Disney-Britton

NEW YORK - The Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts has announced a trinity of finalists for the 2010 A&O Prize; and the 2010 finalists are: Thomas Blackshear lll for his Mother Teresa stamp released on August 26, 2010; Abdi Farah for the religious overtones of his installation in "Work of Art" finale; and Janet Jaime for her controversial but well executed commission of the San Damiano Cross at a church in Oklahoma. The A&O Prize (aka GAMMY) is a contemporary religious art recognition for an outstanding exhibition or presentation by an American artist during the past twelve months. The 2010 winner will be announced on November 1. Subscriber/Members of Alpha Omega Arts decide by sending their email vote to " tahlib@aol.com by Friday, October 29."

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Tahlib NEW YORK --- Peter Greenaway, an artist and filmmaker will premiere an large scale, immersive multimedia work based on Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Last Supper this December in New York City.  This marks Greenaway's first U.S. presentation of one of his installations.  Art Daily  writes, " Through his incisive manipulation of light, sound, and theatrical illusion, Greenaway creates a series of dynamic audio-visual environments that provoke new ways of seeing Leonardo’s masterpiece. The installation includes a meticulously detailed “clone” of the painting set within a full-scale replica of the nearly 4,000-square-foot apse and cupola of the Refectory of Santa Maria Delle Grazie in Milan, home to the original work." The installation will be on view from Dec. 2 - Jan. 6, 2011 at  Park Avenue Armory .

"It is not politically correct art, but thank God for that"   - RODNEY POPLE , Artist

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS  By TAHLIB Judas’ Kiss  Paul Lisak (b. Bayonne, 1967) Oil on Linen, 178 cm x 230 cm

COLORADO - A Christian artist based in Colorado designed and created the Mother Teresa postage stamp that the U.S. Postal Service released yesterday on Aug. 26, the 100th anniversary of her birth. Thomas Blackshear II, designer of the 44-cent stamp, has created artwork for 30 U.S. postal service stamps including Joe Louis and civil rights activist Rosa Parks. For him Christian art is a ministry. Blackshear told The Catholic Review , “There have been many times that I’ve heard that a painting that I’ve done has influenced or affected people in ways that are not the norm."

I selected the colors of Alpha Omega Arts in honor of Mother Teresa on the 100th anniversary of her birth, August 26, 2010.  These colors have been her uniform, and the uniform of her order since 1946. "On the evening of August 16, Mother Teresa removed her old religious habit (dress) and wore a new habit of her future 'Missionary of Charity' Order. Her new dress consisted of a simple, cotton, white sari with blue stripes (blue was the color of Virgin Mary) along with white habits to be worn under the sari." [ link ]

As the Empire State Building's owners tried to win public support to deny another developer's right to build a new skyscraper nearby, they are losing the PR battle over a Saint. In what could have been a huge and timely win for the owners of the Empire State Building: the lighting of the building for the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Nobel Peace prize winning Mother Teresa, their denial has a city of Catholics and others angry. This evening, the Catholic League will protest the decision in the streets, as they celebrate her birthday. Certainly the owners have the right to deny the honor because of their policy "not to honor religious figures", but should they? The irony is that as they exercise their "right" to deny lighting up the building, they are trying to stop another's "right" to build a neighbor skyscraper. Kudos to NYC's council for allowing the new construction and to the Catholic League for honoring Mother Teresa.

In today's ICONIA :  Where Faith meets with Art , Menachem Wecker writes, " According to an interesting (and  controversial )  narrative  in the 13th century Kabbalistic work the  Zohar , Jewish  high priests  entered the  Kodesh Ha'kadashim , the  Holy of Holies , on  Yom Kippor  with golden chains tied to their ankles.  This pricey ankle bling was not merely decorative. According to the Zohar, there was a period of time (mostly during the  Second Temple  era) when high priests purchased their positions through bribes, and when they tried to enter the Holy of Holies, God found them unworthy and immediately killed them. (Think the pitiful folks who preceded Atreyu's successful passage  between the sphinxes  in  The NeverEnding Story .)" That is certainly a new way to consider the impact of bling. The account is part of a  recent exhibit   at the Museum of Biblical Art in New York City.

AOA NEWS By Greg Disney “Eat Pray Love,” starring my favorite actress Julia Roberts is a movie about self-awareness, interlaced with adventure, romance and spiritual discovery. The three themes "eating," "praying" and "loving" are all fully explored in a way that makes you envy, and admire her experience. Yes, her explorations with food in Italy make you hungry for spaghetti and pizza; and her sexual relationships are also enticing; but its the religious awakening that stands out. On Bali, an island that is now on my bucket-list, Liz (Julia Robert's character) studies under an elderly shaman and finally awakens a peace, and freedom inside she knew was there but couldn't awaken on her own.

Drawing on various aspects of The Menil's permanent collection in Houston, "Objects of Devotion" explores the ways in which art supported religious practice in different times and places. Objects ranging from small-scale works of personal nature, such as Byzantine pilgrim ampulae, to a Maya vessel used in ninth century chocolate drinking rituals, to architectural sculpture, including a thirteenth-century Japanese Shinto shrine figure, allow us to consider the various roles to which objects are put in the service of establishing, reinforcing, and refining spiritual beliefs. This latest exhibit of art and religion runs through October 31. (Read: more )

I am at the airport 911 center. These guys in black suits and ear pieces are here in the center. They said crap one of our lines went down. They approached me and asked for my help. I said I was only usually here for the 911 center but ran to grab my bag. Helped them fix issue. Then found out they were white house communications here protecting the departure of the VP! He is approaching the airport and I helped fix a line so they could be back online 100% for radio communications. LOL. Wow! Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

In their first collaborative exhibition, two renowned Renaissance and Baroque fine art specialists, Andrew Butterfield of Andrew Butterfield Fine Arts and Fabrizio Moretti of Moretti Fine Art , will present Body and Soul: Masterpieces of Italian Renaissance and Baroque Sculpture on Thursday, October 21 through Friday, November 19, 2010 at Moretti Fine Art, 24 East 80th Street in New York. “We are very pleased to present this group of twelve rare masterpieces of Italian sculpture, which are on view for the first time,” said Andrew Butterfield. “We have assembled the best of the best of museum-quality works of art that represent the epitome of Renaissance and Baroque artistry.” According to Butterfield, sculpture is one area of the market where it is still possible for a collector to assemble a great collection worthy of a top international museum. One of the works featured is Madonna, by Andrea Riccio (circa 1510), a life-size sculpture, is the first statue of the artist to be redis...

"Don't Let Christ say, 'You Don't Know Me.'" - REV. JACKIE JACKSON

Mother Teresa's 100th Birthday Thomas Blackshear II (b. America) U.S. Postal Stamp Release date: August 26, 2010

More than 200 sacred artifacts have been returned to a Northern California Indian tribe. The Yurok Tribe celebrated the items' return this past week — among the largest repatriation of Native American sacred objects ever — from the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian. (Read: more )

For centuries, New Mexico has been home to a distinctive tradition of painting Catholic saints in simple portraits, rather than adhering to the elaborate styles of European art. Some critics have said the paintings resulted from untrained Spanish artists doing the best they could. But the curator, Robin Gavin of the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art in Santa Fe never accepted that argument. Instead, Gavin believes artists chose to adopt artistic traditions of Native Americans instead of the baroque styles brought to early New Mexico from the outside world. New Mexico today is known for its santos, or carved statues of saints , and retablos, two-dimensional paintings of saints on wooden boards. The exhibit, "Converging Streams: Art of the Hispanic and Native American Southwest," runs through September.

The City of Birmingham, in England has purchased "a rare collection of communion silver – with some pieces dating back over 500 years."  for the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. According to Museum Publicity.com, "The collection consists of a rare pre-Reformation silver parcel-gilt paten engraved with the Manus Dei (‘Hand of God’) c.1450; a silver communion cup (1634) and a pair of silver flagons and standing paten by London silversmith Anthony Nelme. The flagons are engraved with the inscription: ‘A Gift to Castle Bromwich Chapple in the Year 1723’." ( Read: more )

NYTIMES - "President Obama's eloquent endorsement on Friday of a planned Islamic cultural center near the World Trade Center, followed by his apparent retreat the next day, was just one of many paradoxes at the heart of the increasingly impassioned controversy. We have seen the Anti-Defamation League, an organization dedicated to ending “unjust and unfair discrimination,” seek to discriminate against American Muslims. We have seen Newt Gingrich depict the organization behind the center — the Cordoba Initiative, which is dedicated to “improving Muslim-West relations” and interfaith dialogue — as a “deliberately insulting” and triumphalist force attempting to built a monument to Muslim victory near the site of the twin towers." (Read all: NYT-Op-ed )

Where is the common ground on creating a sense of community at New York City's 9-11 museum and Jerusalem's Museum of Tolerance ? The odd man out, in both instances is the Islamic community. I'm not a Muslim, but am Roman Catholic, and I'm watching these two conflicts with saddness. What can be done? In NY, I'm with the Jewish mayor, Mr. Bloomberg who believes if would be a "sad day" if the opponents won.  Couple his stance with President Obama's message to Islamic leaders that this was a case of religious freedom, and it's obvious that we all should support building this new center. I say that those opposed to the building of an Islamic center, two whole blocks away from the 9-11 site need to put aside their fear and offer a hand of friendship. For those in Jerusalem seeking to build a Jewish-initiated museum on contested Islamic holy ground, they also need to offer hands of cooperation to work together in finding an alternative location. The com...

In June 2007, Sister Wendy Beckett, an art critic and Catholic nun, stated in a television interview with Bill Moyers that she regarded Andres Serrano's "Piss Christ" not as blasphemous but a statement on "what we have done to Christ": that is, the way contemporary society has come to regard Christ and the values he represents. (Watch: interview )

AOA NEWS By Ernest Britton INDIANA - A 25-foot-tall sculpture inspired by Grant Wood’s iconic painting “American Gothic stands guard in Dow AgroSciences Celebration Park during the Great Indiana State Fair from Aug. 6 – 22. “God Bless America,” which has traveled to Chicago, Florida, Arizona and New York, features the well-known farmer with his pitchfork and daughter by his side. The sculpture, installed July 26 with the help of giant cranes, is a reminder of the nation’s agricultural roots. “This piece of public art is a great opportunity for our visitors to capture a unique moment at the fair,” Cindy Hoye, the State Fair’s executive director, said.

By JAMES HIPPS If you’ve ever attended a Methodist church, you’ll probably agree the name is fitting as they definitely have a ‘method’ to how a service is run.  It’s almost like clockwork and many times, if you’ll look around, there will be parishioners watching the clock, knowing that exactly 11:57 a.m. the benediction will commence.  Ah, yes…the beginning of the end.  You’ve done your weekly duty and put in your hour and now it’s time to head out for lunch. Growing up in the Midwest, I had the opportunity to visit a Methodist church on many occasions.  My father was Catholic, yet my mother was from a Lutheran upbringing and so somehow, the Methodist church became the compromise. With the exception of Christmas Eve, every service was status quo.  I could literally walk you through a service at the First United Methodist Church in Eaton Rapids, Michigan (the only Eaton Rapids on earth, yet I’m sure not the “first” UMC) as easily as I could predict what time the...

By JAMES HIPPS If you’ve ever attended a Methodist church, you’ll probably agree the name is fitting as they definitely have a ‘method’ to how a service is run.  It’s almost like clockwork and many times, if you’ll look around, there will be parishioners watching the clock, knowing that exactly 11:57 a.m. the benediction will commence.  Ah, yes…the beginning of the end.  You’ve done your weekly duty and put in your hour and now it’s time to head out for lunch. Growing up in the Midwest, I had the opportunity to visit a Methodist church on many occasions.  My father was Catholic, yet my mother was from a Lutheran upbringing and so somehow, the Methodist church became the compromise. With the exception of Christmas Eve, every service was status quo.  I could literally walk you through a service at the First United Methodist Church in Eaton Rapids, Michigan (the only Eaton Rapids on earth, yet I’m sure not the “first” UMC) as easily as I could predict what time the...

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS  By TAHLIB Piss Christ Andres Serrano (b. Aug. 15, 1950, NYC) C. 1987, Photograph On View:  A Private Collection Tomorrow is Andres Serrano's 60th Birthday!

In the 16th-century, Protestant reformer Martin Luther (and German) railed against some practices of the Roman Catholic Church, which ultimately led to the founding of the Lutheran denomination. Nearly 500 years later, German artist Ottmar Hoerl is temporarily replacing the German town of Wittenberg's statue of Luther with 800 colorful plastic statuettes of the famous religious reformer.  

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Ernest Disney-Britton Mother/Father/God: Thank you for today's scripture passage reminding me to seek ways to help the least of my brothers and sisters. Thank you for dinner with my husband last night. It was a good evening. Thank you for Kasey, who shows me daily how to love unconditionally. Thank you for my book, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, it's teaching me a new way to talk about my relationship with you. Thank you for the stamina to do my exercises today and to the promise of healthy future to do your work. For these and all other blessing. I thank you. AMEN

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Ernest Disney-Britton Dear Mother/Father/God:  Thank you for today's meeting with my Attorney. I was afraid, too afraid to even think of calling on you. I apologize for that. My brain was numb with fear (Devil). It will still be a long journey with challenges ahead but I thank you for being there waiting for me to ask for your support. I know that all I need do is ask you, and you will "roll away the stone."  AMEN

This week, the DVD for " Letter's to God " was released. I missed it during it's theatrical release in April but I've read some reviews, and expect to see it soon. It's a story about young boy fighting cancer who writes letters to God, touching lives in his neighborhood and community and inspiring hope among everyone he comes in contact.  An unsuspecting substitute postman, with a troubled life of his own, becomes entangled in the boy's journey and his family by reading the letters. They inspire him to seek a better life for himself and his own son he's lost through his alcohol addiction. Best line from the Trailer is from "someone" in a church who tells the Postman, "It seems to me, God put these letters in your hands for a reason."

If you enjoy exploring new God's Art Museums as much as I do, you should also make Church Rater one of your online destinations. I visited a new sanctuary this past weekend in Cincinnati, Come As You Are  and I  posted my first rating on Church Rater. You can do it too, and if more people will add their comments about the visual arts inside it'll prove to be a powerful complement to this blogsite.

When I've visited homes of my Latino friends, I've always found a work of religious art. Most of them also identify as Latino Catholic. An Associated Press-Univision poll released today, finds that while 62 percent of Hispanics identify as Catholic, that only includes 55 percent of young adults 18 to 29, compared with 80 percent of elders 65 and over. Additionally, the poll finds that Latino Catholics have lower levels of religiosity than Protestant Latinos. For instance, 70 percent of Hispanic Protestants said the Bible is the literal word of God, compared with 46 percent of Hispanic Catholics. I wonder what the impact of this change will be on the future purchase, creation and display of religious art in Latino homes?

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Ernest Disney-Britton Yesterday wasn't as tough as I'd expected. It helped to have that dream from Saturday night  fresh in my heart. Dear Mother/Father/God: I will win the battle over indulgence and seize the day. I will be a living symbol of what it means to be yours. Today, I weighed in at 201lbs.

Three key words are central to today's post: sarcophagus, reliquary and relics. Archeologists in Bulgaria report they've uncovered the bones of John the Baptist , the beheaded prophet who baptized Jesus Christ. They were found in a sarcophagus, or miniature coffin inside a monastery altar at the ruins of a fifth-century monastery on the Black Sea island of Sveti Ivan. The sarcophagus had been placed inside a reliquary, or container for relics (A relic is an object or a personal item of religious significance, carefully preserved with an air of veneration as a tangible memorial). The find also includes an inscription stating, "Saint John." The remains will continue to be analyzed, and while there are some skeptics and competitors for the honor, the remains will be displayed at Sozopol's Orthodox Church of Saint George. (Read: More )

"The cross is a 'stop sign' and every time we see it, we should stop in our tracks and listen to God."   - FR.   WADE MENEZES , CPM

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS  By TAHLIB God Bless America J. Seward Johnson (b. American, 1930 ) 25-feet tall adaptation of Grant Wood's American Gothic On View : Indiana State Fair, August 6- 22, 2010

"My objective is to illustrate Black life as a positive form locked in matrimony with mankind. I attempt to treat each work as a personal and intimate involvement with the subject. This allows it to develop its own distinctive character while I form my own interpretation. Many times I restrict my use of color and leave the backgrounds white and uncluttered in an attempt to show that emotions and feelings of mankind are timeless and universal." These are the words of Gilbert Young, painter, muralist, sculptor, graphic artist, conservator and arts advocate. Born and raised in Cincinnati, his talent was discernible at an early age. He studied at the Cincinnati Art Academy and University of Cincinnati, and received conservation training under the tutelage of Byron Adams. (Source: Craigslist )

In just a few weeks, the world's biggest museum of Islamic art will reopen in Cairo, Egypt after a seven-year facelift. The building designed by Italian Alfonso Manescalo dated from the early 20th century and was displays were jammed with 3,000 objects, including ceramics, tombs, doors, wooden screens, robes and rugs. The new cleaner and fresher design will feature only 1700 of the 80,000 treasures in its massive collection. (Read More )

From: tgivens@blackburnarchitects.com To: Tahlib@aol.com Sent: 8/5/2010 9:55:00 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time Subj: RE: ISO Gala October 2 FLIPPED was a good Truly Moving Picture - Heartland Film Festival  It talks about growing up and first thoughts of "love" and how two kids view it from their perspective and it "flips" back and forth repeating the scence from his perspective and then from hers.  Plus they end up "FLIPPED" as she was first in love with him then she kinda gets over him and heis feelings for her grow stronger.  Good movie it comes out aug 23 or so.  Yes the $470 is for both of you $235 each.  Hope you can make it!

I have a couple of limited edition prints at home: 6/25 for one, and 75/200 for the other; but I've never really understood what makes a Limited Edition special. This week I decided to find out more (Read:  Wiki ).What prompted it? It was an Auction of a print by Andy Warhol in Indianapolis. Limited edition prints, also known as LE's, have been standard in printmaking from the nineteenth century onwards. A limit to the print run is crucial, as many traditional printmaking techniques can only produce a limited number of best quality impressions. This can be as few as ten or twenty for a technique like drypoint , but more commonly would be in the low hundreds - print runs of over a thousand are regarded as dubious by the serious art market for original prints, even though with many techniques there is no loss of quality. Edition sizes higher than about 500 are likely to be of print reproductions of paintings, of much less value, though some modern techniques blur this tr...

ART DAILY  - Romania's central bank has issued a special coin commemorating a prime minister and religious leader who stripped Jews of their citizenship before World War II. The coin has prompted protest from a director at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Radu Ioanid, who runs the international archives at the museum, said he was "shocked" by the bank's decision to mint the coin depicting late Patriarch Miron Cristea, who led the Romanian Orthodox Church from 1925 to 1939 and was prime minister from 1938-1939. The patriarch was responsible for revising the citizenship law, stripping about 225,000 Jews — or 37 percent of the Jewish population — of their Romanian citizenship, Ioanid said. 

I need your support. Cincinnati METRO is holding a contest for Best Bus story. Voting is underway and will continue through Sept 1st.  I was surprised and thrilled to be nominated as one of the FIVE FINALISTS. If you have voted, thank you. If not, please take a moment and vote for my Story and have your friends vote as well. To Vote, follow this link:  http://www.go-metro.com/tellusyourstory.html . ERNEST DISNEY BRITTON

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Ernest Britton What you collect certainly says a lot about you and your relationship with God, but so does how it is displayed. Frames, lighting and display platforms/cases can be as beautiful as they are functional. While online resources like Exposures.com, with their plethora of frame options are great for family photos, original works of God Art demand the craftsmanship of professional framers and installers. Ask your local gallery dealer for the name of their preferred framers; many also offer professional installation.

To: Tahlib Fm: James Hipps So, I took your advise and went to church. However, I think this is the first time I've ever gone to church, then had to come home and pray that I wouldn't go to hell for going to church. I have to let this out, and you are the lucky recipient of my dark side. This morning, as I said, I got up, and put on some nicely pressed clothes and headed to the Sunshine Cathedral. Being that I've never attended a service there before, I had no expectations. I went in with an open heart and mind. As I entered, I found my way back to the last row of seats as I thought I'd have a better view of what it was like. Shortly thereafter, I noticed I was chuckling a bit...something I really didn't know I was doing. But I quickly figured it out as I noticed not one, not two, but three gentlemen in close proximity to me that had very bad, and poorly placed toupees. The reason I was laughing is because of an old episode of 'Everybody Loves Raymond' ...

"Every man must decide whether he will workin the light of creative altruism or the darkness of selfishness"  - MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.