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 Artist of the Month: Thomas Lynch
Thomas Lynch meets everyone in his home town of Milford, Michigan-at least once. That's because he's the town's undertaker. In his 1997 book, The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade, Lynch did much more, however, than merely provide titillating insights into the funeral home business (though he did provide a few). What this collection of linked essays revealed was a graceful and gifted writer, a master of the "familiar essay" in the tradition of Montaigne. Lynch, who is also a fine poet (but we know how well books of poetry sell), writes well about the spiritual and moral aspects of the ways we come to terms with death. He writes with hilarious, if painful, insight into the trivialization and avoidance of death in our culture. He also conveys the spirituality of poetry, the poetry of the Irish Catholic tradition he inherited, and much, much more. His latest book, Booking Passage, is another series of linked, lyrical meditations on his relationship to his ancestral home in Ireland. For Lynch, the faith of his altar-boy youth has come to mean more and more to him; but in good Irish fashion, he can criticize priests and Popes as well as revere them. Here is a writer who truly sees the transcendent in ordinary, human things.
Visit our Artist of the Month web page on Thomas Lynch here.
 Editors Profiled in The Seattle Times
Our hometown paper ran a Thanksgiving-Day feature on Greg and Suzanne Wolfe, describing how Image's mission grew out of what the Times calls an unlikely marriage of fogy and punk. We non-Wolfes on the staff think the portrait is pretty accurate. "In the war over religion in American life, Seattle Pacific University English instructors Greg and Suzanne Wolfe have found a way to act as both provocateurs and peacemakers. For sixteen years, they've published the nonprofit quarterly Image ... Image is probing rather than preachy. That's because the Wolfes, both authors in their own right, take pleasure not in fighting the culture wars but in blurring the battle lines." Read on to find out about their first date.
 A Brochure for Image
Since Image as an organization has a lot of pots on the stove-the quarterly print journal, the Glen Workshop, the fall conference, the Milton Center Fellowship, this newsletter, and more-sometimes we find ourselves a bit tongue-tied when it comes to describing our suite of programs to people who've never heard of us. But no more. Special grant funding has allowed us to put together a beautiful eight-page color brochure that highlights our programs and articulates our mission. Big thanks go to the artists Mary McCleary, David Robinson, and Meltem Aktas, who let us use images of their work to give people a taste of the kind of art we're about. And of course to designer Joel Ertsgaard. Want a copy? E-mail us a request. Be sure to include your mailing address and put "Image Brochure Request" in the subject line. If you'd like to share Image with friends, students, a church arts group, or any other likely crowd, feel free to order a dozen or more. Can't wait? Download a pdf now.
Image Conference 2005 Wrap-up
We're pretty sure the air in Houston is still crackling with the sheer wattage generated during last month's Image Conference. With Kathleen Norris on the hysterical impossibility of solo Gregorian Chant; Nicholas Wolterstorff musing over art meeting its liturgical end; and Seven Dance Company bringing the body out from behind the scandalized church, "The Matter of Devotion: Art, Liturgy, and the Stuff of Worship" came into being in its fullest form. Add to that the resplendent John Cobb chapel, an exhibit linking worship and work-featuring the art of Wayne Forte, Alfonse Borysewicz, Ginger Geyer and others-and the rich mine of Eighth Day Books, we're practically delirious with transcendence. Now that we've had time to catch our breath, we offer you non-conferees and conferees alike a peek back on our 2005 Conference photo page. Next year's conference theme and location coming soon!
The Image Annual Appeal Letter: Please Help!
So this is our equivalent of a public radio fund drive-except we do it very, very quietly. But seriously, folks, we need your help. Image is both a national journal and a suite of programs, making it the leading organization relating faith and the arts. Your help will enable us to carry on. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution today. As a small, lean, tightly run ship, every dollar you give makes a big difference, be it $35, $50, $100, $500, or more. The late spiritual writer Henri Nouwen once said, in a talk entitled "The Spirituality of Fundraising": "Asking people for money is giving them the opportunity to put their resources at the disposal of the Kingdom."
To read our annual appeal letter, "Art: The Extravagant Gesture," please click here. If you'd like to learn more about how to support Image 's programs, write directly to Gregory Wolfe at gwolfe@imagejournal.org.
Want to Work for Image This Summer?
Are you an undergraduate or graduate student who'd like to work for Image this coming summer? Or do you know someone who might be interested? The purpose of the Luci Shaw Fellowship is to expose a promising student to the world of literary publishing and introduce him or her to the contemporary dialogue about art and faith that surrounds Image, its programs, its contributors, and its peer organizations. In short, we're looking for summer fellows who share our vision for the place art has in the life of faith, and who are also diligent, meticulous, and responsible about the daily details. There's grunt work galore in this job, but also plenty of opportunities to grasp the vision at the heart of a dynamic arts organization. The Shaw Fellow will also receive a full scholarship to Image 's Glen Workshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
To learn more about the Luci Shaw Fellowship, and to download an application, click here.
 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Listening to the critically acclaimed Howl, the latest album from Los Angeles-based trio Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, the listener is transported to an earlier age of freewheelin' rock and roll. Departing from the mood-drenched sounds of their previous two releases, BRMC delivers an album rooted in Americana. "The foundation of the songs," says bassist Robert Been, "comes from a country and folk background." Although BRMC has received much acclaim since its debut in 2000, the band's path has not always been easy. In 2001, BRMC was dropped from its label, and after only two albums parted ways, due to complications, with their English drummer, Nick Jago. When the internal problems were resolved, Jago encountered difficulties obtaining an American visa. Finally reunited in 2004, the band was picked up by RCA. It released Howl in 2005. In what Time Out calls an "impressive" reinvention, BRMC mines the treasures of country, blues, and gospel. The album calls to mind a myriad of sources, among them the mercurial, mid-sixties Dylan, early Rolling Stones, Neil Young, later Beatles, and-on the album's last song-Radiohead. With such a heritage, the songs on Howl naturally veer into pondering spiritual matters. Dark and often laced with grim humor, the lyrics probe the unsettled areas of existence. On "Gospel Song," lead singer Peter Hayes sings, "I will walk with Jesus, till I can't go any more, / And I will stay with Jesus, till I can't go another mile." With clear insight, "Restless Sinner" describes a trapped individual: "Restless sinner, rest in sin, / He's got no face to hold him in. / He feels his day's as dark as night, / He's been waiting with the blind just to find a place to hide his ghost." Howl travels many roads: rollicking foot stompers, tracks of quieted contemplation, and dark tales of the human condition. The album closes on what can be taken as a hopeful note. With its only accompaniment an organ, a voice pleads for solidarity through dark times, for "we don't know if we'll be here again." BRMC will be touring North America from mid-December 2005 - March 2006.
Visit Black Rebel Motorcycle Club online here.
Gallery Watch
Nancy Jackson's Incarnation Triptych at the Bellevue Arts Museum
A rare form of art created by San Francisco Bay Area artist, Nancy Jackson, will be exhibited at the newly opened Bellevue Arts Museum in Bellevue, Washington, the heart of the software industry of Seattle. The Incarnation Triptych is part of Fiberart International 2004, a cutting-edge fiber art exhibition featuring innovative ideas and manipulations of fiber, including traditional and unusual modern fibers. The three handwoven Gobelin-Aubusson tapestries composing Jackson 's Incarnation Triptych ranked among the top entries submitted to the Fiberart International 2004 competition. The show is open now and runs to January 22, 2006.
For more on Fiberart International 2004 , click here.
Wayne Forte: Recent Paintings
Now through December 10, Wayne Forte (Image #13, 38) will hold an exhibition of his recent paintings at the Southern California Arts Projects and Exhibitions (SCAPE). For more information, call (949) 723-3406.
Upcoming
NextNext Visual Art
Curated by Dan Cameron, Senior Curator at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, the 2005 NextNext Visual Art presents a dozen Brooklyn artists who have created dynamic new projects in a range of media specifically for spaces in the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The exhibition will be on view from now through December 17 in Brooklyn, NY. For more information, please click here.
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