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Features
 Artist of the Month: Eleanor Dickinson
Eleanor Dickinson is a painter whose work exhibits, at different
moments, the qualities of dramatist and documentarian. As
documentarian, she created a body of work over several decades that
contains the searching but compassionate gaze of friend and observer,
whether she is creating works that record lovers embracing or
Pentecostalists in moments of ecstatic prayer under the revival tent.
As dramatist, she has painted friends who are experiencing grief,
illness, and loss—by placing them on something like a cross. Don’t get
the wrong idea: her cross paintings are not literal, violent
crucifixions. Rather, they are figures stretched out vertically and
seen from below, so that they are foreshortened. These works can be
heart-wrenching, to be sure, but they are about a deep identification
with the suffering and stress experienced by those she cares about.
Many of her works are painted on black velvet—a medium we often
associated with kitschy, pop-culture depictions of Elvis. But she’s
found that the dramatic darkness of the black velvet gives her work
something of the intensity of a Caravaggio. Dickinson’s imagination is
all about human body language—and what she shares with us speaks with
all the eloquence and vulnerability of the soul.
Read Scott Driscoll's essay Eleanor Dickinson's Portraits of the Soul from Image 48, here.
 The 2008 Florence Seminar
On September 14 -21, 2008, Image will
gather a small group of inquirers in Florence, Italy, to explore what
has been called “the first Renaissance,” a remarkable moment in the
cultural history of the West. Together we will investigate the ways in
which three great late-medieval figures—Dante Alighieri, Giotto, and
Saint Francis of Assisi—renewed the culture of Europe and left a legacy
of Christian Humanism that continues to nourish and inspire. And we
will ask how their vision of art and faith can speak to the work of
cultural transformation in our time. The seminar includes visits to the
great churches and museums of Florence, lectures by some of the world’s
leading authorities on the Renaissance, a field trip to Assisi where we
will encounter the living spirit of St. Francis, wonderful meals, and
time to enjoy each others’ company. If you’re interested, visit the Florence Seminar page or contact Julie Mullins here to request a PDF or hard copy of the brochure.
Scholarships to the Glen Workshop
Thought
about attending the Glen Workshop? Cursed the economic fate that
prevented you from going? Every year we’re staggered by the generosity
of donors who help give a leg-up to Glen Workshop participants. This
year, we have more scholarships to offer writers and artists than ever,
thanks to CIVA, The Master’s Artist, friends of Don Murdock,
singer-songwriter Kate Campbell, The Paul and Eileen Mariani Fellowship
for Poets, and City in Focus of Vancouver B.C. Special Note: Because
workshops are filling fast, we’ve tweaked our scholarship
policy. You do not need to send a $100 deposit to apply for a
scholarship. You may apply to any class, even if it's closed for
registration (see the course descriptions page).
We’ve reserved a limited number of spaces in each class and some
housing (triple and double dorm rooms) for scholarship winners, and
will do our best to give recipients their first choices. However, if
you wish to guarantee a spot in a workshop, even if you do not win a scholarship, you must register for an available workshop and pay the $100 deposit.
The final deadline for applications is April 1, and all applicants will
be notified by April 15. For more details, go to the Glen Scholarships page. See you in Santa Fe!
 Doug Burr: On Promenade
Winner
of the 2002 Mark Heard songwriting contest, and nominated for four
Dallas Music Awards in late 2007, Doug Burr has been getting a
good bit of attention in recent years. With a poignant voice comparable
to Bill Mallonee and Ray Lamontagne, Burr’s melodic, harmony-filled
songs may best be described as haunting. In 2003, Burr released the
critically acclaimed The Sickle and the Sheaves, a dark, gospel-drenched album created “with immortality in mind.” Similar themes are continued on Burr’s recent release, On Promenade. Admittedly influenced by reading Greil Marcus’ Mystery Train,
Burr says the lyrics grew out of a love of “old fashioned phrases and
wording—especially in poetry and music”—a love he suspects may have
come from “growing up on old hymns.” “Slow Southern Home” begins
the album, setting its pensive mood: “I lay awake for a night /
drenched in anguish and bright light / I dreamt about an ancient house
/ and a slow southern home.” On “Graniteville,” a song about a town
caught unawares when a train transporting poison crashes in its midst,
Burr displays his wonderful knack for near rhyme: “Just boxcar flowers
to follow your daddy / another freighter in from Cincinnati / Yeah, you
know love, everything you carry / another red eye, Mobile, Albany.”
Later in the album, “Should’ve Known” deals with the death of Theo Van
Gogh (great grandson of Vincent’s brother, Theo), murdered for his film
about Muslim abuses of women. Building slowly, steadily, the chorus
breaks into stirring harmony: “Nothing changes here / there’s a strange
love letter / and your souvenirs.” Melancholy, but not lacking hope,
much of the album is elegiac—love songs to the past, to the stories of
those who have gone before, dreams of people and places presently
fading away. “I had a dream one night,” Burr told a recent interviewer,
“I was in a hearse with Johnny Cash, and June was in a coffin in the
back. He looked at me and said, ‘Love is fear’, the opposite of ‘Love
casts out all fear’ from the Bible. But I immediately knew what that
meant. The more you have, the more you will lose one day.” Having
opened for the likes of Bill Mallonee and Marshall Crenshaw, Burr
continues to play with his band, The Lonelies, as well as performing
solo gigs. He has upcoming shows in Abilene, Dallas, and Denton.
For more, click here.
 The Prodigal Daughter by Margaret Gibson
The
definition of a good memoir, like St. Paul’s famous definition of love,
is perhaps better fleshed out in considering what it does not
do than what it does. A good memoir, for example, does not ignore the
harsh truths of the past, but neither does it delight in placing blame;
it does not enlarge the sins of others, nor does it downplay the
memoirist’s own shortcomings. Rather, a memoir rings true when it
devotes as much time to investigating the self as it does to
interrogating the past. And in Margaret Gibson’s new book, The Prodigal Daughter: Reclaiming an Unfinished Childhood,
we have a shining example of the way a memoir can become, in this
sense, an act of true charity. Gibson, estranged from her family for
much of her adult life, revisits her childhood in Richmond, Virginia in
the 1950s and 1960s. Growing up in a time, place, and family that clung
to class distinctions and resisted social change, she would have plenty
of material for finger pointing. But she resists the temptation, embarking, instead, on an honest exploration of her own past failures to love perfectly. And the memoir itself, in its unflinching but compassionate vision, becomes an attempt to love
better. Gibson's memoir depicts her family as flawed but never beyond redemption: thus, we see a father’s punishing belt set against the tender
moments of carrying his sleeping daughter from the car to her bed; or a
mother’s staunch Christian principles juxtaposed with her daughter’s
discovery of a hidden copy of Lady Chatterley’s Lover in a
bedside drawer, and the mother’s subsequent admission that “It’s not as
terrible a book as they say."
This is a story of a young writer coming to terms with religious doubt
while learning the power of words to explore life’s ambiguities. It is
also a tale of a family divided by favoritism, envy, and private grief learning to knit themselves together again. Margaret Gibson, who will be teaching a
poetry workshop at the Glen this summer, is the author of nine books of poetry. This is her first book of prose. A chapter from The Prodigal Daughter entitled “Faith, Hope, Charity” is published in Image issue 55.
For more, click here.
 Image Profile in the National Catholic Reporter
Last week, the National Catholic Reporter published a piece profiling Image
journal and its editor, Gregory Wolfe. The piece, written by Erin Ryan
and entitled “A Bridge Between Religion and the Arts,” highlights how Image
came to be—beginning with Wolfe’s transformation from what he calls “a
conservative ‘culture warrior’” to a Christian humanist whose love of
art began to undermine his previous “tendencies toward... ideological
politics.” The article also explores the role that Wolfe’s conversion
to Catholicism played in his vision for a new journal that saw art,
like the Incarnation, as something that “brings together those two
poles of human and divine, justice and mercy, all these different
tensions in which we live.” Read the article to find out why Wolfe does
not believe that our modern culture is going to hell in a hand basket…
and for a glimpse into the vision behind the founding of a journal that
has, over the last twenty years, grown beyond a handsome print journal
into a flourishing suite of programs.
Click here to read the article.
Message Board
If you have information other ImageUpdate readers might find interesting, share it here! Do you have a question that you hope a member of the ImageUpdate community might have the answer to? Ask it here. Have your messages posted by sending an e-mail to gwolfe@spu.edu.
Pacific Theatre Seeks General Manager
Pacific
Theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia is looking for a confident,
creative initiator with demonstrated business, strategic leadership,
communication, and management skills who is knowledgeable about theatre
and is committed to our mandate. The successful candidate will have a
Business Degree or relevant post-secondary training with a minimum of
two years of professional experience. Arts Administration or non-profit
background is an asset. Preference will be given to candidates
with strong marketing, development, organizational, and decision-making
skills. Experience in grant-writing and financial management is
necessary. Please visit website for more details (www.pacifictheatre.org).
Applications due March 15, 2008. Position to commence September 1,
2008. For confidential consideration, please email, mail, or deliver a
comprehensive cover letter and resume to: Julie Sutherland, Pacific
Theatre, 1440 West 12th Ave Vancouver, BC V6H 1M8, or
julie@pacifictheatre.org
The Other Journal Call for Submissions: The Education Issue
The Other Journal (TOJ)
seeks creative writing and visual or performance art that encounters
life through the lens of theology and culture. In Issue #12, TOJ
seeks work that thoughtfully considers our contemporary education
system or comments imaginatively on the ways in which we learn. We
welcome poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Fiction may include
short stories or self-contained novel excerpts, and creative nonfiction
may include personal essays or memoirs. We also welcome films,
paintings, prints, photography, music, and sculptures. Please send
submissions to submissions@theotherjournal.com by May 1, 2008. For more
information about the issue, click here.
The Painted Prayerbook: A Blog by Jan Richardson
Jan Richardson has recently revamped her blog, which is now The Painted Prayerbook.
With original artwork by Jan Richardson, this blog explores the
intersections of writing, art, and faith, plus a few other things
besides. Its pages include a weekly reflection on a text from the
lectionary (the three-year cycle of readings that take us through much
of the Bible). These lectionary reflections emerge from a process of
lectio divina (“sacred reading”), the ancient art of praying with
sacred texts, including the text of our own life. The art pieces that
appear with the weekly lectionary reflections are painted paper
collages that Jan creates as part of the process of doing lectio with
the texts. Visit the blog at paintedprayerbook.com
ImageNews: The Scoop on Our Programs
The Milton Center Postgraduate Fellowship Deadline: March 15
The Milton Center postgraduate fellowship brings emerging writers of Christian commitment to Image,
where their primary goal is to complete their first book-length
manuscript in fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction. During their
time at the Center, fellows will have a rich experience of literary and
spiritual community; they will interact with the editorial staff of Image
and the English department at Seattle Pacific University, participate
in the Friday writer's workshop, and enjoy the lively literary scene in
the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
For more information and to download an application, click here.
Register Now for the 2008 Glen Workshop!
“The Artist and the City: Art and Faith in the Public Square”
July 27 – August 3, 2008
The Glen Workshop is an illuminating conference on the arts and
religion, where participants practice and strengthen their craft and
vision in community. This weeklong event combines the best elements of
a workshop, an arts festival, and a symposium. By exploring this year’s
theme, “The Artist and the City: Art and Faith in the Public Square,”
participants will share a common ground for discussion during the week.
Morning workshops are small enough to allow the faculty to give close
attention to each participant—to beginners as well as those advanced in
their craft. This year’s faculty includes poets Margaret Gibson and
Daniel Tobin, fiction writer Valerie Sayers, photographer Kathy
Hettinga, illustrator Barry Moser, assemblage artist Barry Krammes,
playwright Mark St. Germain, musicians Linford Detweiler and Karin
Berquist of Over the Rhine, and spiritual writer Ann McCutchan. A
seminar class, “Art, the City & the Beloved Community” will be led
by Tim Rollins. For artists and non-artists alike, the seminar is a
forum to explore the workshop theme in more depth through discussion
and hands-on collaborative art making. Afternoons and evenings at the
Glen feature faculty readings, lectures, and presentations. Each
evening concludes with an ecumenical worship service that incorporates
the arts, led by pastor Debbie Blue. Free time offers participants
opportunities for writing, conversation, hiking, and exploring the
stunning scenery and cultural treasures in and around Santa Fe.
Surrounded by the stark, dramatic beauty of the Sangre de Cristo
Mountains, the Glen is hosted at St. John’s College campus and is
within easy reach of the rich cultural, artistic, and spiritual
traditions of northern New Mexico. Please note that class sizes are
limited: don’t wait too long to register!To register for the Glen Workshop, or to find out more information, click here. If you are on the Image
subscriber list, you’ll automatically receive a brochure. If you’d like
to have one mailed to you, send us an e-mail by clicking here.
ImageUpdate
Publisher: Gregory Wolfe
Managing Editor: Beth Bevis
Layout: David Rither
Contributors: Beth Bevis, Matt Malyon, Julie Mullins, and Gregory Wolfe
ImageUpdate is the biweekly e-mail newsletter from Image,
a quarterly print journal that explores the relationship between
Judeo-Christian faith and art through contemporary fiction, poetry,
painting, sculpture, architecture, film, music, and dance. Each issue
also features interviews, memoirs, essays, and reviews.ImageUpdate
brings you news about books, CDs, organizations, websites, conferences,
exhibitions, and tours—all of which inhabit the intersection between
faith and imagination. ImageUpdate will also notify you whenever a new issue of Image is printed, an Image event is upcoming, or new content is posted to our website.To unsubscribe, send a message to listserver@spu.edu consisting of the text "unsubscribe imageupdatenewsletter" in the body of the message.Thinking of changing your e-mail address? Want to keep ImageUpdate
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Copyright © 2007 Center for Religious Humanism. All rights reserved.
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