . Fall: there was time, still, after a summer squandered in song. Download Full Written Work

the-spirit-full-image-scott-neely.jpg Loading Video . . . Inspired by 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, this abstract piece by artist Scott Neely explores the visceral presence and energy of the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:1-6 Three Meditations on the Spirit | 1 By Scott Neely Credits: Title: The Spirit Curated by: Marlanda Dekine 2017 12 x 19 inches Acrylic monotype on paper Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link What is that deep energy that flows through us all, that deep power in each of us, that deep hum within everything? And how is it, in all of our differences of self and culture and giftedness, when excellence emerges from one of us, when one of us really shows up as our full self in the world, even if only for a moment, we know it? We know it. We know. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Scott Neely directs the Project for Community Transformation , an initiative to strengthen congregations to transform our communities. He works intensively with the social justice organization Speaking Down Barriers , which uses facilitated dialogue to build our life together across the differences that divide us. He is a graduate of Wofford College and Harvard Divinity School. Neely served at First Presbyterian Church in Spartanburg, SC from 2006-2015, first as Director of Missions and then as Pastoral Executive. In April 2015 he presented a TEDx talk on race and racism entitled “ What Will I Teach My Son? ” A practicing artist, his work fuses writing, painting, and digital media. He writes: “My method balances expression and simplicity. I make visual poems: succinct, present, for the heart.” His work may be found at www.neelyprojects.com . Website Scott Neely About the Artist Three Meditations on the Spirit | 3 Three Meditations on the Spirit | 2 Scott Neely Other Works By View the Rest of the Series: Three Meditations on the Spirit | 2 Three Meditations on the Spirit | 3 Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . This piece has been quite a process, and now I’m happy to say it is complete…or rather what I set out to do is complete. 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 Part 4 By Melissa Beck Credits: 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 December 7, 2015 This piece has been quite a process, and now I’m happy to say it is complete…or rather what I set out to do is complete. I made a pair of glasses that I can wear. I got an eye exam and had my prescription put in the frames so wearing these glasses improves my vision. The lint that once was aimless excess is now redeemed, making up part of the structure of the frames. Inherently an object of focus, these glasses make the lint into something fixed and give it purpose. I learned later on that putting the lint into a resin doesn’t just help the lint become a fixed object, but the lint’s presence in the resin give the frames rigidity and actually contribute to its strength. Although this piece is “finished,” it didn’t turn out as I had thought but instead has taught me more. While the piece itself represents redemption of the figurative lint in our lives, the process of making these glasses forced me to enact the practice of setting my face like flint. Despite failures and struggle, I had to remain determined in order for the piece to be completed. One of the hardest parts about making this piece was not knowing how to do it because I had never done this before…and I’m pretty sure no one else has either. As my earlier post showed, I had run into issues and thought many times about abandoning the piece. It’s often the case that we lose our flint-like faces before we even get anywhere. At least I notice that about myself. Therefore we are not required to carry the load ourselves. This piece makes me think of when Christ died saying, “it is finished” (John19:30) and when Paul said to “work out your salvation” (Philippians 2:12). Sometimes this seems like a paradox; that work must be done even when something is finished. Although my glasses piece is finished, it still can be worked on. The screws are weak, the shape doesn’t fit well enough to stay on my face, and actually the lenses keep falling out. Even still, they work and are fully functioning glasses. They are finished, and yet I may keep working on them. I like how Isaiah 50:7 starts out with “Because the Sovereign Lord helps me…”. It’s a reminder that anything we do is first empowered by and possible because of God. He is our helper and we can’t do anything on our own. Several people helped me along the way in making this piece. Their help was essential to this piece. Even as we get impatient with ourselves, want to abandon the process because we seem to be getting nowhere, our Maker is in the business of refining us with us. Our in progress states are just as much of value and importance as a finished piece. Sometimes it’s the doing of something where we learn and grow the most, making that process essential. In life we are never finished. We are always pieces of lint being redeemed, and that is a good thing. Flint and Lint In progress: blue silicone mold and resin cast of glasses frames inside. In progress: resin is cured, ready to be sanded to desired thickness. In progress: resin is cured, ready to be sanded to desired thickness. 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 Breadth Melissa Beck Other Works By View Melissa's first , second , third , and final 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

vesper-stamper_not-my-vineyard.jpg Loading Video . . . Vesper Stamper's work entitled "This is Not My Vineyard" responds to the theme of "Memory" and the passage of Deuteronomy 6:4-12. This is a self-portrait, which is a discipline I have been trying to keep this Advent as a way to understand Jesus' coming into the deepest reaches of my own life in its present complexities. Deuteronomy 6:4-12 This is Not My Vineyard By Vesper Stamper Credits: Curated by: Jonathon Roberts 2013 22 x 15 inches Watercolor on Paper Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link My faith has come to a place of simplicity over the past couple of years, distilling to the basic elements of the "Shema" ("Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one"), and the Greatest Commandment ("You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and might"), both of which are contained in this passage, with the command to bind the awareness of the Lord's presence and ways on the hand and forehead, signifying both the mind and the will/deeds. I grew up in a Jewish home, so these passages have always been familiar to me, but I realized that I had a superficial knowledge of their context. I was surprised by God's matter-of-fact understanding of how quickly we forget Him even when we are in the midst of His abundance‚ an abundance that others before us had labored for, meaning that everything we think we have earned has been placed divinely in our lives in a long succession of events. Just as the Jewish practice of wrapping tefillin is a way of entwining the awareness of God in the mind and will, we are called by this Scripture to consciously entwine into our memories His deeds, past, present and future. This is a self-portrait, which is a discipline I have been trying to keep this Advent as a way to understand Jesus' coming into the deepest reaches of my own life in its present complexities. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection My work draws on mysticism, by which I mean any person’s reconciling of their tangible surroundings and doings with the (I would argue) universal inner pull toward God’s personality. I respond deeply to archetypical story as found in dark and complex fairy tales, and the disparate impressions we see in our own nighttime dreams. I believe these can be seen as a window into the mystical nature of man. As with Biblical narrative, certain cultural symbols resonate with meaning, and I believe that at thirty-seven I am only at the beginning of my own understanding of them. In this sense my work is evolving with a guiding principle that I am only one person in a continuum of storytellers, and that I will be pursuing the meanings of these symbols well into my twilight years. As an illustrator and storyteller, I feel a profound responsibility to communicate to my audience, beyond purely personal self-expression. This communication can be either on a visceral level or a clear exposition of subject matter, but as a Christian I believe I must be on guard against oversimplified dichotomies or propagandistic message-making. The best stories are those that have the most breathability—hence the fact that I am reinterpreting a passage which is around five thousand years old. Currently I am about to enter the Master of Fine Arts program in Illustration as Visual Essay at School of Visual Arts, and am seeking agency representation. I am working on two illustrated novels, both of which draw on Celtic and Anglo-Saxon myth as the reality of the lives of ordinary women and girls who are reconciling tragedy with their own agency and identity. Hopelessly lost among the wintry wardrobes of Pauline Baynes’ Narnia, Shaun Tan’s mysterious foreign lands, and the watery open spaces in Lisbeth Zwerger’s illustrations, Vesper Stamper’s calling as an illustrator began as soon as she cracked open Hilary Knight’s Cinderella and spent the rest of her childhood meticulously copying each graceful page. She earned an Honors degree in Illustration from Parsons School of Design, and, woven in with her visual work, Vesper is also a recording artist in the indie rock band Ben + Vesper, on the Sounds Familyre record label. Her career has spanned fifteen years, dozens of album covers, four picture books and countless other exciting projects. She brings a refined style and emotional depth to her work that goes beyond mere decoration to pay homage to the rich illustrative tradition from which she comes. Vesper was named the recipient of the 2012 Lincoln City Fellowship for her upcoming graphic novel "The Sea-King’s Children," which will take her to the Outer Hebrides of Scotland this spring (2013) to research the book’s setting and folklore, and to write and paint for the book at the “edge of the world.” She lives in Jersey City, NJ with her husband, filmmaker Ben Stamper, and her two fairy children, who are grabbing the baton and can take an urban backyard full of dirt and recreate it as a world of wonders. Website Vesper Stamper About the Artist Haman's Last Meal Vesper Stamper Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . 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Loading Video . . . Author Lancelot Schaubert offers the second release from his inventive three-part mini-series, presented as a small newspaper in response to a collection of Scripture passages. This section focuses on the theme of "overcoming" as found in Romans 8:29-39. Romans 8:29-39 Dragonsmaw Daily | 2 By Lancelot Schaubert Credits: Curated by: Spark+Echo Arts 2020 Creative Writing Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link I wanted the stories featured in this section of the Dragonsmaw Daily to speak to the death we face, to the groaning of creation, and the typical feel of extinction. I think it succeeded in this front — you might need to read it and the passage a couple times to pick up on all the themes. The Dragonsmaw daily is a paper circulating on LOMEDAY of the month of BLAGUROEDD 47 in the year 1109 P.T. on Gergia, one of the Vale Universe ( short story series here ). It may seem like a high-shelf sort of entry for the average reader, something that takes a herculean effort to embrace in terms of the suspension of disbelief or secondary belief in my created world. However, I think it's quite easy: if you'll trust me, it'll read as a wonderfully foreign paper from a wonderfully foreign world. It's ephemera: something like an in-world artifact I happened to pick up from a newsboy who was hawking EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA copies in order to have enough ₮ to get his sister through the week on an onion (actually it's more like a leek) based soup. She beat the fever, in case you were wondering. But I brought it back from Gergia and gave it to my friends at Spark and Echo that it might supplement the stories I've written here and elsewhere about these fantastic worlds I travel so frequently. For those that have followed along in any capacity, this paper tells of events taking place prior to the events in the Moon Boys series from my artist residency and quite far in the past from the other commissions here at Spark and Echo. It occupies the region around the Imperial Crescent in Gergia (top left of the main land mass on that false map I drew of the world) . Each of the events recorded in this paper feature major workings in the region. All together I wanted to bind up the themes of extinction, of power dynamics, and of being lost and found into one piece. So I stitched together three commissions in a more unified form than normal. Of course some parts of the paper will remain out of reach for some time — like any foreign country, Gergian customs and economics and politics only make sense after you've lived there for quite some time. But one day the times, dates, seasons, and currency will make perfect sense to you. And then the dread realization of what the paper really reveals will come all too clear, as clear as a Bell Hammer. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Lancelot has sold work to The New Haven Review (The Institute Library), The Anglican Theological Review, TOR (MacMillan), McSweeney's, The Poet's Market, Writer's Digest, and many, many similar markets. (His favorite, a rather risqué piece, illuminated bankroll management by prison inmates in the World Series Edition of Poker Pro). Publisher's Weekly called his debut novel BELL HAMMERS "a hoot." He has lectured on these at academic conferences, graduate classes, and nerd conventions in Nashville, Portland, Baltimore, Tarrytown, NYC, Joplin, and elsewhere. The Missouri Tourism Bureau, WRKR, Flying Treasure, 9art, The Brooklyn Film Festival, NYC Indie Film Fest, Spiva Center for the Arts, The Institute of the North in Alaska, and the Chicago Museum of Photography have all worked with him as a film producer and director in various capacities. Website Lancelot Schaubert About the Artist Artist in Residence 2019: Lancelot Schaubert - Part 3 Artist in Residence 2019: Lancelot Schaubert - Part 2 Artist in Residence 2019: Lancelot Schaubert - Part 1 Posh Girls As Waters Cover Artist in Residence 2019: Lancelot Schaubert Dragonsmaw Daily | 1 Dragonsmaw Daily | 3 Watchtower Stripped to the Bonemeal Metaphysical Insurance Claim 0075A: The Delphic Oracle Philadelphia Bloodlines Lancelot Schaubert Other Works By As with most shared newspapers, some of the pages have been pulled out and are out of order, so you will have to piece them together as the project is released. You may find the other parts of the project at Dragonsmaw Daily | 1 and Dragonsmaw Daily | 3 . You may also view the entirety of the project, here — as a brand new newspaper. Related Information View More Art Make More Art DEATH ALL DAY: From famine to danger to thirst — region faces many threats, yet loves. View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . DEATH ALL DAY: From famine to danger to thirst — region faces many threats, yet loves. Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Curator for Spark+Echo Arts and dancer Elizabeth Dishman responds to the theme of "Dancing" from Judges 21:16-24 with her company of dancers, Coriolis. Judges 21:16-24 dance in the dances By Elizabeth Dishman Credits: Collaboratively Choreographed by Elizabeth Dishman + the performers: Leah Ives, Kaitlin Morse, Niko Tsocanos and Caitlin Yuhas Music by Giuseppe Sammartini and J. S. Bach Curated by: Elizabeth Dishman 2013 Dance Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link I initially found this passage really funny and bizarre: the Israelite tribesman make an oath not to give their daughters to the tribe of Benjamin for wives, but later feel sorry for their brothers, whose clan will die out. So they come up with this great idea to have the Benjamites SNATCH and marry the young women who go out to dance in the fields. That way no one breaks the oath, and Benjamin lives on. Such a good idea… It struck me as hilarious, so I imagined a light-hearted dance of joyous, unsuspecting young ladies being watched by a man with marriage on his mind. However, the background story to this scene is horribly grim, involving gang rape, murder and a hideous call to justice from a man bereft of his concubine (Judges 19-21:15). Saving this darker content for a future dance, I decided to create the work based on my initial response to the dancing in the field scenario, but I also thought about what it would be like to try to build a real marriage out of this abrupt and non-mutual courtship. Hence the second section, which reflects the awkwardness and struggle that might have ensued (“so…now what do we do?”). In that culture the groom may not have tried as hard to become a good friend and lover, but I imagined a more present-day pair honestly searching for their footing in an intimate, stolen dance. 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 Terra Firma Visitation 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

don-nyugen-air4th_first-supper-seating-layouts.jpg Loading Video . . . About this time a year ago, I was one of forty-eight playwrights commissioned by The Flea Theatre to write a short play in response to the York Mysteries Plays, a collection of forty-eight pageants which covered the sacred history of man from creation to the last judgement. Find the complete progression of the work linked below. Luke 22:14-48 Artist in Residence 2015: Don Nguyen Part 1 By Don Nguyen Credits: Curated by: Spark+Echo Arts, Artist in Residence 2015 Theatre Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link April 20, 2015 About this time a year ago, I was one of forty-eight playwrights commissioned by The Flea Theatre to write a short play in response to the York Mysteries Plays, a collection of forty-eight pageants which covered the sacred history of man from creation to the last judgement. It was a daunting task for everyone involved and one of the most satisfying and fulfilling projects I’ve ever worked on. Along with over fifty actors, and our intrepid director Ed Iskander and equally intrepid dramaturge Jill Rafson, we created a stunning theatrical evening, lasting five hours with two intermissions. During the two intermissions, dinner and dessert was served to the audience by the cast. These intermissions not only served as meal breaks for the audience, but also a way to interact with the cast members, who were not in character during the break. To experience this as an audience member, this act of breaking bread with actors who are not only serving you your meal, but serving you a full evening of theatre, was, shall I say, divine. This is not a new form of theatre. Many theatres and many productions have done this in the past. But there is something quite different that happens to the audience during this specific interaction with the cast. We are making eye contact with them, talking to them about their day, and accepting a plate of falafel and hummus from them with the same gratitude of a neighbor being invited over for dinner. You are instantly connected to and invested in the cast and you are ready and willing to follow them anywhere, and the dreaded sound of a five hour play suddenly becomes inviting and exciting. So exciting in fact, that I saw the show five times. But what does this have to do with my project? Well, I’m certainly not going create a five hour evening of theatre. But I do envision breaking bread with the audience. What I propose is a communal evening of theatre, food, improvisation, and game playing based on a section of the Bible. I chose Luke 22:14-48, which covers The Last Supper because it’s the ultimate dinner party. What I envision, and this pushes us into “over-ambitious, likely to fail” territory, is an evening of intimate communal theatre, one that involves a small audience, say, twelve people. And perhaps during the course of the evening, a light meal is served. And perhaps during the meal, each person has to guess who will be Judas. Will it be the person to my right? The person sitting across from me? Will it be me? As I write this, other possibilities come to mind. Perhaps each dinner guest has a menu with personality traits on it that they have to embody. Maybe there are prompts with simple goals that each dinner guest must bring up and try to achieve. There are so many different ways to approach this. The trick is in finding the most interesting and satisfying solution. Throughout the life of this project, I will be broadening my understanding of theatre improv and game theory and attempt to bring them together to design a short evening of entertainment and (hopefully) illumination. The theme(s) of the project are not yet set. I think I’m going to allow the themes to reveal itself during the process of creating the evening, and I’ll be documenting that creative process along the way. I expect to go down rabbit holes that lead nowhere. And I will document that as well. Nothing here is proven, and I’m not sure of the outcome. But I am sure that you will at least see the process laid out throughout the year, and hopefully break bread with me one of these evenings. See the upcoming production of Don’s work The Red Flamboyant with Spark+Echo Arts’ partners, Firebone Theater. April 24-May 15, 2015 Samples of Don’s previous work: (Photo from aerial workshop of THE IMAGINARY ASSOCIATION OF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS) (Photo from SOUND at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival) (My Million Spectacular Moments, Don’s previous work for Spark+Echo Arts) Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Don Nguyen was born in Saigon, Vietnam, grew up in Nebraska, and now currently resides in New York City. As a playwright, Don has written several full-length plays including: SOUND, a sign language play which was a finalist for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and was previously developed at The Playwrights Realm. Don’s first full-length play RED FLAMBOYANT was developed at the Ojai Playwrights Conference and was both a finalist for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival as well as the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. THE MAN FROM SAIGON has been developed at Naked Angels and was a NYSAF Founders Award recipient. THE COMMENCEMENT OF WILLIAM TAN was developed at New York Stage and Film and was a finalist for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Don was also recently one of 48 playwrights commissioned for The Flea Theater’s 5 1/2 hour epic production of The Mysteries, directed by Ed Iskander, which was a stage adaptation of the Bible. Don is a proud member of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab, a member of the inaugural Emerging Writers Group at the Public Theater in New York and served five years as artistic director for The Shelterbelt Theatre. Don is also a frequent volunteer for the 52nd Street Project. Website: thenuge.com Website Don Nguyen About the Artist Artist in Residence 2015: Don Nguyen Part 2 Artist in Residence 2015: Don Nguyen Part 3 Artist in Residence 2015: Don Nguyen My Million Spectacular Moments Don Nguyen Other Works By To follow the developmental process of Don's play read his second , third and final posts as a 2015 Artist in Residence. 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