As a local church how do you engage and inspire artists? Today we begin a two part interview aimed at answering that question with the directors of four different art centers that were started by, based out of, or sponsored by local churches in four different cities:
Joanna Taft with Harrison Center for the Arts in Indianapolis
Michael Winters with The 930 Art Center in Louisville
James McAnally with The Luminary Center for the Arts in St. Louis
Grace Hwang with Salt Art Space in New York
Rethink Mission: Tell me about the vision or philosophy behind your arts center or gallery.
Joanna Taft, The Harrison Center
I first want to clarify that I am not a church leader, although I am an active member of Redeemer Presbyterian Church. I am the Executive Director of the Harrison Center for the Arts, which rents space from and has a synergistic relationship with Redeemer Presbyterian Church. While the Harrison Center is not a faith-based organization, its philosophy has been shaped by the Christian concept of the cultural mandate. The cultural mandate (Genesis 1:28) is the idea that the human race is called to continue the work of creation by building cities, creating beauty, and bringing order and healing to a broken world. The Harrison Center considers this a very high calling and through its mission strives ”to be a catalyst for renewal in the City of Indianapolis by fostering an awareness, appreciation, and community for art and culture.”
Michael Winters, The 930
The overall mission of Sojourn Church, which operates The 930 Art Center, is to see the gospel transform everything – individuals, the church, the world. So, the 930 supports that mission by seeking to see the gospel transform artists, the work they make, and the local scene in which they work.
Our philosophy of ministry for the 930 gallery really leans on the idea of ‘imago dei’. All humans are made in the image of the Creator God, so we each have creativity in our nature. An art gallery can become a hub for that creativity and hopefully reveal something about human nature and a shadow of God’s divine nature. Art can deal with all the issues of life, so it’s very useful for creating an intersection between the church and the world.
The 930 Art Center causes an intentional complication in the public’s understanding of what a church is and how the church relates to the surrounding neighborhood and city. Our building is not sacred space and it is not secular space. The ministry of the 930 shares the difficult relationship to culture that we also should have as individuals. We are ‘in the world, but not of the world’.
James McAnally, The Luminary
The Luminary was started from the premise of working with artists directly to meet needs that were not being addressed elsewhere. By approaching the development of an arts center from the perspective of emerging artists who need resources, opportunities, and a supporting community in order to successfully fulfill the unique v
ocation of being a working artist, we let those needs shape our vision. At the outset, we thought we would be a community art center that focused on offering an affordable option for public studio space and basic classes and workshops. Over time, we found that the needs in our context were best expressed in the areas of professional development and dedicated one-on-one support for artists.
Likewise, in terms of our programming, our operating philosophy is one of inclusion and participation in which viewers who are not necessarily “gallery literate” are able to find new avenues in which to connect with contemporary art.
Grace Hwang, SALT
SALT is a flexible gallery, performance and gathering venue re-imagining spaces for art, work and sanctuary. We started in June 2008 with a small group of artists in the offices of The Gallery Church and continue to grow in our vision as a contemporary community art space with their support and partnership.
The philosophy behind SALT is to re-imagine how public, private and religious communities collaborate with each other in creative, economically sustainable ways. So practically, it houses the congregation of The Gallery Church on Sundays; while during the weekdays it’s a shared work space for coworking and in the evenings we host events, classes and meetings.
The intended impact is for individuals in the local and global community to engage with each other by creating and sharing what is worth preserving in our culture, and how we can enhance the flavor of our everyday lives. I’m drawn to what Michael P. Farrell describes as a “magnet place” that he identifies as a precondition for collaborative circles. My friend Kenyon Adams from Redeemer’s Center for Faith and Work introduced me to the title and I love the idea of a space that would attract people and produce art or work collaboratively that they might not otherwise have been able to accomplish individually.
The arts have an inherent need to be seen and experienced in order to be fully realized as agents of hope, healing, and unity. Artists are increasingly challenged to find studio and exhibition spaces to make their art accessible and relevant to the public. Limited still are the venues to display projects that are socially conscious – an alternative to commercial galleries and spaces.
I also find it valuable to preserve space that honors the creative process – from ideation, to making, to problem solving and culminating in celebrating. There is so much we learn about who we are, what’s important to us and how we were designed when we examine our own process of creating and reflecting.
Rethink Mission: How practically have you gone about fulfilling that vision on a daily basis? How do you engage artists in your city?
Joanna We work with two populations: emerging artists and emerging patrons. We serve emerging artists by providing below market rate studio spaces in which to create art, 3 galleries in which to display art, and opportunities to grow as an artist. 28 artists have studios with us, but hundreds more throughout the city call us home for exhibit opportunities and community.
We serve emerging patrons by providing monthly art exhibits in a non-intimidating atmosphere (often multi-sensory or interactive), an annual Independent Music and Art Festival which attracts over 6000 attendees, and year-round programming with Herron High School (which we created in 2006). In addition, we have a project based internship program which trains high school and college students to be cultural entrepreneurs.
James Since we operate as a studio residency program, we are working with artists one-on-one daily. This can mean anything from writing artist statements and advising on gallery submissions to critiquing a new project and helping brainstorm creative ideas. When we started, I knew very little about any of this and had to learn as I went in order to champion art that deserved support. So, I suppose research and fumbling through dense essays on art practice and theory is a daily task as well.
One of the most important things that is an absolutely necessary part of what we do is actively, consistently supporting other organizations, artists and programs. If you don’t invest in the other outlets in your city, you have no basis to expect support from them. We make it a priority to attend openings, artist talks, and studio tours, whether it is on a museum level or in DIY spaces. It isn’t just networking, but direct investment in your art community.
Space is such a premium in New York City and by offering a beautiful space at affordable rates, we’re able to support the visions of artists, other church ministries, and nonprofits.
I reach out to communities I’m a part of through my professional and personal networks and create means for collaboration to help mutually extend and increase our missions. I engage specific artists by illuminating how their work ties into the vision of the space. Likewise, for artists who want to show or be a part of SALT, I ask them to propose how partnering would be mutually beneficial as opposed to self-serving.
Social Supper @ SALT is an event I hold (not as often as I’d like!) to bring likeminds together around food to share art works in seed form or in progress in a safe place to get feedback.
GoodMeet @ SALT is a networking event I’ve co-produced with Erik Fabian of Double Happiness LLC with themes that explore culture or spirituality in a way that is self-directed. The first one we did was on the topic of Creating Sancturary while the last one was Identifying our Means in a culture of production and consumption.
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Next week: How to start a gallery or art center through your church.
All comments will be entered in a drawing to win a copy of Andy Crouch’s Culture Making.
[...] a local church how do you engage and inspire artists? Tuesday we begin a set of interviews with four different art centers that were started by, based out of, or sponsored by local churches [...]
The Harrison Center for the Arts is an amazing place! Have played there as a musician many times.
Good stuff. For the many who read this and think, “I wish we could do something like that, but we aren’t big enough,” I encourage you to rethink you!
We have had great opportunities to engage the arts in Macon – a city of 96,000 – and in our small venue – a space of only 1600 square feet.
Love to see people doing this, hope this catches on, artists and the church divorced no more!~
ry
“Our philosophy of ministry for the 930 gallery really leans on the idea of ‘imago dei’. All humans are made in the image of the Creator God, so we each have creativity in our nature.”
I wish more Christians and churches would realize this. Some seem to work so hard to make sure people aren’t attending for a “show” (reacting still against the seeker sensitive movement) that they refuse to celebrate the creative gifts God has given.
Great stuff here.
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