Art & Culture

So Traci and I have been reading through Andy Crouche’s “Culture Making” and have been intrigued and enlightened in many ways.

I think one of the things that has caught my attention as we continue developing our skills as artists and relationships within our artistic neighborhood, is that I have been SO guilty of thinking of Culture with a capitol C as if there was really only one culture. Of course we always think there are several other cultures outside of our country, and perhaps we would dare to venture out and say that there are sub cultures here within our country, but most people would stop short of stating that their are LOTS of cultures all around us in our daily lives. But if we think about it, it really is true.

The KC Crossroads Arts District

Currently, we live in the Crossroads Arts District near downtown Kansas City, but previously we lived out in the burbs south of town. If you would have asked me several years ago if there were different cultures all around me, I would have probably said “maybe, but not really sure… no.” But I can tell you from experience, that moving to the Crossroads, its clearly a different culture down here from the burbs of KC. Not in any bad way either, in fact after living here for over a year and getting plugged into our community, I have to say I MUCH prefer this culture to anything KC has ever had to offer. Furthermore, if you travel just a FEW blocks north past 670, you enter into a different culture altogether…the downtown culture which has a completely different vibe, hustle and bustle, and people groups than the Crossroads. Westport is only 5 minutes south of here and is also a very well known art community, but even between the two art communities, there is a distinct difference.

So What’s Your Point?!

What’s my point?  Just to say that even within one city, or section of a city, or specific communities like an art community, there are little culture’s all around us. The culture at Mildred’s Coffee House in the Crossroads is different than Broadway Cafe in Westport, which is different than Latte Land on the Plaza which is different than Scooter’s downtown. We all live in pockets of culture, not just one Culture.

As an artist, I dont need to influence the whole of culture, I only need to influence the culture that Im in, the folks who are all around me everyday, the folks who I am already developing relationships with, friendships with, and artistic partnerships with. This is the culture that I can not only relate with, but influence. If I see something in my cultural world that could use help, I dont have to wait for the government, or some pop culture idol, or humanitarian aid foundation to do something, I can make a difference and impart a positive change in my cultural worlds precisely because I am a part of it, related to it, and engaged in it.

What about your cultural worlds? Do you know what they are? Are you engaged in them or avoiding them?

Cultivating and Creating

As part of our internship at Redeemer, Chad & I are reading a book called Culture Making by Andy Crouch. His main point is that Christians (and everyone else) need to be involved in culture as creators and cultivators. Christians have tended to see their involvement in other ways (condemnation, critique, consumption, copying) and in certain instances each of these is valid (condemnation:sex trafficking — critique:fine art — consumption:coffee! — copying:music…but hopefully not only copying!).

But what we have lacked is earnest effort to create and cultivate.

As some of you know, I started a job at Blacktop Creative last week. No, they don’t lay asphalt. Rather they are a creative branding agency that seeks to use great design to connect their clients’ brand messages to their audience, industries & the world. Just as the blacktop we drive on connects us with people, so great design connects a client with the people who would want his product or service.

It is owned by three Christian men who have done an amazing job living out what Andy Crouch writes about. First of all, they each spent years cultivating the culture that currently exists, working as employees in other creative firms. I don’t know this, but I imagine during that time they learned to be faithful caretakers of someone else’s vision and creative offering to the world. They learned the industry, and in the midst of that came creative inspiration of their own to build an agency that contributed something new to the culture of advertising.

I’ve just been at Blacktop 1 week, and here is what I perceive to be their creative contribution:

Humble collaboration.

Though Shawn, Mike & Dave are clearly the owners and final decision makers, they make every effort to keep Blacktop a place where everyone’s contribution matters. And it doesn’t just matter, it is essential. Everyone is expected to offer what they have to the projects they are working on, as well as to the company as a whole. Since I’ve been here I’ve heard several times that what makes Blacktop great is the people who work here, and the synergy that is among them. Their sum is greater than their parts. They are careful to choose employees who have both amazing talent and the right personality/temperament to fit well with the other 20+ creatives who make up Blacktop.

And since I’ve been here I’ve heard the owners say several times that anyone is welcome & encouraged to come by their desks – whether to say hi, share about a joy or challenge in his/her personal life, or voice a celebration or concern about their work at BTop. And even better, I see Shawn, Dave & Mike do that very thing to the employees, approaching them, asking about their weekend, etc. They have even taken an interest in me, the temp receptionist, which I think says a lot.

I’m also impressed by how the architecture of their building supports this value. They moved into this location a year & a half ago, and were personally involved in the remodeling. No one has a full office, including the 3 owners. Everyone has a very hip-looking cubicle, adding to the collaborative, open feel. The conference room has 2 glass walls, which in my mind reveals that there may be private conversations here, but no secret ones. And finally, the break area. They have a full kitchen, which I LOVE because I don’t have to use a microwave ever. And a humongous picnic table with 2-ton wood benches taken from an old barn and transformed by Shawn into our lunch seating. Most days a good number of the staff eat their homemade or restaurant-purchased lunches at the table with lively discussion.

But in the midst of creating a unique culture of humble collaboration, they have maintained a high quality of work that has won them around 50 awards in their 8 years of existence – and this in city that ranks 4th in advertising dollars spent, with only New York, LA & Chicago out spending them, so the awards carry significant value. The point being, they didn’t undervalue the culture that was already existing by pursuing a Christian value of humble collaboration but accepting mediocre work. They valued the culture of their field, and added an element to it that has brought greater integrity.

So yet again, I am amazed at God’s power and intimate concern to give me a hands on, real-life experience to solidify a lesson he is teaching me. I’m not just reading about culture making, I’m seeing it lived out well. Thanks be to God.

Why Art Matters

Last Sunday was a great day. Each week Chad & I run crazily around the church foyer trying to find the people who are supposed to help serve communion. But Sunday, for the first time, everyone came of their own free will to the determined meeting spot on time. Amazing:) Even better, my sister, Teri, came to visit!, leaving her 2 little ones & her hubby back in Seattle.

My sis, Teri, and I

In the midst of all of that, God gave me yet another lesson on why art matters.

 

At church, Kevin preached another vivid sermon on our compulsion toward and the futility of idolatry (See sermon titled Idolatry #1). By idolatry, I don’t mean bowing down to a wooden carving (although it could be that). Idolatry is much broader. I can “bow down” to anything in life. My husband, my own image, my desire for a perfect marriage or kids, control, money, comfort. Anything we sacrifice for and find ourselves constantly thinking about is likely our idol. As Kevin pointed out, we devote ourselves to these things thinking they will deliver for us, that soon our sacrifices to our idols will bring peace, prosperity, etc, but they never do. Instead, our idols end up controlling and destroying us. Just like addictions.

That evening Teri & I, filled with nostalgia from our former dancing days, attended the So You Think You Can Dance tour at the Sprint Center. I loved it, in spite of the cheesy “between dances” commentary they added in. The performances communicated so much, especially Addictions by Kayla and Kupono. It was a brilliant display of the power addictions have over us. I’ve watched it 3 more times this morning as I write this blog and find myself weeping every time, longing for greater freedom in my own life, and for those I love.

As we walked home afterwards, my sister insightfully noted that anything can have addiction-like control over us, it doesn’t have to be a substance. A few days later, as we drove her to the airport, she & I noted how “task accomplishment” can often be our addiction. We see there is so little profit in it at times, and yet we can be driven to finish. For myself, the approval of others can be a huge idol/addiction.

And here is one reason why art matters. Though Kevin’s sermon was amazing, the unfortunate truth is that I will forget much of it within a matter of weeks. But because God connected that sermon with this performance, I won’t forget the deception of idolatry/addiction. Though my idol may promise me the world, it will leave me empty and despairing, like Kayla in the performance.

And here is why preaching matters. Though the dance solidified a truth about addiction in my heart, it didn’t give me a solution. Is there any hope to be free?

Absolutely. Listen to Kevin’s sermon for the full answer, but here’s what God gave me yesterday as I was reading my Bible. Acts 17:16:34 is also about idolatry, but verse 25 nails it.

“nor is he (God who made the world) served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”

Do you see the difference? Every idol we serve promises the world, gives us nothing, and takes our soul. But God gives. He gives LIFE! He gives breath. He gives everything. If you keep reading, he even gave his own son to die on a cross in our place. We all worship & serve something/someone. But only One is worthy of our worship. Only One keeps his promise to give life. When we serve him, we receive life and can shed our idols.

Going Deep

So up to now, our blog has mostly been about what we’re doing. We’ve wanted to keep you up to date on how our journey toward France is coming along, what creative people we’ve met along the way, and how God is at work in our lives. We’ll still do that, for sure.

But as we enter into our internship with Redeemer, we also want to allow this season to take us on a journey of revisiting important questions about life, art, culture & church. And we’d love to invite you to be part of this conversation. What challenges us more than a thoughtful question from a friend?

So here’s where we’ll begin. After sharing about our ministry, people often ask, “…so are you planting a church, or is this just an art ministry.” A fair enough question, but let me put that back on the asker. What makes a church a church?

If  you define church as a designated building with a steeple where we go ever Sunday morning at 9:00am to sing praise songs & preach, then no, we quite likely will not be planting a “church”. Not because we’re against those things (we do them ever week at Redeemer!) but because that format of church doesn’t thrive in France. Their understanding of Christ is heavily tainted with domineering images of what the Catholic church has been/done over the last few centuries. So to help them see Christ for who he is, we likely won’t approach ministry by opening a church building and hoping people will come in. They won’t. We must go to them where they are (hence the focus on arts), and help them see Christ for who he is, rather than who they’ve thought him to be.

If you define church as a group of believers gathering together regularly to worship God, to eat together, to share the Word of God with one another, to worship Him & to pray, then most definitely we intend on planting a church. Most definitely. But let me ask – do you think even that is sufficient to be called a church? If so, would the average Bible study in America qualify as a mini “church”? Where do the sacraments (baptism, communion) fit in? What about a sense of mission, reaching out to love & share about Christ? And what about elders & deacons, are they necessary before a group of believers can be called a church?

We are wrestling through these questions right now and would love your thoughts/insights. Feel free to reference Scripture that has guided your understanding. And stay tuned for…the rest of the story.

Photography – Is it Art?

Ok , so some of you out there probably have this question roaming around in your heads… at least at some point, is photography art… or is it a “craft”. That’s actually a question I will tackle a bit later, but for now I wanted to show you a video from one of the emerging new talents in the photo world, Chase Jarvis.

Why did I start by asking if photography was art? Because after seeing this video of what it takes to pull off a commercial photo shoot, you will say.. “Man.. that is an art.”

Seriously though, if you really want to see what it takes to do a commercial photo shoot, and to have your question answered that every one asks of photographers… “Why do you charge so much?” (ugh. if you only knew). Well now you start to get an idea of why!

Check out this vid below. And if you’re really interested, you can follow Chase’s blog as he is posting his whole experience for this commercial New Zealand shoot for the world to see how its done. Which is something really unheard of in the photo world, especially the commercial photo world. It’s a first.. so that alone makes it worth a look ;-0

Here’s the vid:

French Ski Ministry

While in Seattle we had the pleasure of sharing juicy hamburgers with Larry & Carrie Calvin.

They orchestrate Christian Snowsports Ministry which seeks to connect American teens with French teens during a week long ski camp in France. They underscored what we’ve heard from other sources, that French youth have so little opportunity to see what Christian community is like. Bringing a group of Christian teens from the States is really effective to give them a taste of what life as a Christian among Christians can be like. They also shared that investing in the lives of French children/youth is a beautiful way of helping the parents see our commitment to them is real.

Their next trip is April 2010, and they are looking for people to go. So if you’re interested, check out their website & sign up!

Bull Whip Guy

While Chad & I were in Idaho, we had a surprise visit with my college pastor, Mike Powell, who was supposed to be out of town. This is one of the many gems he shared with us. It is dedicated to all of you who have seen Rob Bell’s Bullhorn Guy video and thought “….wait a tic, something just isn’t right about this.”

Resettled

Hi all,

Could anyone tell me…where did August go? I thought I had it right here in front of me, but it seems to have slipped away…oh, here’s where it went:

August 4-9: After returning from the northwest, we packed up all our belongings and moved an entire 6 blocks down the street. Sounds crazy, we know, but there’s actually quite a cultural difference. Our old place was on the edge of Crossroads but had much more of an entertainment district feel to it. Our new place is in the heart of Crossroads, which has already opened new doors relationally in the district.

August 12-14: Chad suffered deeply to provide for his family and flew to Napa Valley, CA to shoot a conference at a winery. See Twitter pic to the right.

August 16-20: Writing a business plan for the coming year (since we know we’ll be here 1 more year – see below), catching up on the multitude of admin tasks following our trip.

August 21-29: Chad’s dad had a minor heart attack, while his mom was down with a bad back. Thank you to those who prayed! We helped Chad’s sister care for them and their store, Designer Consignment, until they got back on their feet. We also had the pleasure of attending and photographing our friends’ wedding reception. See pics here.

Now for THE FUTURE:

Many of you know that we have been praying about a 1-year internship with our church, Redeemer Fellowship. Redeemer is just over a year old, but has almost 150 members and 500 in attendance. It is located in Westport, a counter-cultural, cynical community (strikingly similar to French culture) just 5 minutes from where we live. The pastoral staff has done a great job connecting with this culture and bringing the Gospel to light for all who attend.

One reason we decided to do this internship is the practical experience we would gain. This new church is still feeling its way through growing pains, so we’ll see first-hand how the pastors lead in the midst of that. We’ll meet with the pastors regularly and gain their guidance as we prepare to plant a church in France.

Also, we’ll gain experience in using art in ministry in several ways:

�    Orchestrating at least 2 gallery showings in our church foyer – another chance to connect with Kansas City artists.

�    Choosing quotes & artwork for the weekly bulletin. We also hope to work with artists in the church to create artwork for the bulletin at times.

�    Assisting one of the pastors in hosting 2 movie discussion nights.

We’ll also assist our pastors by scheduling and preparing servers for each service, which will be a great way to get to know more people in the church. Our hope is that, as we learn at Redeemer over the next year, God will provide the rest of our financial support, as well as a team of people to join us.

Many of you know that we have been praying about a 1-year internship with our church, Redeemer Fellowship. Redeemer is just over a year old, but has almost 150 members and 500 in attendance. It is located in Westport, a counter-cultural and cynical community (strikingly similar to French culture) just 5 minutes from where we live. The pastoral staff has done a great job connecting with this culture and bringing the Gospel to light for all who attend.

One reason we decided to do this internship is the practical experience we would gain. This new church is still feeling its way through growing pains, so we’ll see first-hand how the pastors lead in the midst of that. We’ll meet with the pastors regularly and gain their guidance as we prepare to plant a church in France.

Also, we’ll gain experience in using art in ministry in several ways:

�    Orchestrating at least 2 gallery showings in our church foyer – another chance to connect with Kansas City artists.

�    Choosing quotes & artwork for the weekly bulletin. We also hope to work with artists in the church to create artwork for the bulletin at times.

�    Assisting one of the pastors in hosting 2 movie discussion nights.

We’ll also assist our pastors by scheduling and preparing servers for each service, which will be a great way to get to know more people in the church. Our hope is that, as we learn at Redeemer over the next year, God will provide the rest of our financial support, as well as a team of people to join us.

Again, thank you for praying for us, we have had a VERY busy summer and are looking forward to the next year in our internship.

Blessings,

Chad & Traci

Wrapping it up

Today is our last day before we head home. After spending 3 weeks on the road, I think its safe to say we are ready to be home. We have seen many cool sights including the majestic Tetons and Yellowstone park, the vast expanse that is Montana, and the usually cool and rainy northwest…except of course the week we spent there where the average temp was around 102! We were hoping to leave all the hot weather back in KC, but alas no.

We have had the chance to meet with many great folks and share about our ministry and we leave the results in the hands of the Lord. We are really excited to get home and get ready for a one year internship with our home church Redeemer Fellowship. There have been a lot of things we have learned along the way on this trip over the many miles of road and we are eager to start putting those into practice.

One of the highlights of our trip was listening to a series of podcasts on the life of Francis Schaeffer. These were actually part of a class from Covenant Seminary in St. Louis. It has been interesting to say the least to hear the process that Schaeffer went through and to learn about the many struggles that he had working out his thoughts on Christianity. I would have to say that Schaeffer is truly one of my heroes now. Highly recommended reading is his complete works which you can easily find on Amazon or Ebay for less than dinner and a movie.

Another thing we have learned is that updating a blog while on the road is very difficult! Although wi-fi is usually found, the time to spend updating is not. Our schedule has been really tight and driving almost every day makes it a bit tough. Check back in about a week and hopefully we will have a better recap of our trip For now, here are a few pictures from our time in the Northwest.

Pocatello & Yellowstone

Hi all – Chad & I are sipping coffee, checking emails in Jackson, WY today. In the midst of our family/support raising trip in the Northwest, we’re taking a couple days to enjoy God’s creativity. See Chad’s pics of the Tetons. We woke up at 3:30 this morning to get these sunrise pics…ugh!

Our time in Pocatello was great. Our only regret was having so little time to connect with my aunt Marla & her fam. Friday night we joined them for a going away BBQ for my cousin, Dan, who will be heading with the military to the Middle East soon. Thank you for praying for him! (See guy in gray in pic below). Congratulations to my cousin Shaina & Eric who just got engaged!!!

Saturday we were back with my folks at Marla’s for breakfast, then had lunch with a long time & very faithful supporter, Frank Prickett. It was great to get to know him better and introduce him to Chad. Frank attends my college church (University Bible Church – UBC) in Poci, and teaches airplane mechanics at my alma mater, Idaho State University.

That evening we had dinner with a fun Brazilian family, the Comparini’s. Chad spent 6 weeks in Brazil before I met him, so he & they had much to chat about. Eric Comparini is an elder at UBC and the whole family is gracious & fun loving. See pic (guy to the right is Mike, not a Comparini)

Sunday morning we shared our ministry with the Adult Bible Fellowship at UBC. I think it went fairly well, and we had a lot of people sign up to receive our e-newsletter.

Fun God thing: the pastor of UBC, Mike Powell, has had a huge influence in my life. He wasn’t supposed to be in town, but Sunday morning he surprised us and showed up! He asked Dan, the preaching pastor if I could share my testimony during church, to help the church maintain their focus on campus ministry. For those who don’t know, I came to faith through various UBC members reaching out to college students like me. Dan heartily agreed, as he had been lamenting the night before that he hadn’t found someone to share their testimony, since it would have been a great close to his sermon. God worked it all out!!

That afternoon we had lunch with my college roommate, Angela, and her family. (pic)ee iCute boys!!! That includes you, Benji – ha:) And later we ate dinner with Pastor Mike & his family. Mike always reminds us of the power of God’s Word to change hearts, which we love.

All for now! Going to Yellowstone today, then Billings tomorrow to see a dear friend, Carrie Langford.

Till next time…