Who Is My Neighbor?

In February I promoted a two-day visual arts conference organized by Eyekons called “Who Is My Neighbor?”, to take place the Friday and Saturday after Easter in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Now all the speakers and topics are confirmed, and a video promo has been produced, so I just want to encourage you to look into this opportunity again if it’s something you’re interested in.

I really want to go, but though the actual conference cost is reasonable, the airline ticket and hotel room costs make it unaffordable for me. If it were in Boston, I’d be all-in! (Eyekons, if you’re reading this, I can hook you up with some Boston-area churches for next year!)

Two artists whose work I have long admired—Steve Prince and Linda Witte Henke—will be there, plus many more, representing a wide range of media, including painting, printmaking, mosaic, paper cutting, calligraphy, and textile art.

Besides attending four plenary addresses, two panel discussions, and a live performance drawing, conference participants can choose five workshops from among dozens, including one hands-on workshop with an artist in which you will learn how to create your own art using a specific medium. (As someone who is very interested in art materials and processes, this offering has particular appeal to me.) One of the workshops I would have certainly attended is the panel discussion on how to run a church gallery, as this is one way I hope to serve my church and community someday, once I acquire some more know-how.

For more info, see Eyekons.com.

Stations of the Cross

On another note, ArtBelow has added photos to its Flickr photostream showing all the subway posters that advertise its Stations of the Cross exhibition, as well as the original works on display at St. Marylebone’s Parish Church. It’s really neat to see how these two public spaces—mass transit tunnels and a grand nineteenth-century Anglican church—have been transformed for Lent! Keep scrolling through until you come to this image,

which marks the beginning. You’ll even see a screen cap from my Jesus Question article!

Photos have also been added, some with commentary, to ArtBelow’s exhibition page.

Not all the images from the exhibition were approved by Transport for London (TfL) for display in their underground. For example, the Guardian reports that the TfL rejected Antony Micallef’s Kill Your Idol (which I wrote about before) on two grounds, both cited in their advertising policy: one, that it has the potential to cause “widespread or serious offence to members of the public,” and two, that it has the potential to incite people to break the law.

If you’ve had a chance to see the exhibition in person, which piece did you find most compelling or most challenging?