Christians in the Visual Arts Conference at Calvin College
Does the church need art? Does the art world need the church? These two long-standing questions will be at the center of a four-day conference coming to Grand Rapids and the Calvin College campus this June.
Does the church need art? Does the art world need the church? These two long-standing questions will be at the center of a four-day conference coming to Grand Rapids and the Calvin College campus this June.
Christians in the Visual Arts, a national non-profit serving artists and arts professionals since 1979, will host the event, appropriately titled “Between Two Worlds,” from June 11-14, 2015.
The conference is intended to help attendees consider the ever-present tensions that persist between artists and the church and to learn from leaders and practitioners who are working to overcome this divide. It will include keynote presentations, exhibitions, workshops and cultural outings, including Meijer Gardens, the DisArt exhibition and more.
Says Cameron Anderson, CIVA’s executive director: “During our four days together, we will explore the misperceptions that we have about each other, create hospitable space to talk and listen, and imagine the possibility of a renewed and mutually fruitful relationship.”
The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW) joins in sponsoring this year’s conference and especially encourages pastors and other worship leaders, including those who don't think of themselves as artists, to attend.
Says John Witvliet, director of the CICW: "Learning to pastor artists does not require artistic gift, but it does require pastoral curiosity and a deep desire to help artists contribute their unique gifts to the larger Christianity community. This conference is an ideal event for any pastoral leader, especially those without many connections to the arts and artistic communities, to learn to love artists and all the ways that artists can bless and challenge the church."
Anderson echoes Witvliet in that sentiment, noting that the church and the contemporary art world continue to find themselves in an uneasy relationship, one often defined by misunderstanding and mistrust.
But CIVA’s every-other-year conference is, he says, intended to break down some of those barrriers. “We seek to find common ground for the common good,” says Anderson.
Indeed finding that common ground for the common good has been CIVA’s mission since it was formed in 1979, after a conference at Calvin. In fact the Calvin connections to CIVA run both long and deep.
The organization’s first president was Calvin professor of art emeritus Edgar Boevé and the current board president is Brooklyn-based artist and Calvin grad Wayne Adams.