Disney-Britton

PRESS RELEASE February 28, 2011 NEVADA -- The International Raelian Movement ( www.rael.org ) has just launched the next phase of its atheistic campaign by purchasing very high profile billboard space on the busy I-15 southbound freeway in Las Vegas . Each month for the next six months, hundreds of thousands of people will see the huge "GOD IS A MYTH" message while commuting or visiting the city. Raelians are conducting their annual Happiness Academy (seminar) in Las Vegas from March 27 to April 2 at the Alexis Park Hotel. Raelian seminars are known for teaching tools for attaining happiness and for promoting hedonistic values, science and art. Raelians believer the God of the Koran is mythical to Christians and the Gods of Hinduism are myths to monotheists. Raelians deny the existence of one more God than they do. The Raelian Movement is an atheistic religion that is preparing humanity to welcome back its true creators, the Elohim, without fear or guilt. The consider th...

THE OKLAHOMAN February 27, 2011 Temple Interior, Egypt, n.d. by Joseph Lindon Smith (U.S., 1863-1950) Watercolor, 22 1/2 x 12 in. OKLAHOMA -- Nineteenth-century American art inspired by the landscapes and cultures found in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea is the focus of a new exhibition at the University of Oklahoma's Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. “In the late 19th century, American artists showed increasing interest in points abroad, including Spain, the Holy Land, Egypt and much of northern Africa,” curator Mark White said. 'Mediterranea' provides contemporary viewers with an exploration of the ways American artists understood, interpreted and portrayed Mediterranean culture.” Those influences included the Mediterranean's distinctive flora, the legacy of its Greco-Roman past and religions ranging from Christianity to Islam. The results often focused on the visual signs of cross-sea warfare, trade and religious influence. Religious faith prompted some A...

RELIGIOUS DISPATCHES February 13, 2011 KENTUCKY -- Cary Summers, the spokesperson for Ark Encounter, the partnership being led by the Creation Museum said at a press conference that they were “wrestling” with the issue of the statement of faith AiG employees and volunteers are required to sign. But when asked by RD what exactly they were wrestling with, if they were committed to non-discrimination, Ethridge received no clarification from Ark Encounter, though she speculated that “[Summers] would say that that was not the best word choice that came to him in that moment.” But regardless of what word he used to describe it, there is space between what seems like the clear demands of one of the key LLC members’ theology and the promises made in the public dialog (and perhaps the requirements of the law… but perhaps not). The Courier Journal quotes the governor saying “We’re going to require that anybody that we deal with is going to obey all of the laws on hiring.” The problem is...

HUFFINGTON POST February 28, 2011 MASSACHUSETTS -- I've been eavesdropping on an unscientific experiment with storytelling and holy listening lately. As a self-appointed spy for hope amid the mainline denominations' well-reported decline, I've been looking at congregations who are stirring up a greater capacity for people to be authentically present to one another. This experiment -- part of The Fund for Theological Education 's Calling Congregations initiative -- seeks to establish listening congregations as places that might foster a deeper connection to younger generations, especially millennials who tend to have little or no use for organized religion. Authentic connection is a key desire among churched and un-churched, young and old alike who are hungry for lives of meaning and purpose. When people are invited into a safe space to tell their own stories, a mystery unfolds that kindles the authentic connection many people seek. Sometimes it feels as if one of Jes...

THE MALTA INDEPENDENT ONLINE February 28, 2011 MALTA -- This year marks the 25th anniversary from the foundation of the Ghaqda Dilettanti Mudelli ta’ Knejjes and it will be once again organising its annual exhibition at St Francis Hall, Melita Street, Valletta during the first two weeks of Lent. Over a hundred members are presenting their exhibits, which vary from church models to statues and other items associated with religious folklore. The exhibition is a showcase of traditional popular art not necessarily artistic in the professional sense of the word but a reflection of art by lay people who try to do their best to imitate the artistic patrimony of our churches. The models are made from different materials such as wood, papier-mâché, used matchsticks and even Maltese limestone. Other related items include such as statuettes, model altars and small chandeliers. [ link ]

ARIZONA REPUBLIC February 26, 2011 ARIZONA -- A one-man show, "Andy Warhol: Good for the Jews?" is being performed at the Herberger Theater Center this month as part of Actors Theatre's season is a commission of the Contemporary Jewish Museum, which was exhibiting Warhol's series of 10 portraits of 20th-century Jews, from Einstein and Freud to George Gershwin and the Marx Brothers. While researching about Warhol, the playwright found out how deeply religious he was. "His parents were from central Europe and went to Byzantine Catholic church. His mother sometimes took him to church several times a day and he would see these "icons", these gaudy, colorful images of saints arranged on the wall." It's not so far a journey from those images to the adult artist's strikingly colorful portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Chairman Mao . [ link ]

UUWORLD NEWS February 28, 2011 OREGON -- Cuba AyUUda groups—the name implies “mutual service to one another,” in Spanish—have helped with AIDS clinics, painted nursing homes, shared the work of construction and gardening, and made art and music with Cubans. They have also taken tons of medical and other supplies to Cuba over the years. A key project is one that the group took over from the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee—providing cloth and other materials to a Cuban women’s group that makes baby clothes in an effort to encourage young mothers to seek prenatal care. [ link ]

VETERAN'S DAY, 1993 A number os Dials works explore the ethical conundrums of youth violence, in the wake of the killings, this tribute to the countrys soldiers stages ina fark, gloomy cemetary. filled with memorial wreaths, funerary roses, ghostly image of the American flag, the White House, and the glowing specters of sacrifcied soulrs, the piece is a memorial to the heroic deed. "Last Trip Home (Diana's Funeral) 1998 Charcola, pencil, and pastel on paper In this image of Diana in her casket (cross over her head)Dial, the story become a modern-day parable about the tragedy of wealth and pwoer, and our society's pursuit of celebrity and fame. Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Repression, refuse, Redemption THE DOGWOOD TREE, 2003 Beneath the central figure of the black Messiah in this crucifixon image is a piece of real dogwood, that according to "fable?", was use to construct Christ's cross. -REDEMPTION: MUSINGS ON THE SPIRITUAL- (1) Surving the Frost, 2007 (2) Construction of the Victoru, 1997 (3) The Beginning of Life in the Yellow Jungle, 2003 ("coding for the coming together of the races) (4) First Butterflies 2002 (a prayer for the worlds recovery after 9/11) CLOUDS MOVING IN THE SKY, WE WAKE UP IN DARKESS AND LOOK FOR DAYLIGHT, 2006 In this atmospheric work of bronzes and pale blue, Dial uses industrial plastic stretched and mounted over crumped demin pants and canvas scraps to create a space and moment between light and dark, life and death and hope and despair. CROSSING WATERS, 2011 In this vast blue abstaction Dial brings to life the African American lore, "crossing water" as a metaphor for deliverance. It recalls the I...

"Making it in on Broken Pieces" By Pres., Dr. Edward Wheeler President, CTS --- "Giving honor to God who is worthy of all praise. It is indeed a blessing to be here with you this morning." "I always like to identify family members, so that when you want to talk about me, you won't do it around her." (Re: daughter Dawn) Scripture: Acts 27:44 "broken pieces" - Paul finds himself in the middle of a storm, not of his making. Some storms come because you did somthing, but sometimes storm come because "storms come" but you just keep in living. Paul had something to hold onto even when everything else was falling apart. I used to have long black hair...but someone took a picture of me from the back and I wondered why I paying so much for my haircut. I used to have a big chest, and I still have a big chest, it's just dropped down a bit lower. What kind of God is that? God doesn't even need a ship to bring you in, but Paul's God ...

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Ernest Disney-Britton OHIO - On Saturday, March 19, Alpha Omega Arts will lead a group to experience The Baroque World of Fernando Botero at the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio. A modern day religious art master, the touring exhibition includes approximately 100 objects including many with religious themes. Ohio is the show's final stop and the only Midwest venue.

THIS AFTERNOON, following worship services, the AOA team is headed to the Indianapolis Museum of Art to experience the opening weekend of a major retrospective on Alabama artist and spiritual master of found-objects, Thorton Dial (b. 1928). Dial is the spotlighted artist for this year's  winter/spring exhibition and it's a show that everyone should see. He is a hero to AOA friend, and fellow found-object artist Tom, who described the exhibition, Hard Truths  as "a once in a life-time opportunity to experience an artform as original to America as gospel music." Between us, we've only seen 2 or 3 of his works in the past, so this will be a real treat today.

Presentation of the Movieguide results for 2010 WHICH MOVIES will be the big winners tonight at Hollywood's biggest awards ceremony, The Oscars? Whichever films do win, they will certainly reflect a different kind of Hollywood than the one I grew up with, and some credit is due to a group that's been working behind for the scenes,  The Christian Film and Television Commission , for decades. They also publish their own comparison of the movies they advocate for ("box-office" results) versus other films which shows a dramatic increase in values-based films since the 1980s.

THE ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Ernest Disney-Britton After making headlines a month ago for joining (or leading) a new partnership to build a replica of Noah's Ark in northern Kentucky, the Creation Museum made headlines again this week but not the kind of headlines a museum needs. While they negotiate state support for their ambitious $150 million project, The Ark Encounter , they are also now facing accusations of discrimination.

BY ERNEST BRITTON The Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts reached agreement on its first exhibition partnership this week. The exhibition will feature the Alpha Prize for Young Artists initiated by Miami, FL supporter David Sweet.The exhibit/prize will be held this coming November in partnership with Indianapolis area churches and will include $750 in prizes. AOA Travels also finalized details for its March 19 group tour to the Toledo Museum of Art's Fernando Botero exhibition. RSVP's are being taken on Facebook  or at 317.755.8400.

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS  By TAHLIB Art of the Week: "Christ in the Garden of Olives" by Paul Gauguin Below is a listing of major religious arts news for the past week, Sunday, February 20 thru Saturday, February 26, 2011, from the USA and around the world. If we missed anything, please let us know at sabbathart@alphaomegaarts.com.

WALLSTREET JOURNAL February 25, 2011  The chapel, designed by Mark Rothko, in which 14 of his works hang. TEXAS -- In a small park, bordered by modest gray cottages owned by the de Menil Foundation, stands the initially unprepossessing Rothko Chapel, a 20th-century melding of art and religion that represents the joint vision of an artist, his patrons and other collaborators. Think of it as the American equivalent of Matisse's Chapel of the Rosary in Vence, France. The Rothko Chapel opened on Feb. 27-28, 1971. It is celebrating its 40th anniversary year with concerts, lectures and ecumenical religious events that attest to its continuing service to residents of Houston (weddings of all kinds take place here) and to out-of-towners who have made it a pilgrimage destination. Created by an immigrant couple from France, John (1904-73) and Dominique (1908-97) de Menil, this one spot in a city with no zoning laws possesses a locus of spiritual and artistic calm in the middle of ...

RELIGION & NEWSWEEKLY February 25, 2011 CALIFORNIA -- Sunday morning at Friends Church in Yorba Linda, California. Richard Nixon’s family helped found this Quaker congregation 99 years ago, and the former president attended here as well. Today, it’s a megachurch with a nondenominational evangelical style. During worship services, pastor of creative ministries Brent Martz makes sure everything goes as it’s supposed to, and in the control room, church media director Jon Van Dyke calls the camera shots. Those may be their day jobs, but the two have another responsibility as well. They’re helping Friends Church make a feature film. [ link ]

SIFY NEWS February 25, 2011 TIBET --  In a cave near Mt. Everrest, has been discovered a cave containing murals that though now fading and crumbling down are still exquisite, two immense libraries containing almost 10,000 ancient manuscripts in old Tibetan script, some of which are beautifully illuminated, and the remains of 27 people, the oldest of whom dates back to 100 years before the birth of Christ. The manuscripts, which are being translated, are mostly about the Bon religion, one of the oldest religions in the world that grew in Tibet pre-dating Buddhism and yet showed many similarities with it, especially about the life of its founder Tonpa Shenrab. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES February 24, 2011 "Christ in the Garden" (1889) By Paul Gauguin WASHINGTON DC -- The latest exhibition on the Post-Impressionist master, Paul Gauguin opens Sunday and will be on view through June 5 at the National Gallery of Art. It is entitled, “Gauguin: Maker of Myth,” and comes to Washington from the Tate Modern in London. By 1887, Gauguin the stockbroker and Sunday painter was gone, and replaced by an artist with a new identity and history. He was a spiritual seeker and self-proclaimed visionary. In deeply Roman Catholic Brittany he went native (his wooden clogs are in the show) and produced pictures like “Vision of the Sermon (Jacob Wrestling with the Angel)” that merged biblical scenes with everyday life. After his Martinique sojourn he took to calling himself a savage and declared his interest in primitive subjects. His self-portraits became self-dramatizations, less records of what he looked like — a kind of hippie grandee — than projections ...

WILLIAMS LAKE TRIBUNE February 24, 2011  Olivia Harrison, 14, with her painting on display at the Station House Gallery this month with many other works by youth. CANADA -- This week is the last week to catch the February art show at the Station House Gallery which features art by 26 young artists in both the main and upper galleries. Olivia Harrison, 14, a Grade 9 student at Maranatha Christian School, is featured in the main gallery. Olivia says her painting was inspired by a photograph of a little girl living in poverty that was taken by photographer Steve McCurry. The writing at the top of the painting shows that she can rise above her birth conditions with God’s help, Olivia says. Letters at top of the painting state: “Every word of God is flawless. He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.” Proverbs 30:5. A total of 59 pieces of art were submitted by 26 young artists throughout the community for the exhibition in the main gallery. [ link ]

NATIONAL POST February 24, 2011 Nuns Chapel - Turku Castle FINLAND -- Inside a 12th-century castle, in the Nun’s Chapel, wooden religious sculptures flickered before the brick walls, lit only by candlelight. Dark, cold and eerie, there is no doubt spirits live in the Turku Castle, the largest medieval castle in Finland. For all of 2011, the city of Turku will be one big exhibit, with art events ranging from wrestling matches in concert halls to church bell symphonies by the river. If you happen get sick while visiting Turku, the medical clinics are handing out “cultural prescriptions,” that is, free tickets to see some art, to cheer you up. As Dr. Kaj Haapasalo says: “Depression or chronic pain is signs that you are in need of culture.” A hundred doctors each get roughly 50 cultural prescriptions to help cure depression, fatigue and all around thirst for some serious culture. But what if a patient overdoses on culture? “There’s no such thing as too much culture,” says Dr. Haa...

BERKELY PATCH February 23, 2011 NEW JERSEY -- Last Thursday evening, my husband and I attended "Exploring the Spiritual Dimension: A Night of Forms, Food, and Faith" at the university art museum. It was part of the fifth annual Coming Together Interfaith Conference, which brought student leaders together from across the country to improve interfaith dialogue. The event was organized by Paul Raushenbush, who is both associate dean of Religious Life at Princeton, and editor of The Huffington Post Religion channel, for whom I write. (Qasim Rashid, of the Muslim Writers Guild, reported on the conference there yesterday.) Raushenbush said the goal of the student-led event was to exchange best practices. Surrounded by the museum's sacred and secular art, my husband and I munched free cookies and basked in an evening of sacred performance by a Hindu duo, a Jewish a capella group, a Georgian choir, a solo dancer, and two Muslim readers. Then we took a quick tour of the museum....

THE ASSSOCIATED PRESS February 24, 2011 COLORADO — A pastor at a Loveland church has withdrawn an offer to the city museum to display a portrait of Jesus by the same artist whose work was destroyed by an intruder at the museum last fall. The Rev. Jonathan Wiggins of Resurrection Fellowship says he's withdrawing the offer as a precaution. California artist Enrique Chagoya tells the Loveland Reporter-Herald that he agrees. In October, Kathleen Folden of Kalispell, Mont., destroyed a lithograph by Chagoya that was on display at the Loveland Museum/Gallery. She and other critics called the work obscene, saying it depicted Jesus Christ in a sex act. Chagoya said his work was a critique of spiritual corruption. He painted the portrait for Wiggins after the two exchanged emails and talked. Folden has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor criminal mischief. [ link ]

THE TIMES (THE SUNDAY TIMES) February 9, 2011 LONDON -- The King James Bible is a book that attracts superlatives. To David Norton it is “the most important book in English religion and culture”, to Gordon Campbell “the most celebrated book in the English-speaking world” and “the most enduring embodiment of Scripture in the English language”. To Robert Carroll and Stephen Prickett it is simply the Bible translation that defines Bible translations: “All other versions still exist, as it were, in its shadow. It has shaped, formed and moulded the language with which the others must speak”. Most of the essays in The King James Bible after 400 Years take a wider, less partial view of the KJB’s influence. Many of the essays focus on individual writers, from Milton and Bunyan to Jean Rhys and Toni Morrison, and show how their work exploits the familiarity of the KJB, not in unconscious echo but in what Michael Wheeler, in a fine essay on Ruskin, describes as a “complex art of allusion”. [ ...

THE DAILY GAMECOCK February 23, 2011  "The Exorcist" by Jason Smith SOUTH CAROLINA -- The Columbia Museum of Art debuted its new "Skate and Create" exhibit in the David Wallace Robinson Jr. Community Gallery Tuesday night. On display now through April 24, the exhibit features several collections from various artists including the works of Jason Smith, a skateboarder long before he ever picked up a paintbrush. Smith paints what is real; the haunting eyes of the "Death Angel" on display in the exhibit practically leap off the canvas and bore into your soul, in an acute contrast to the darkness of the missing eyeballs in "The Exorcist" painting. Smith said his greatest inspiration comes from his Bible. "All of my paintings are somehow biblically related," said Smith. "I read a Bible verse, and I instantly know what needs to be painted. And my pieces always turn out to be exactly like what I see in my head. After that, 10 peopl...

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE February 23, 2011  lion baron or animal deity CALIFORNIA -- Bali, Art, Ritual, Performance opens Friday at the Asian Art Museum (February 25) is  richly textured and religious art exhibition. There are over 130 objects, including sculpture, paintings, and ritual objects, masks and costumes, photographs and much more. Dr. Jay Xu, director of the museum says the exhibition, "teaches visitors about Balinese history, religious beliefs and traditions, and artistic practice. Most importantly, it highlights ways in which the Balinese people integrate artworks, ritual, and performance in their daily activities. It poses questions about cultural authenticity, adaptation, and persistence. And it encourages a new evaluation of perishable materials used in ritual artistic practice." The museum's education department has involved the Bay Area Balinese community and artists from Bali in offering demonstrations and performances of some of the ritual and ...

ABC NEWS | ENTERTAINMENT February 23, 2011 FRANCE -- Monastic life is anything but tedious in Xavier Beauvois' masterful drama "Of Gods and Men," based on the real-life tragedy of seven French monks abducted and beheaded during Algeria's civil war in 1996. The film is largely built of ordinary tasks and everyday moments: monks tending their crops, treating Muslim villagers at the monastery clinic, caring for their beehives and taking the honey they produce to market, sharing simple meals, and, of course, chanting in devotion during Mass.[ link ]

TRIB LOCAL February 21, 2011 NEW MEXICO -- Lewis University at Albuquerque and the Archdiocese of Sante Fe recently presented two workshops about connecting theology and art in New Mexico. “God with Us: A Theology of New Mexican Folk Art” was presented on Jan. 14 by Dr. Dominic Colonna, chair of theology at Lewis University. The professor analyzed representations of the Trinity to illustrate how popular art helps communities to find meaning in the past and the present and to plan for the future. The second, “Utilizing Traditional religious Folk Art in the Classroom” was presented Jan. 15 by Colonna and Kerry Bergen, art teacher at San Felipe de Neri Parish School in Albuquerque. [ link ]

THE HARVARD CRIMSON February 23, 2011 MASSACHUSETTS--“The Bible in Type, from Gutenberg to Rogers: An Exhibition Commemorating the Four-Hundredth Anniversary of the King James Bible” celebrates beautifully-crafted examples of history’s best-selling—and arguably most influential—book, the Bible. The exhibit celebrates the 400th anniversary of the printing of the King James Bible, which was translated in 1611 and remains the most popular English version. It displays works including Harvard’s Gutenberg Bible, the first Bible produced on a printing press, and one of only 48 in existence. Hope Mayo, the Philip Hofer Curator of Printing and Graphic Arts at Houghton Library, organized the exhibit, and selected the Bibles as examples of typography and design. She believes that the Bible can not be overstated as a source and inspiration of visual art. [ link ]

DAILY TIMES February 23, 2011 GERMANY--Coconut Bay Trading Co., a new shop in downtown Berlin, offers a seemingly endless array of antiques, jewelry, paintings, artifacts and curiosities from around the world. That inventory is made up of treasures Miles, a retired school teacher, has collected from all over the world. There are hand-painted Russian icons, Buddha figurines, ornate Indian jewelry as well as travel-sized religious shrines from various countries. Odder merchandise includes a hand-painted duck egg from Bali, a wooden harp from Indonesia, part of an opium bed and a scrimshaw fossilized walrus tusk. Many of the items, though, are religious artifacts of one kind or another, some close to 200 years old. "You don't have to be a religious zealot to appreciate the art in most religions," Miles said, pointing to a Tibetan Ghau, or traveling shrine. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES February 22, 2011 The Smithsonian’s Stephanie Hornbeck at the Episcopal Trinity Cathedral in Port-au-Prince. HAITI--The three remaining murals of the Episcopal Trinity Cathedral in Haiti are being restored in a painstaking 18-month project that began in the fall. The original 14 murals had been internationally treasured. Painted in the early 1950s during an artistic renaissance here, they depicted biblical scenes from a proud, local point of view: with Jesus carrying a Haitian flag as he ascended to heaven; and a last supper that, unlike some famous depictions, does not portray Judas with darker skin than the other disciples. “All of this was painted from a Haitian perspective,” said the Rev. David César, the church’s main priest and its music school director. He marveled at the image miraculously still standing: Judas, with the white beard and wavy white hair often assigned to God himself. It was his favorite mural, he said, and now, it is being...

SETON HALL UNIVERSITY February 22, 2011 NEW JERSEY--Andy Warhol is the world’s most famous American of Carpatho-Rusyn ancestry. The icons of the Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Church were his first exposure to art. His unexpected death in 1987 was followed by the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and the rise of the Rusyn movement for identity, which embraced the flamboyant pop-artist, filmmaker and jet setter as their iconic figurehead. Professor Elaine Rusinko of the University of Maryland will lecture on this impact on Thursday, March 24 in Fahy 236 at Seton Hall. [ link ]

MMD Newswire February 22, 2011 NEVADA -- Mr. Albert Babbitt, a Las Vegas businessman, today announced his acquisition, in July 2010, of the Messenger Art Collection which has been described as one of the most comprehensive and eclectic collections in the US. Sixty percent of the work is religious/biblical in content and the remaining forty percent is divided into sub-categories of European and American historic paintings, wildlife, Americana, pinups, Shakespeare etchings, historic posters, photographs and more. [ link ]

Treasure Coast Palm News February 11, 2011 "The Holy Family with Two Angels," a 16th-century oil on canvas from Bologna, Italy. FLORIDA-- Just a short drive from the Treasure Coast, at the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale, Nova Southeastern University, is a treasure trove of religious iconography. "Vatican Splendors: A Journey Through Faith and Art" will be at the museum through April 24. Many of the 200 pieces in the exhibit have never been on display nor left the confines of the Vatican. Syncopated by Gregorian chants and what sounds to be angels caroling on high, a darkened cavern of rooms tells a part of the story of Christianity through paintings, reliquaries, statuaries, vestments, documents and carvings. The exhibit includes works by Michelangelo, Bernini, Giotto and Giovanni Francesco Barbieri. The exhibit is an opportunity for people to view an enormously important artistic and historic collection, museum Executive Director Irvin Lippman said. [ link ]

The National News February 21, 2011 POLAND--Jerzy Nowosielski, one of Poland’s most famous artists, has died in Krakow, his native town, after a long illness at the age of 88. Nowosielski gained particular renown for his religious works – wall paintings, iconostases and polychromes in the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches in many Polish towns, as well as the Greco-Catholic Church in Lourdes, France. In addition to Polish museums, his portraits, landscapes, still lifes and abstract works are in many private collections in the United States, Canada and many European countries. [ link ]

The Telegraph February 21, 2011 "Adam and Eve" (1520) UNITED KINGDOM--Danish painter, Jan Gossaert’s ability to humanise characters from the Bible and mythology is of a piece with the way he was able to enter imaginatively into the lives of the men, women and children whose portraits he painted.  In his superb Adam and Eve, on loan from the Royal Collection,  Gossaert tells a story that had not been represented in art before. He shows the moment after Adam took his first bite of the apple and it stuck in his throat – his Adam’s apple. Rolling his eyes in panic he puts one finger to his mouth as though trying to gag it out. The source of his misery is the apple, still with his teeth marks, that Eve holds in one hand before taking a bite with her sensuous, greedy mouth. Note how Gossaert pins the blame for man’s downfall on the woman. Entering imaginatively into the story, he humanises these familiar types, giving them individual personalities, like a novelist creating fi...

Des Moines Register February 18, 2011 "Saint John's Bible" IOWA--The first handwritten Bible commissioned in more than 500 years has earned high praise since a team of Welsh calligraphers started the project in 1998. Pope Benedict called it "a great work of art . . . for eternity." The Smithsonian described it as "one of the extraordinary undertakings of our time." Iowans will have a chance to see for themselves when prints from the so-called Saint John's Bible , named for the Minnesota university and Benedictine monastery that commissioned it, go on display Monday at the Polk County Heritage Gallery. [ link ]

Louisville Courier February 20, 2011 KENTUCKY -- A Date Night event at the Creation Museum in Petersburg was disrupted when a same-sex couple was denied entry. While accounts differ, what is clear is that a man who planned to enter the Feb. 11 event with a male friend was told the two would not be allowed to enter. Additionally, they did not receive a refund of the $71.90 cost for the two tickets they had purchased online. [ link ]

Worldnet Daily February 21, 2011 CALIFORNIA -- Ministry leaders from New York City and Germany, scriptwriters from Wisconsin and New Zealand, representatives from as far away as Hong Kong and Japan were gathered with Hollywood insiders – and those who simply appreciate the power of cinema – at the Universal City Hilton outside Los Angeles to pray in preparation for Moveguide's 19th Annual Awards Gala and Report to the Industry. The event marked more than two decades of prayer and hard work by Movieguide – since its inception in 1985 – to re-instill Christian values and faith-friendly messages into the movies. In his organization's 80-page statistical analysis and report to the entertainment industry, Dr. Ted Baehr, founder of MovieGuide and chairman of the Christian Film and Television Commission, gave evidence of the transformation he's been praying for. [ link ]

Milford Daily News February 21, 2011 Zeus Kyrios-Baalshamin, Dura-Europos, M8/N7, Temple of Zeus Kyrios, ca. 31 CE. Limestone, 52.0 × 35.0 × 9.0 cm. Yale University Art Gallery, Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos, 1935.45 MASSACHUSETTS -- Around 165 A.D., Christians, Jews and pagans lived and worshiped side by side in a cosmopolitan city called Dura-Europos by the Euphrates River on the frontier of the Roman Empire. Located in modern-day Syria, it housed a Roman military garrison of more than 10,000 soldiers and civilians whose lives reflected the hopes and dangers of those uncertain times. Through serendipity and determined archaeology, the city has come alive again through a remarkable exhibition at the McMullen Museum of Art at Boston College. Organized by the McMullen and Yale University Art Gallery, "Dura-Europos: Crossroads of Antiquity" opens a thrilling window into a multicultural society through fascinating artifacts of great beauty and historical signific...

The Daily Princetonian February 21, 2011 NEW JERSEY -- In keeping with the conference’s student-focused mission, many of the conferences included student speakers. Three breakout sessions were scheduled to allow students to speak on topics such as “Movement and Physical Presence in Religion” and “The Role of Secular Humanism in Interfaith Dialogue.” Other events included Religion Night in the Museum, a tour of the religious artworks in the Princeton University Art Museum and a keynote speech by Eboo Patel, the founder and executive director of the Interfaith Youth Core. The organization is a Chicago-based nonprofit that Patel founded in 2002 that attempts to “build an interfaith youth movement using service as the bridge,” according to the Interfaith Youth Core’s website. [ link ]

Grand Rapids Press February 21, 2011 MICHIGAN -- For thirty-eight years, First United Methodist Church in downtown Grand Rapids has been showcasing religious art at its “Celebration of the Arts,” which opens February 26 and runs through March 9. The exhibit will feature 150 works by area artists, representing not just Christianity but other world religions as well. Erv Raible, executive director of Cabaret & Concert Artists International in New York City, is curating the show this year. Raible will choose the selections from an expected 450 submissions, according to Deborah May, interim director of Music and the Arts at the church. The celebration starts with a gala concert at the church at 7 p.m. February 26, when Traverse City musicians Jeff and Sylvia Norris, Grand Rapids soprano Diane Penning, and pianist Steve Larson will present “Broadway and Beyond.” [ link ]

INDIANAPOLIS STAR INDIANA -- A fundamental characteristic of Thornton Dial's work is his use of found objects. An exhibition, "Hard Truths" opens this week at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. "The castaway objects he uses for their resonate symbolism, just not for the sake of using materials. They're all signs and have complex imbedded meaning especially when they start to converse with each other," she said. This draws from allegorical displays known as the African-American yard show appearing in the South's cultural topography for more than 100 years. "It's a form of encoded visual language that expresses a wide range of social, political, spiritual, philosophical ideas,"  said Joanne Cubbs, Indianapolis Museum of Art's adjunct curator of American Art. [ link ]

Politico Daily February 19, 2011 WASHINGTON, DC-- In a proposed 2012 federal budget , $125 million of funding for the Smithsonian is dedicated toward construction of the $500 million museum. Half of the fundraising is from the private side is on track. While the actual building is still to come, the museum has a website and sponsors exhibitions that both tour and alight at its gallery at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. At "Save Our African American Treasures" events across the country, workshop participants present historical family items they've tucked away and receive professional advice on how to identify and preserve them. [ link ]

The Commercial Appeal February 21, 2011 MISSISSIPI--Not all lawmakers are convinced a Mississippi civil rights museum will finally get off the ground, despite the speed at which a proposal is making its way through the Legislature. Rep. Jim Evans says he still remembers how the museum project was first broached by lawmakers in 2006, then taken over and, many lawmakers think, abandoned by Republican Gov. Haley Barbour. Barbour, mulling a presidential run in 2012, is again supporting the project. A bill that has passed the House would provide $55 million to construct a civil rights museum and an adjacent state history museum a few blocks from the Capitol. [ link ]

In 2009, Robert Crumb (R. Crumb) the comic-book illustrator who created the infamously raunchy journeys of "Fritz the Cat" released another set of bold journeys when he took on the Bible's book of Genesis. It is now on view at Bowdoin College's Museum of Art (Maine). The exhibit, titled “ The Bible Illuminated: R. Crumb’s Book of Genesis ,” is open to the public now but just to balance out the possibility of offending some (or many), the museum has a sister exhibition that is much more serene (or expected), “ Object of Devotion: Medieval English Alabaster Sculpture " from the Victoria and Albert Museum.”

AOA NEWS By Ernest O. Britton When I read this week about a diversity museum proposal for the Smithsonian, I couldn't help but be skeptical of the chances but also about the need. So, I asked a former colleaque and museum expert Dr. Spencer Crew who responded, "The museum is an interesting idea, but I think it actually coming to fruition is a long way away if at all. The African American museum is in process now and I think a Hispanic museum is next in line. It took nearly twenty years for the African American museum to actually get started and may take nearly as long for the Hispanic. A diversity museum will take even longer to have happen. It will be interesting to see what kind of momentum it builds, especially at a time when the federal government and Congress are in a cutting budget mode." If there will be another diversity museum in the USA, and I assume there will be, why not one that examines our religious diversity? In a nation where religious freedom is list...

Wisconsin news reported this past week that a site near Green Bay (Champion, WI) has been declared an official Holy site by the Vatican. At the site, a woman reportedly saw the Virgin Mary. According to local news, "It all started in 1859, when Belgium immigrant Adele Brise says the Virgin Mary visited her 3 times at that very site" and reports are that this has never happened before in the United States. For two years, three theological experts pored over historical documents about the shrine. "We had written testimonies, some oral testimonies--written down later, plus a lot of documentation--letters between Sister Adele and the bishop, etc," Green Bay Bishop Ricken recalls, and in December it was officially approved.

As political change continues in Egypt, you can further explore Egyptian cultural history in a new exhibition at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul. It's a great museum where I most recently saw the Sacred Scrolls exhibit. If you won't be able to visit the museum, below is a video tour showing the ruins of King Tut's dynasty, artifacts discovered from the tombs of Tut and the real footage of the discovery of the King's tomb:

Photograph by: HANDOUT PHOTO: Sarah Hall Studio, The StarPhoenix One of the more interesting stories about churches this week was a $28.5-million cathedral under construction in Saskatoon, Canada that will combine art and technology when engineers install large stained glass windows with embedded solar panels. Toronto-based artist Sarah Hall used 54 panels to create three large sections — the largest of which is 13.3 metres tall 3.2 metres wide — representing the Prairie sky. Hall is well known for her stained glass work at religious institutions around the world. The Saskatoon Cathedral is believed to be the first religious structure in North America to use the technology.

BY ERNEST BRITTON During a working session with the IRS this week, we made great progress on securing our 501C-3 approval for the Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts   foundation approval. They were far more helpful than they are credited for being. We should be able to get them the additional background information needed this week without a problem. We also arranged for a press conference at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (Cincinnati) with well known actor John Amos; developed several exhibit theme ideas for a high school fine arts competitive; and had productive meetings with both the Unitarians and Moravians. It was a fantastic week.

 ALPHA OMEGA ARTS  By TAHLIB "Buddhadharma Sangha" at San Quentin Prison, photograph by Rick Nahmias for "Golden States of Grace"  The following is this week's listing of current art exhibits exploring religious, spiritual and human justice themes in the United States. New to the list this week are three shows in the state of Maine: One at the Colby Museum of Art on "Mourning" which runs through October ( See below) and the second two are at Bowdoin College  and explore the book of Genesis and also ancient objects of devotion. 

International Business Times February 19, 2011 MINNESOTA - Visitors to the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul can now experience the richness of the Egypt ian golden kingdom of the pharaohs; most importantly, they will get to see the treasures of King Tut as the exhibit, Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs is now open and will continue to attract tourists through September 5. [ link ]

USC US-China Institute February 19, 2011 MISSOURI - The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri hosts the traveling exhibition of Chinese religious art, " The Sacred Tripod: Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism in Harmony ," through August 2011. In traditional China, the Three Teachings (sanjiao)—Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism—were likened to the legs of the ancient sacred tripod known as ding. All three religions were vital creative forces for art, and art, in turn, was crucial for strengthening the faith of adherents. Although the paintings, prints and rubbings displayed here are associated with a specific religion, they often share imagery or stylistic features borrowed from one of the others. Indeed, the same artists often created works for more than one religion.  [ link ]

WBEZ Chicago February 19, 2011 ILLINOIS -- Dr. Marc Michael Epstein will share stunning images from beautiful medieval haggadot, texts that tell of the Exodus from Egypt and outline the practices of the seder on February 22 in Chicago. Though the importance of these manuscripts is universally acknowledged, they contain a number of fascinating elements that have seldom been explored. Dr. Epstein examines them with fresh eyes and proposes new answers to long-unresolved questions concerning the meaning of the art within them and what this art says about broader issues in the Jewish experience. [ link ]

Daily Mail February 19, 2011  'Sister Internet': The nun broke the news of her eviction via her Facebook page  SPAIN - Living up to her nickname of 'Sister Internet' - a moniker given to her by her fellow nuns - the 54-year-old broke the news on her Facebook page, where she announced she had been asked to leave the convent  following disagreements over the online activity. Sister Maria had almost 600 'friends' on Facebook at the time of her eviction and listed her hobbies as 'reading, music, art and making friends', according to The Telegraph.[ link ]

Lexington Herald Leader February 18, 2011 "Why" by Ludmila Pawlowska KENTUCKY -- Russian artist Ludmila Pawlowska turned toward her Russian Orthodox faith for inspiration and guidance. Her deep relationship with one of the cornerstones of the faith, the religious icon, formed the basis of a decade-long artistic conversation about concepts so existentially deep and challenging that her work soon belonged in the realm of the church rather than the gallery. Pawlowska uses the traditional icon as inspiration for creating contemporary artworks of the same spirit, works designed to illuminate, to invite contemplation, to take the viewer on an inner journey of the invisible. The works comprise a mammoth exhibit, Icons in Transformation , which has toured the great cathedrals of Europe, where it was so well received that it drew the likes of Britain's Prince Charles to view the works and visit with the artist. The exhibit makes its North American debut in Lexington, Kentuck...

Yale Daily News By Erin Vanderhoof "Dancing Angel" (1974) by David Driskel CONNECTICUT - In a recent interview artist/educator David Drickell (b. GA) describes his work in an exhibition, Embodied: Black Identities in American Art" at Yale University Art Gallery, and another at the School of Divinity. Driskol says of his works, "It has to do with religious subjects. The piece in “Embodied” is called “Dancing Angel,” in which I have used a variety of materials. It's a collage from 1973 or '74." The exhibition runs through June 26. [ link ]

Lexington Herald -Leader September 18, 2010 KENTUCKY - It's official: The practice of incorporating religious or spiritual symbols in jewelry has become ubiquitous among smaller niche designers and more commercial, mass brands. With the public's growing interest in yoga, meditation and personal talismans that offer protection or courage, jewelry and accessory designers are picking up the theme and adorning their work with icons deeply rooted in ancient beliefs and religions. [ link ]

Democrat and Chronicle January 25, 2011 NEW YORK - Rochester's George Eastman House's run of the controversial video that the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., ended this past Sunday. The four-minute video, titled A Fire in My Belly , was made by New York City artist David Wojnarowicz in 1986-87 to express his grief over the AIDS epidemic and his own diagnosis with the disease. It's condensed from a 20-minute film with graphic scenes of violence, sexuality and (most notoriously) an image of insects swarming over a crucified figure of Christ. Rochester's George Eastman House [ link ] 

IndyWeek February 13, 2011 NORTH CAROLINA - A Fire in My Belly  was shown in the Ackland Art Museum's Study Gallery through Feb. 13. [ link ]

Toledo FOX News February 18, 2011 CNN Photo OHIO - An architect in Toledo, OH is removing a design element from a new elementary school that looked liked the Christian cross. "I actually have not noticed a cross," said Mona-Mae Mitchell. "Is that a light pole?" Some have never noticed the design at the Toledo Public Schools' new Beverly Elementary School construction site at the corner of Glanzman Road and Detroit Avenue, the former location of old Bowsher High School. Others say the designs look like Christian crosses. [ link ]

Boston Globe February 18, 2011 MASSACHUSETTS - In a move toward ending its long struggle over parish closings, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston said yesterday that it will solicit public comment on a plan to remove the sacred standing of seven closed churches, a change that under canon law would allow the buildings to be converted into other uses or sold. [ link ]

Republican American February 18, 2011  @cutline attribution name:Michelle Morcey Republican-American Tibetan Buddhist monks visiting Westover School. CONNECTICUT - Tibetan Buddhist monks of Drepung Gomang Monastery were tireless in their efforts to create a mandala, a work of religious sand art at Westover School this week. [ link ]

Taiwan Today February 18, 2011 TAIWAN - For Taiwanese painter Liu Keng-i, there is no distinction between art and life—there is just the work he does. “Painting is my life. I have tried to capture the scenes in my life as they pass in front of me,” the 72-year-old artist said Jan. 20 at the opening of “Aria of Life,” a retrospective on his art and life at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. Sixty oils and pastels as well as dozens of pieces of handcrafted furniture, on view in the TFAM through April 3, provide a glimpse into the mind of this visionary artist. Son of the renowned Taiwanese painter Liu Chi-hsiang (1910-1998), Liu Keng-i acknowledged the lifelong influence of his father, who was representative of the Japanese-educated generation of Taiwanese painters. Liu Chi-hsiang studied art in Japan when Taiwan was under its colonial rule (1895-1945). "His pieces create a musical church, and I felt the peace and comfort inside it." Religious architecture made a similar contribut...

Vancouver Sun February 18, 2011 CANADA - A Quebec municipality engaged in a crusade to defend the right to pray in public is collecting donations from across the country. Saguenay Mayor Jean Tremblay, a Roman Catholic is appealing a Quebec human rights tribunal decision that ordered him to put an end to this practice and remove all religious symbols, such as the crucifix, from the council meeting room. The human rights tribunal decision handed down last week ruled the prayer goes against people's freedom of conscience and ordered the municipality to pay a $30,000 penalty to the plaintiff. The national assembly observes a moment of silence instead of a prayer, but has refused to take down the crucifix from the legislature. Quebec Justice minister Kathleen Weil reiterated Thursday the government has no intention of going against a unanimous motion adopted by the Quebec national assembly several years ago to preserve its religious symbols, namely the crucifix. [ link ]

HULIQ February 18, 2011 NORTH CAROLINA - Michelangelo, the artist who created the Pieta and the David, died at the age of 89. The anniversary of his death on Friday, February 18, 1564, is honored and venerated today -- on this 447th anniversary of the passing of the “world’s greatest artist” -- with the ringing of bells in his Florence and Rome, while the Vatican offers a special mass that’s akin to similar events for saints and deceased popes.[ link ]

Mormon Times (via Desert News) February 18, 2011 UTAH - Mormon writer argues that the new "Mormon Musical" by the creators of the adult cartoon "South Park" will soon be forgotten so Mormon's should not waste their energy fighting it. He writes,"Parker and Stone's "Mormon Musical" has evolved into "The Book of Mormon" and is scheduled to open next month on the Great White Way in the Eugene O'Neill Theater (that noise you hear is O'Neill rolling over in his grave). So how nasty will it be? Will it make fun of the people, the culture or the doctrine? Will it go after things that church members consider sacred or simply attack the usual targets (polygamy, the Mountain Meadows massacre, Proposition 8, etc.)? It follows a pair of U.S. missionaries who proselytize in Uganda, and it's a traditional musical, as have been some of Parker and Stone's other efforts, from "Cannibal! The Musical" to various episodes o...

The Ave Herald February 17, 2011 FLORIDA -- The Annunciation in Poetry and Sculpture contains nine poems that were judged among the best submitted to a poetry contest last year that invited poets worldwide to submit poems on the subject of The Annunciation. The poems are in both in traditional and contemporary styles, and are set against the backdrop of color photographs that show the creation of the bas-relief sculpture of The Annunciation, carved from white Carrara marble for the façade of the Ave Maria Oratory. [ link ]

Houston Chronicle February 17, 2011 For the Rothko Chapel, 1409 Sul Ross, artist Mark Rothko conceived an octagonal, starkly simple space which encapsulates a solemn silence. TEXAS - After having swept floors and hung wall labels at the Menil Collection as a Rice University undergraduate, Susan Barnes had just accepted a full-time job offer from Dominique de Menil when she saw Mark Rothko 's 14 paintings being installed at the Rothko Chapel in 1970. "I will never forget being present when the paintings were being lowered on slings into the chapel through the roof," says Barnes, senior associate rector at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Austin. At the time the paintings — each larger than 14-by-11 feet - were being lowered on stretchers through the chapel skylight, after being driven from New York to Houston in an oversize truck, Barnes was not religious, and it would be more than 25 years before she, at age 50, would start attending seminary.[ link ]

The Rice Thresher February 18, 2011 TEXAS - Interview with scientist, writer Dr. David Eagleman, a novelist, neuroscientist at Baylor College of Medicine on his theory of, "the connection of art and science as well as his book SUM and the movement, "possibilianism," that sparked from it." In the book, Eagelman argues, "Possibilianism is the movement that I started to encompass this line of thought that we don't have to subscribe to a religious position or this strict atheist existentialist position - those are just two positions in a much wider landscape. It was really surprising to me that everybody was spending all of their time arguing back and forth between these two positions, energizing and polarizing each other. I thought there should be a much wider discussion than that. So possibilianism emphasizes an active exploration of new ideas, instead of just buying into what's been handed over. It also encompasses the scientific temperament of creati...

BC Local News February 8-17, 2011 This artwork by Bonny Graham-Krulicki is on display at CGH. On Feb. 14 Mrs. Van Eysinga wrote a Letter to Editor with concern about a Feb. 8 article describing the inclusion of  aboriginal art in the display at the local community's expanded Chilliwack Hospital. In response, W. Gruenwald  wrote back to take issue with her concern. Next, in a Feb. 17 Letter to the Editor , Mr. Tom Hartley responded that he draws a distinction between religious and spiritual art, "however, since it is arguably all in the eye of the beholder. But if we are to have any art at all in our hospital? and we should since art helps us heal in ways doctors cannot? then there must be some consensus as to what constitutes “religious” and potentially objectionable art. Otherwise, for those who quote injunctions against the creation of idols from the Bible and the Qur’an, as does Mrs. Van Eysinga, most anything could be construed to be an immora...

Creative Loafing Atlanta February 17, 2011 GEORGIA-- Emory University screened "A Fire in My Belly" as well as "ITSOFOMO." After the screenings, ArtsCriticATL's Rebecca Dimling Cochran, Frequent Small Meals' Andy Ditzler and more lead a panel discussion concentrating on artistic freedom, censorship and public policy. When the Washington, D.C., National Portrait Gallery succumbed to mounting pressures from the Catholic League and conservative congressmen to remove David Wojnarowicz's controversial short film about sexual identity and HIV in the '80s, it added fuel to the censorship fire that sparked activists to protest the Smithsonian's decision. [ link ]

Portland Press Herald February 17, 2011  “The Harrowing of Hell,” part of the exhibit “Object of Devotion” MAINE -- Beginning today, the Bowdoin College Museum of Art offers two distinctly different points of view on religion and the bible. First, "Object of Devotion" opening today is an exhibition that offers insight into the religious ways of the old world through an examination of finely decorated small-scale sculpture. The second exhibit takes a zany look at the bible from the perspective of comic book artist, R. Crumb. [ link ]