Indianapolis Hosts Interfaith Fair, BBQ & Art Exhibit

AOA NEWS
By Ernest Britton

INDIANA - It was a fun day for many in Indianapolis on Saturday as the Center for Interfaith Cooperation hosted its first Community Fair at the Indiana Interchurch Center. The fair which celebrated the culture and traditions of central Indiana's interfaith community, included an International Barbeque competition, Asian, Middle Eastern and American cuisine, the opening of Asra Burney's photo exhibit, America the Beautiful: Through the Eyes of a Pakistani Immigrant, as well as other family and children's activities. With dozens of ethnicity's and faiths participating, this fair was a great opportunity to get familiar with the interfaith world right in the heart of Indiana. Expected to be an annual event, the fair was sponsored by BRIDGE, International Interfaith Initiative, Indiana Interchurch Center, Muslim Alliance of Indiana and OBAT Helpers.

Read More

Arts & Religion in Indianapolis: It's Been Complicated

AOA NEWS
By Tahlib

INDIANA - In sharp contrast to the liberal vitality of its neighbor to the east, Cincinnati, Ohio, the Indianapolis relationship between the performing arts and religion began with hostility and became a partnership. Prior to the 1950s, morality rules often crushed artistic expressions in dance and music. Today, however that once hostile relationship is now uniquely Indy-positive. For instance, St. Luke’s United Methodist Church now holds its contemporary Sunday morning worship service at the Beef & Boards dinner theater, and that the Phoenix Theatre, the city's other Equity company performs out of an abandoned church. Other churches and faith groups have also embraced the performing arts since the 1950s. They include Christ Church Cathedral, Christian Theological Seminary, Faith for a City, the Church Federation of Greater Indianapolis, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, St. Paul’s Episcopal, Indianapolis, Hebrew Congregation, Trinity Episcopal Church, North United Methodist Church, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, All Soul’s Unitarian Church, Wesley United Methodist Church, Central Avenue United Methodist Church, the Jewish Community Center, the Eastern Star Baptist Church, and Southport Presbyterian Church. Capping off this still growing bond has been the development of the Spirit & Place Festival, which over 16 years has emerged as the nation's premier annual civic festival of the arts, humanities, and religion. [Source]

Read More

A&O Prize for Young Artists Seeking Central Indiana Talent

AOA NEWS

INDIANA - The Indiana Interchurch Center will name its first central Indiana high school student recipient of the Alpha & Omega Prize for Young Artists on November 12, 2011, but first they are spreading the word to congregations, schools and arts organizations to help identify the best in the region's multi-faith talent.

The A&O Prize, a $750 scholarship for the winners of an interfaith arts competition is part of the 16th annual Spirit & Place Festival and run collaboratively by Indiana Interchurch Center, the Center for Interfaith Cooperation and Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts. It gives high school students the opportunity to explore inter-religious themes through visual art.

This first year’s exhibition & competition title, Beyond Dead: A Student Response will showcase the art work from central Indiana high school students, both those attending private and public schools. The title, Beyond Dead was selected in response to the Spirit & Place Festival's 2011 theme, The Body.

Mel Jolliff, executive director of Indiana Interchurch Center formed this partnership to harness the power of the arts to connect Indiana communities of faith and to respond to the social needs of Indiana youth.

“Young people today, of all faiths, are wrestling with far more complex issues than the youth of my day, and we wanted to provide a visual arts forum for them to express their feelings through both art and dialogue. Jolliff said. “Indiana Interchurch Center wants to represent the diversity of all faith traditions in central Indiana, and this is another important opportunity to build that interfaith connection.”

Ernest Britton, director of the Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts, said the A&O Prize is an expression of the deep and abiding relationship between the visual arts and religious beliefs.

“We are seeking young people who will create wonderful artworks so that we all gain deeper insights into the ideas and issues that students contemplate as they negotiate their complex worlds,” he said. “The A&O Prize demonstrates the importance of having a belief system and of a visual arts education to express that faith.”

Entry forms and more details for the fine arts competition are available onsite at the Indiana Interchurch Center's main office at 1000 West 42nd Street, Indianapolis or online at http://www.alphaomegaarts.org/. Space at the IIC gallery is limited so registrations are currently being accepted for all entries at aoprize@alphaomegaarts.org or 317-755-8400. The exhibit will run from November 1 through December 31, 2011.

Read More

Warner Sallman, the Artist Who Painted "The Head of Christ"

SALINA JOURNAL

By Gary Demuth

"The Head of Christ" (1940) By Warner Sallman

INDIANA - In 1924, Warner E. Sallman saw a vision of Jesus Christ, and from it created, according to Newsweek, the most reproduced work in art history, "The Head of Christ" (1940). "Many images of Christ have been painted, but this one has stood the test of time," said the Rev. LeRoy Carlson, founder and president of the Warner E. Sallman Art Collection in Chicago. Sallman's Christ was printed on the cover of the July 9, 2007, issue of Newsweek magazine, which called Sallman's painting the most reproduced religious work of art in history, having been reproduced more than a billion times. The "Head of Christ," [is part of the fine art collection at] Anderson University, Anderson, Ind.. Carlson said. "He painted with devotion, he painted with strength, and for many people his Jesus has become their Jesus." [link]

Read More

Indianapolis Museum of Art Offers Peek at Life with African Sacred Rulers

INDIANAPOLIS STAR
By Jay HarveyINDIANA - The largest and most inclusive display from the ancient spiritual home of Africa's Yoruba people ever to tour the West [is now on view] at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. "Dynasty and Divinity: Ife Art in Ancient Nigeria" has just three other stops on its U.S. tour -- Houston, Richmond, Va., and in a still-to-open New York City museum. That museum, the Museum of African Art, organized the display of 104 items with the Fundacion Botin of Santander, Spain, collaborating with the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments. Descendants of the creator-god became the sacred rulers ("Ooni") of Ife,a monarchical line that continues to this day.[link]

Read More

African Religious Art at the Indianapolis Museum of Art

AOA NEWS
By TahlibINDIANA - "Dynasty & Divinity: Ife Art in Ancient Nigeria" opens at the Indianapolis Museum of Art tonight and runs thru January 16. Previously shown at the British Museum , the exhibition was described by critics as “flabbergasting”, “once in a lifetime” and containing “artworks that rank with the Terracotta Army, the Parthenon or the mask of Tutankhamun as treasures of the human spirit”. Artists of the Kingdom of Ife (in what is today southwestern Nigeria), created sculptures that were among the most beautiful and sophisticated works of art being produced anywhere in the world at the time. Dating from the 12th to 15th centuries A,D., the arts of Ife are noteworthy for their visual power, iconic complexity and variability of form. The exhibition is organized by the Museum for African Art in New York, in collaboration with the Fundación Marcelino Botín of Santander, Spain, and the Nigerian National Commission on Museums and Monuments.

Read More

A&O Meetup to Evansville: June 18, 2011

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Disney-Britton

"Spirit of Cain" by Thomas Henderson, collection of Evansville Museum of Arts

On June 18, I led our monthly A&O MEETUP, and this time we headed to Evansville, IN. The Meetup included stops at Temple Adath de Isreal, St. Marys Catholic Church and First Presbyterian Church as well as a tour of the Evansville Museum of Arts, History, and Science. Two highlights of the museum's collection (both below) were, "Spirit of Cain" (above) by Chris Thomas of Henderson, KY (inspired by Genesis 4:9-12) and "David Dances Before the Ark of the Covenant" (below) by Jan De Bray (17c). We capped off the one-day Meetup with an evening of jazz at the W.C. Handy Blues & Barbecue Festival with participants coming from as far away as Chicago.

"David Dances Before the Ark of the Covenant" by Jan De Bray (17c).

Read More

Methodist Youth Ministry Links Art & Faith in Indianapolis

AOA NEWS
By Ernest Britton

INDIANA - Founded by Free Methodists, LYNhouse offers a summer arts program that links art & faith to inspire under priviledged youth in Indianapolis. The LYN House ministry is a multi-age summer youth program called, "Express Yourself." During this program, the students are being challenged to learn about their "God-given strengths and talents" by creating a group mosaic which will retell significant events of their lives. An Open House for the general public will be held on July 11 entitled, "Capturing Inno-sense" which will also include a short performance piece.

Read More

Cultural Entrepreneurs Building in Indianpolis.

INDIANAPOLIS STAR
By Brian Payne

INDIANAPOLIS - So what is a cultural entrepreneur? I believe it means someone who uses the arts and creativity to build community. I have always considered an "entrepreneur" as the artist of the business world. They are creative risk-takers who, if successful, create value for their community and often for society as a whole. A cultural entrepreneur's business is the community. Also, cultural entrepreneurs differ from others in the social or not-for-profit sectors by utilizing the arts and creative expression in building neighborhood connectedness and vitality. In this case, the arts are not the final product but the tool to engage neighbors and build a better quality of life. [link]

Read More

Religious Art Collector: Margaret Leos

CURRENT ARGUS
By Martha Mauritson

Mother of Sorrows copy by Bianchini (est. 1900)By Robin Zielinski for the Current-Argus

NEW MEXICO - Before her death last year, Carlsbad resident Margaret Leos was an avid yard sale shopper. Some 30 years ago she made a buy that today is worth many times more than she paid for it - but its real value lies in what it means to the Catholic faithful. The item is a gold-framed painting of the Madonna Addolorata - the Mother of Sorrows. According to granddaughter Elizabeth Lopez, it was Margaret Leos' dying wish that the painting should be returned to a religious order in Indiana where it may have come from. The painting is for the moment at the Holy Cross retreat in Mesilla Park, near Las Cruces. In a few weeks, it will be taken to Mount St. Francis, a religious center in Indiana. [link]

Read More

Tyler's "Coffins, Ready to Ship to You"

AOA NEWS

"Coffins, Ready to Ship to You" by Tyler Allen

Read More

Movie: "Hole in the Head: A Life Revealed"

AOA NEWS
By Tahlib

INDIANA - Sometimes the secrets we keep are dying to be told. "Hole in the Head: a Life Revealed" is the story of Vertus Hardiman, age 80, who kept a secret since her was 5 years old. He grew up in a place called "Freedom Village" Indiana and during 1927 he was subjected to an experiment at a county hospital. He hides the shocking results under a wig & beanie but still praises God.

Read More

Elijah is Top Male Baby Name in Indiana, Jacob Nationally

INDIANAPOLIS STAR

INDIANA - The most popular baby names in Indiana in 2010 were Emma for girls and Elijah for boys, according to the Social Security Administration. The next most popular girls' names here, in order, were Sophia, Isabella, Olivia and Ava. New parents of boys in Indiana also favored Jacob, Ethan, Mason and Noah. For the entire United States, Isabella and Jacob topped the list, according to Michael J. Astrue, commissioner of Social Security. [link]

Read More

Election Saves Downtown Greenwood Buildings, Possible Future Home of AOA

INDIANAPOLIS STAR
By Dianna Penner

Alan Petersime/The Star

INDIANA - Seven buildings along the southeast stretch of the Madison Avenue and Main Street intersection may have been spared the wrecking ball with the defeat of Greenwood Mayor Charles Henderson in the May 3 Republican primary. But a day before the election, his plan to demolish the historic structures to widen Main Street and reconstruct the old downtown area with historic-looking buildings landed the area on Indiana Landmarks' 10 Most Endangered list. Saving Greenwood history has become the mission of Jennifer Hollingshead, who grew up in the city and has become committed to preserving what little history her hometown has left. Hollingshead attends First Baptist Church of Greenwood, 99 W. Main St., and learned of Henderson's plan a little more than a year ago. [link]

Read More