Disney-Britton

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Ernest @DisneyBritton On the 7th Day of Christmas (New Year's Eve), I gave Gregory Disney a glass ornament of Mickey Mouse as Santa Clause. It's a Hallmark product but with gold shoes, and a lovely swan to swim along with the rest of Greg's collection of gold ornaments on the tree. I hung it myself. [ 12 Days ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Tahlib Post #4, Artist Todd Fox's INSPIRE ME! profile This year I created our first ever "Top 10 Religious Art Stories" of 2012 to see if there would be any surprises. I assumed that as Editor of the  Alpha Omega Arts  news blog, that I would already know which were the most popular. I was wrong. I was 10 out-of 10 times wrong! In doing this research, I learned that while you do certainly read controversial posts, that they don't come close to attracting the attention of those stories that inspire. Do you agree with the Top 10 Religious Art Stories of 2012? INSPIRE ME! Artist, William Blake Interview: Alex Grey's Visionary Art Movie Review: "Cloud Atlas" INSPIRE ME! Artist, Todd Dayton Fox Pakistani Military Sponsors Islamic Art Exhibition Rise of the Black Veil Among Ultra-Orthodox Jews Exhibit at Thanksgiving Point, Utah Focuses on Uplifting Art   Spencer Tunick's "Dead Sea" Nuns on a Bus T-Shirts, Now ...

THE NEW YORK TIMES By MANOHLA DARGIS ★★★★---In the first long act of “Les Misérables,” Anne Hathaway opens her mouth, and the agony, passion and violence that have decorously idled in the background of this all-singing, all-suffering pop opera pour out. It’s a gusher! As he showed in “The King’s Speech” and in the television series “John Adams,” Mr. Hooper can be very good with actors. But his inability to leave any lily ungilded — to direct a scene without tilting or hurtling or throwing the camera around — is bludgeoning and deadly. By the grand finale, when tout le monde is waving the French tricolor in victory, you may instead be raising the white flag in exhausted defeat. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Ernest  Disney-Britton This is the final NEWS OF WEEK for 2012, and time to share my appreciation to the members and readers of Alpha Omega Arts. It's been an extraordinary year. I thank you for over 10,000 visits each month; for sponsoring college scholarships for interfaith youth ; and for voting to honor an American artist and a religious leader for their advancement of religious understanding through art. In closing out 2012, I wish you blessings in 2013 with Gary Varvel's cartoon (above) as my NEWS OF WEEK .

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Ernest @DisneyBritton On the 6th Day of Christmas, Greg opened his red-paper wrapped gift box with a red-white and blue button inside. The button read, "Out For A Wild Time." It made me think of Wild Geese a laying. I know it's a reach but 12 days is a whole lot os gifting! [ 12 Days ]

ROGER EBERT By Roger ★★★---One of the ingenious and sort of brave accomplishments of Russell's screenplay (inspired by a novel by Matthew Quick) is the way it requires both father and son to face and deal with their mental problems and against all odds finds a way to do that through both an Eagles game and a dance contest. We're fully aware of the plot conventions at work here, the wheels and gears churning within the machinery, but with these actors, this velocity and the oblique economy of the dialogue, we realize we don't often see it done this well. "Silver Linings Playbook" is so good, it could almost be a terrific old classic. [ link ]

COLUMBUS DISPATCH By JoAnne Viviano "The Guardian" by Lucas Lorenzo, Acrylic on masonite panel OHIO--Art collector John Kohan stops in front of a dark image of an angel gazing at a German soldier and holding a hand over the muzzle of his gun. The etching by Austrian artist Ernst Fuchs is a far cry from the nearby glitter-covered depiction of angels rejoicing, painted by Rudolph Valentino Bostic of Savannah, Ga. The artworks are among three dozen angel-themed pieces that Kohan has chosen from his collection for a “From Realms of Glory” Advent exhibit at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Delaware. The exhibits fit into the vision that the Rev. Charles Wilson , rector, has for the church. He said he sees St. Peter’s as a center of art, learning, community and worship and wants the public to feel welcome to stop in. [ link ] The “From Realms of Glory” exhibit runs through Jan. 6 at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 45 W. Winter St., Delaware. Hours are noon to 2 p.m. Fri...

JERUSALEM POST PHOTO: ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY ISRAEL---Archeologists uncovered rare remains of ritual objects and a 3,000-year-old temple while conducting excavations ahead of the renovation of the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway, the Antiquities Authority announced on Wednesday. A First Temple-period discovery announced on Wednesday was a large structure with massive walls and an east-facing entrance, believed to be a temple. A central dilemma of archeologists and the Antiquities Authority is striking the right balance between preserving history and allowing development for a growing population. Many times, however, construction is the cause of archeological discoveries. [ link ]

WASHINGTON POST By Associated Press WASHINGTON, DC---Is a gay-centered Christian church needed anymore? On that Sunday in 1968 when Troy Perry borrowed a minister’s robe and started a church for gays in his living room, the world was a very different place. It’s remarkable the denomination has endured at all. Metropolitan Community Churches brings together many different Christian traditions under one banner that often struggle to stay friendly in the outside world. Perry, now 72 and retired, is a Pentecostal who started preaching when he was just a teenager in rural Florida. The common denominator is a belief that Christians can be in a same-sex relationship and still be faithful to Scripture. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Tahlib Yes, Virginia there is a ton of Religious Art in Indiana! The 10 Most Popular Posts for 2012 are ranked inorder below. What were the surprises? None for me. What about for you? To check out the entire listing of Indiana art news postings, visit: [ Indiana ]. Here is the Top 10 for 2012: Alpha Omega Art's Interfaith Kids Earth House: Closing Doors Madonna's Ancient Religions Half-Time Gary Vavel's Christmas Islamic Art at Indianapolis Museum of Art A&O Meetup for Islamic Art Documentary A&O Meetup for Saints at the Indianapolis Museum of Art Put Women on Pesdestal with power2give Call to Rabbincal Believers Doris Douglas at Indianapolis Arts Center

INDIAN EXPRESS By Vadodara Image of artist being arrested for obscene religious art INDIA---Paintings of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, alleged to be "obscene", were today removed from the exhibition hall of the Fine Arts faculty at the Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU) here, after VHP activists opposed its display and lodged a complaint in this regard. Surjeet Singh , an artist from Jammu, had organised this exhibition of paintings from December 27-30 after seeking permission from authorities of the faculty about a year ago. The paintings displayed in the exhibition since yesterday, included those "obscene" pictures of Lord Shiva carrying a liquor bottle, another of Shiva and his wife Parvati moving on a motorbike. Earlier, Chandra Mohan , a student from the same fine arts faculty was arrested on charges of hurting the religious sentiments by painting Hindu Gods and Goddesses and Jesus Christ allegedly in an 'obscene' way on May 10, 2007. [ link ...

TOWELROAD POLAND---Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's 'HIM,' a 2001 sculpture of Adolf Hitler praying on his knees, has shown all over the world, including New York City's Guggenheim and Venice's Palazzo Grassi, eliciting emotions everywhere it appears. And that's precisely the point. But should the likeness of the most vile anti-Semite be placed at the site of Poland's Warsaw Ghetto, home to so many Jewish people killed by Hitler's Nazi armies? HIM was installed there by Warsaw's Center for Contemporary Art last month, but growing outrage is gaining traction this week. [ link ]

RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE By Daniel Burke Religious videos sparked international riots, stirred up the U.S. presidential campaign, sought to comfort LGBT youth and urged Christians to rethink their religious ideals. In chronological order, here are seven religious videos that made headlines in 2012. [ link ] Why I hate Religion, But Love Jesus “It Gets Better,” at Brigham Young University “ Innocence of Muslims ” Obama’s 2007 speech on race, Katrina and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Secretly taped Mormon temple ceremonies Mitt Romney talking about Mormonism, abortion and the Second Coming in 2007 Angus T. Jones’ testimony

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Ernest @DisneyBritton On the 5th Day of Christmas, I handed Greg the smallest of gift boxes from the pile, and inside he found two silver door stops ("Butoir de porte rigide") from Lowes. Why these for Christmas? My answer is a second question, "If not then, when?" Since last year, it's been on his to-do list (and mine) to pick up these doorstops to match the other hardware on our 2nd floor renovation but these small items keep getting overlooked. He immediately went to work to use them. There are still seven more days of Christmas! [ 12 Days ]

THE DAILY STAR By Andrew Lawler AFGHANISTAN---When the Taliban blasted the famous Bamiyan Buddhas with artillery and dynamite in March 2001, leaders of many faiths and countries denounced the destruction as an act of cultural terrorism. But today, with the encouragement of the US government, Chinese engineers are preparing a similar act of desecration in Afghanistan: the demolition of a vast complex of richly decorated ancient Buddhist monasteries. The offense of this Afghan monument is not idolatry. Its sin is to sit atop one of the world's largest copper deposits. The copper at the Mes Aynak mine, just an hour's drive south of Kabul, is to be extracted under a roughly $3 billion deal signed in 2007 between Afghanistan and China's Metallurgical Group Corp. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Ernest @DisneyBritton On the 4th Day of Christmas,  Greg picked from my pile of wrapped gifts a box of Snowballs . What are snowballs? They are carmel popcorn covered in brown sugar and white chocolate from the South Bend  Chocolate Company, and came with a gift certificate for a cup of hot white cocoa. He's really enjoying this notion of 12 Days of gifts, and who wouldn't like this from the company that promotes themselves by saying, " Save the Earth. It's the Only Planet with Chocolate ." This morning Greg even asked, with a sparkle in his green eyes, "Do I get a gift this morning?" His excitement also excited me, but I still wonder if my daily gifting is making a spiritual connection? Perhaps though, I not seeing the forest for the trees? Perhaps, simply by extending the concept of Christmas giving beyond one-day, I am finally celebrating the truest spirit of Christmas? [ 12 Days ]

AEON MAGAZINE By Emma Crichton Miller Abstraktes Bild 809-4. Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images When art was an adjunct of religion, its power was clear. But from the Renaissance on, painting, at least in the Western tradition, has preoccupied itself as intensely with secular as with overtly religious subject matter, or else with no subject at all. Yet when you are in the presence of an unequivocally great work of art, it seems to open a door to a realm of ideas and emotions not accessible through any other route. It is the psychological power of the framed space that has long made painting, in particular, a natural ally of religion. [ link ]

THE GUARDIAN By David Shariatmadari UNITED KINGDOM---In a simple house in 7th-century Arabia, a woman drapes an embroidered curtain with pictures of living creatures on it across a doorway. When her husband returns, he is displeased and pulls it down. This is no ordinary house, and no ordinary husband and wife. It is the prophet of Islam, Muhammad , and his spouse Aisha , who related the story that has been passed down for nearly 1,400 years. But it also demonstrates an important ambiguity. Muhammad's objection wasn't to images per se; in this case it was their prominence, which risked distracting him during prayer. As a covering for cushions, they were fine. It is an ambiguity that hints at a more complex relationship to the realm of art and representation than is suggested by footage of exploding buddhas in Afghanistan, or riots sparked by cartoons and films showing the prophet. And it is the starting point for Jamal J Elias's erudite but unsatisfying study of Islam...

HOUSTON CHRONICLE | ICONIA By Menachem Wecker "Sanctum" LOUISIANA---Many different faiths have enlisted art as a way to show how belief can improve human behavior. But other times, religion can be dark and frightful, as appears to be the case when one first considers the work of Houston-based painter Sharon Kopriva . Kopriva’s cardinal, for example, whose clothes are tattered, whose eyes are sunken, and whose skin is weathered, recalls one of the artist’s inspirations, Francisco Goya , the 18th century Spanish artist who painted witches and monsters on the walls of his home as an old man. The piece is, like [Francis] Bacon and John Alexander , a ‘take off’ of Pope Innocent X by Velasquez . [ link ] Ogden Museum of South Art: " From Terra to Verde: The Work of Sharon Kopriva " (Ends January 13, 2013) on the campus of the University of New Orleans, 925 Camp Street New Orleans, LA.

THE DISPATCH By Rebekah Cansler McGee Judy King holds one of her unique clay-sculpted nativity creations that shows Mary and Joseph on the ground with Baby Jesus. NORTH CAROLINA---Life is not flawless, and despite historical renderings where the nativity scene was picture-perfect, the story of Mary and Joseph included real people, in a real place at a real time, and their life might have been just be a bit messy, too. That untidiness of life is reflected in the sculptures of artist Judy King of Lexington. King creates religious art, taking stories from the Bible and putting a realistic spin on their tale. She has sculpted a figurine of Joseph and the coat of many colors, she has created many angels, but around Christmastime, she works on bringing the story about the birth of the Christ child to life. King, the wife of the Rev. Tom King of Grace Episcopal Church , relocated to Lexington about nine years ago from Lexington, Texas. Before moving to Lexington, N.C., she graduated f...

SACRAMENTO PRESS By Jessica Rine Sculpture on display. Image courtesy of Wall Street Journal CALIFORNIA---Legend says that when the deity Manjushri came to Nepal from China, he found the entire valley under water. To make his way through, Manjushri took his sword and sliced through the surrounding hills, draining the valley of water, and the Kathmandu Valley was formed. A statue of Manjushri begins the exhibit of Nepalese art at the Crocker Art Museum. Four arms extend from his gleaming body and jewels adorn his head. He beckons all to join him on a journey into Nepal’s history through art. " Celestial Realms: The Art of Nepal from California Collections " is currently on display at the Crocker Art Museum. Featuring art primarily from Newar artists of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal, the exhibit displays rarely seen Nepalese art mainly from private collections throughout California. The Newar, the indigenous people of the Kathmandu Valley, practice either Hinduism or Bu...

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Ernest @DisneyBritton On the 3rd Day of Christmas, Greg picked from his pile of wrapped Christmas gifts a: Freedom to Marry T-shirt. On one side it reads, " Right Side of History ." How about you? Are you on the right side of history? Among religious traditions , we know the Metropolitan Community Church, United Church of Christ, and Episcopalians are currently on the Right Side of History. The same is true for Reform Judaism and Conservative Judaism. It's individualistic for Hindus and especially Buddhists because there is no text to debate. On the other hand, we know that my  Roman Catholic Church is on the Wrong Side of History, but then again, what's new with that? What side of history are you? [ 12 Days ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Ernest @DisneyBritton The saddest thing about Christmas is that for many people, it ends on December 25th. That's why we started a new tradition this year: an Advent Vegan Fast that led up to Christmas Day, and then we began our 12 days of Christmas . On this 2nd Day of Christmas, I gave Greg a bowling ball for the 2nd Day of Christmas.  It'll take me a while yet to perfect the link between the gifts, the song, and the holyseason but this is a start that excites because for us, Christmas didn't end yesterday. It just began. [ 12 Days ]

THE GUARDIAN By Jonathon Jones Detail " The Annunciation " by Leonardo da Vinci. Photograph: Francesco Bellini/AP ITALY--- Leonardo da Vinci painted the most beautiful angels in the world. This is strange, because Leonardo was not a religious man. Although the National Gallery made a vivid case for him as a religious artist in its 2011 exhibition of his paintings, there is very little in his notebooks to suggest that Christianity was part of his everyday, personal life. However compelling Leonardo's religious paintings are, it has to be remembered that all are commissioned works . No painter could have a career in Renaissance Italy without creating altarpieces. [ link ]

BLOUIN | ARTINFO By Nicolai Hartvig "72 Vierges " (2012) by Mehdi-Georges Lahlou (b. Morocco) BRUSSELS---The 29-year-old French-Moroccan artist Mehdi-Georges Lahlou has had an eventful early career. The two works hit on several sensitive issues in Muslim culture: the prohibition on modifying one’s body, nudity, sexuality, and improper use of the Koran and religious objects. With his loose combination of religious iconography and incongruous objects, the ambiguous humor in Lahlou’s work is often misunderstood. “I’m not an activist shouting. I am truly respectful of religions and beliefs, except when they kill or hurt people,” Lahlou explains. Lahlou was born in a seaside town on France’s Atlantic coast to a Muslim father, a jeweler, and a Catholic mother, a flamenco dancer. [ link ]

ALJAZEERA By Eric Bleich VERMONT---When I invited artist Marie Rim to Middlebury College, I didn't know what to expect. Her project " Burka Fittings Across America " asks randomly selected people to try on a burka for a few minutes and to look at themselves in a full-length mirror. Her artistic goal is to explore "otherness, embodiment and empathy, as well as the meanings Americans associate with the burka". Marie Rim grew up on the East Coast and is a painter by training. Some people are outraged that she is appropriating the burka for her own purposes. Others worry that it will reinforce Islamophobia. If you are optimistic, like Rim, you hope it will undermine people's preconceived notions and generate greater cross-cultural understanding. This is not your grandfather's art project, blandly hanging on a gallery or museum wall. [ link ]

INDIANAPOLIS STAR By Gary Varvel Cartoon by Gary Varvel INDIANA---This cartoon is composed of multiple images. May you find the Savior who was born in a manger. His names are found in Isaiah 9:6: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Ernest @DisneyBritton INDIANA---My images for the 12 Days of Christmas are courtesy of Foodie, Carol Bowen Ball at BariatricCookery , but my stories are about Greg Disney-Britton. Greg is funny. On the first day of Christmas, his true love planned to give to him a single gift (but in response to a whine or three whines), he received his normal three: (1) Mind: Words with Friends , the board game version; (2) Body: A Gentspa massage retreat at the Hilton Hotel; and (3) Soul: Greek Orthodox Ornament . [ 2012 ]

RELIGIONS NEWS SERVICE By David Gibson "Nursing Madonna" (1520s) by Bernardino Luini At its heartwarming core, Christmas is the story of a birth: the tender relationship between a new mother and her newborn child. Yet all the familiar scenes associated with the holy family today – creches and church pageants, postage stamps and holiday cards – are also missing an obvious element of the mother-child connection that modern Christians are apparently happy to do without: a breast-feeding infant. Jesus certainly wasn’t a bottle baby. So what happened to Mary’s breasts? [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTISTS "The Matriarch" by Niccolo Cosme

RELIGION NEWS By Kimberly Winston In addition to Christmas , Hanukkah and Kwanzaa , secular humanists have added a new celebration to the crowded calendar. HumanLight , observed on or about Dec. 23, is a secular celebration of human potential that is growing in acceptance. This year, at least 18 groups, from New Jersey to Florida and Pennsylvania to Colorado, have ceremonies planned. And at least one government building that displays holiday scenes has added HumanLight to the roster: the county courthouse in Wabash, Ind. , displays a yellow, white and red HumanLight banner on the same lawn as the Christian creche. [ link ]

SIMERG The star at the  Altar of the Nativity  marks the spot where the Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus in Bethlehem. 

THE HINDU By Jessu John Buddha by Ram Onkar. Photo: Special Arrangement Take the case of Ram Onkar , a self-taught artist. Fascinated by the spiritual forms in India, many of his paintings focus on iconic religious figures like Buddha and Krishna. Ram Onkar would not have pursued a career in art if not for his teacher who motivated him. He has won many awards and has had over 30 solo and group shows, some of which form part of the collection of the President of Pakistan, Sahara Amby Valley, Walchands and numerous institutions/individuals of India. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Ernest  Disney-Britton At the ruins of the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza in Mexico, thousands chanted, danced and otherwise frolicked around ceremonial fires and pyramids to mark the conclusion of a vast, 5,125-year cycle in the Mayan calendar. The Internet generated rumor of doomsday ended in a celebration of life. On 12.21.12, Buddhists, Christians, pagans, druids and followers of Aztec and Maya religious traditions united in commitments to make a better future. While the fiscal cliff  arguing politicians didn't notice, nor did the more  guns in schools advocating NRA; our world since 12.21.12 has already become a better place. How is it better? Because a few believers have decided to be the change they seek, thus making the  Mayan Ceremonies   (above) my NEWS OF WEEK .

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS ★★---A month ago, the biggest controversy about Christopher McQuarrie’s “Jack Reacher” was whether Tom Cruise could appropriately portray the massively built, 6-foot 5-inch hero imagined by author Lee Child. Today, the movie has been impacted more significantly by timing. Right now, it’s hard to consider even a popcorn flick escapist entertainment when it opens with a deadly sniper attack. But if we’re judging the picture on its own terms, it succeeds pretty well — and almost solely because of Cruise in the lead. [ link ]

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD AUSTRALIA---The Louvre said on Thursday its new Islamic art wing helped cement its position as the world's most-visited museum with nearly 10 million visitors in 2012, over a million more than last year. The exact figures will be released early next year, but in the meantime the Paris museum said there was a "remarkable progression in Chinese visitors, who now figure in the top three groups (of non-French visitors) alongside Americans and Brazilians". Costing nearly 100 million euros ($A126 million), it is funded by the French government and supported by endowments from Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Kuwait, Oman and Azerbaijan. [ link ]

ASSOCIATED PRESS By Mark Stevenson MEXICO---In the darkness before dawn Friday, spiritualists prepared white clothes, drums, conch shells and incense ahead of the sunrise they believe will herald the birth of a new and better age as a vast, 5,125-year cycle in the Mayan calendar comes to an end. No one was quite sure at what time the Mayas' 13th Baktun would officially end on this Dec. 21. Some think it already ended at midnight Thursday. Others looked to Friday's dawn here in the Maya heartland. Some had later times in mind. What nobody was calling it is the end of the world, as some people in recent years have interpreted the meaning of the end of the 13th Baktun — despite the insistence of archeologists and the Maya themselves it meant no such thing. [ link ]

THE GUARDIAN By Oliver Wainwright Colour Nativity by Sebastian Bergne. Photograph: Sebastian Bergne CALIFORNIA---When Saint Francis of Assisi staged the first ever nativity scene in a cave in 1223, with a simple manger, ox and an ass, he could have had no idea what he was starting. Almost 800 years later, his humble tableau has been transformed into everything from miniature toy sets that grace mantelpieces around the world, to gigantic plastic lawn ornaments and theme-park sized attractions. Sebastian Bergne's Colour Nativity is five identically-sized wooden columns – which stand in for the wise men, Joseph and shepherd, each in their characteristic colour – alongside a shorter blue block for Mary and a white oblong for the baby Jesus. [ link ]

THE HINDU By Charukesi INDIA---The spate of stories on smuggling of Indian, especially South Indian artefacts, must have shocked thousands of devotees. “It is not a new phenomenon”, says my friend, art critic and conservator, Dhenuga , from Kumbakonam. “It has been going on for centuries. The reputed archaeologist Robert Sewell of the Archaeological Survey of India submitted a report (Vol. II) to the then Madras Province on the subject, in 1881. It is our callous attitude and indifference in conserving our heritage that are to be blamed. “More idols are kept in the London museum than in our State. They have been carried away when the British ruled us!” adds Dhenuga. [ link ]

BLOUIN | ARTINFO By Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop THAILAND---A comprehensive exhibition on Buddhist art in Thailand across 1,500 years explores the many unique styles that developed in the making of Buddha images and other decorative ritual objects as a result of Thailand’s unique blend of religions and beliefs. “Enlightened Ways: The Many Streams of Buddhist Art in Thailand,” now showing at the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) in Singapore, presents over 100 artifacts drawn from 11 of Thailand’s museums, as well as items from the ACM’s own collection. It underlines the wide range of styles seen through sculptures, furniture, jewelry, paintings, manuscripts, and ceramics. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Thomas Fuller THAILAND---The gilded roofs of Buddhist temples are as much a part of Thailand’s landscape as rice paddies and palm trees. The temples were once the heart of village life, serving as meeting places, guesthouses and community centers. But many have become little more than ornaments of the past, marginalized by a shortage of monks and an increasingly secular society. “Consumerism is now the Thai religion,” said Phra Paisan Visalo, one of the country’s most respected monks. “In the past, people went to temple on every holy day. Now, they go to shopping malls.” [ link ]

THE DAILY BEAST | NEWSWEEK By Emily Smith Image courtesy of Rainy day books The art world is in spiritual crisis—it has not had a new idea in years. So argues the cultural critic and feminist provocateur Camille Paglia in her new book, Glittering Images: A Journey Through Art From Egypt to Star Wars . The book—intended as a companion piece to her 2005 volume of poetry criticism, Break, Blow, Burn—is a slim survey of Western art in 29 essays, each focusing on a single work of art. For Paglia, the spiritual quest defines all great art—all art that lasts. But in our secular age, the liberal crusade against religion has also taken a toll on art. “Sneering at religion is juvenile, symptomatic of a stunted imagination,” Paglia writes. [ link ]

WFPL | LOUISVILLE KENTUCKY---The Fund for the Arts launched the online fundraising platform Power2Give in Kentucky and Southern Indiana last December. In its first year, the platform has helped raise more than $700,000 in additional funds for the region’s arts organizations. There’s a $10,000 cap on funding goals, and the Fund for the Arts recruits corporate sponsors to match funds raised for many projects. 81 nonprofit organizations in Kentucky and Southern Indiana have used the platform to pursue funding goals in the last year. Ballet spokesperson Cara Hicks says smaller, more specific projects appeal to donors who want to see fast, visible results. Hicks says donations for the studio curtains project ranged from $5 to $200, and the average donation was about $50 . [ link ]

ARTDAILY ISRAEL---Thousands of images from the Dead Sea scrolls , which date back more than two millennia, were on Tuesday made available to the world on a joint Israel Antiquities Authority and Google website. The new website http://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/ aims to make "the most important archaeological finds of the 20th century accessible to both scholars and the general public," an IAA statement said. Using technology developed for NASA, the website offers high-resolution images of the ancient scrolls along with an advanced search engine. [ link ]

FOX NEWS By Walt Maciborski INDIANA---Some say the end of the world as we know it will be this Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. They’ve made movies and books about it and YouTube has been blowing up over the Mayan Calendar Doomsday Prophesy. Recent surveys also revealed 12 percent of Americans still actually believe in the Mayan Doomsday. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Gregory A. Disney Please join the Board of Directors for the Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts in putting "Untitled" (above), a self-portrait by Gina Baird on a pedestal through your gift to power2give. Board of Directors: Sarah Adams, AFVP Framing, Indianapolis Sandi Ballard, Artist, Indianapolis Ginger Bievenour, Artist, Indianapolis Michael Bourke, Kroger Co., Cincinnati Rev. Ernest O. Britton, Arts Council of Indianapolis, Indianapolis Ted Givens, AIA, Blackburn Architects, Indianapolis Pastor Jackie Jackson, Come As You Are Ministries, Cincinnati Mel Jolliff, Indiana Interchurch Center, Indianapolis Kai Daniels, Hilton Hotels, Cincinnati Gregory A. Disney, AT&T, Indianapolis Tony Melendez, Artist, Indianapolis Jules Reed, Simon, Indianapolis With your help--- your gift  of $1, $5, $10 or more, we can put Gina Baird's sculpture on a pedestal where it deserves. A week ago, Alpha Omega Arts added its...

THE EPOCH TIMES By Susan James Unterlinden Museum was formerly a Dominican convent. (Susan James) FRANCE---Colmar is a small town in Alsace near the border of France and Germany, but in the world of art, it has a very large footprint. On permanent exhibition in a former 13th-century Dominican convent, now the Unterlinden Museum, is the Isenheim altarpiece. This 16th century masterwork is by German Renaissance artist Matthias Gothart Nithart (called Grünewald ). [ link ]

THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER By Kirstin Holmes A Nativity scene from the Mohonde tribe in Tanzania. PENNSYLVANIA---Every Christmas season, for two decades, Alan and Mary Liz Pomeroy have unpacked figurines of Mary, Joseph, and the Christ Child that are a chronicle of years spent living abroad. In all, the Pomeroys, of East Bradford, Chester County, have collected more than 200 depictions of what Christians believe is the birth of the savior. The couple are part of a group of aficionados captivated by Nativity scenes as a reflection of art, faith, and culture. But as the Pomeroys approach their 80s and prepare to move to California, they've given away most of their beloved collection to a place where it will have an audience bigger than family and friends. The Pomeroys donated more than 100 of their museum-quality sets to the Glencairn Museum in Bryn Athyn, which specializes in religious art. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Gregory Disney-Britton ★★★---Ernest O. forewarned me to expect a light-hearted children's story based on a slim novel published by J.R.R. Tolkien in 1937. I read on Fandango's Movie Ratings & Reviews that the Fans said "Must Go" and the Critics said "So-So." It was hard to imagine what his sweeter and softer version of "Lord of the Rings" would look like, and frankly after 2 hours and 49 minutes of the movie, I still don't know. "The Hobbit" movie is just as dark, if not darker than "Lord of the Rings," and also every bit as fun. Ernest said much of the child-like innocence he expected got drowned out, and frankly I got lost in much of the adventuring but we both enjoyed it. LOTR fans, including Ernest like swashbuckling adventure, but as I looked over at his sometimes perplexed face, I sensed his regret for the loss of that sweeter story. Tolkien's original story was about personal grow...

JEWISH ART SALON Chamukkiah by Ken Goldman On this last day of Chanukah: Goldman was inspired by one of his favorite chanukkiot from India in Israel's Mishkan L'Omanut's permanent collection. A great way to recycle those electric chanukkah lamp bulbs into a functioning oil chanukkiah! [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Gregory Disney-Britton Gina Baird's "Untitle" self-portrait (2012)  You can help put women on a pedestal with your gift of $1, $5, $10. This week on 12.12.12, Alpha Omega Arts joined 60 other arts groups by including its ask for $200 through " power2give ." That $200 request is to purchase a pedestal for an upcoming art show at Indiana Interchurch Center Gallery. I manage this new giving program for the Arts Council of Indianapolis. It's a crowdfunding platform similar to Kickstarter and Indiegogo , except that power2give is specifically designed for nonprofit arts projects. Within 36-hours, nearly 200 donations came in totaling nearly $8,000 for various projects, including a pedestal for our gallery. That's why putting Gina Baird's " Untitled " self-portrait (above) on a pedestal through power2give is my NEWS OF WEEK .

THE STAR By Colin Dury UNITED KINGDOM---The humble shed: a place where generations of men have retired to pot plants, fix tools and, perhaps just occasionally, escape the boss indoors. But in 2009 Richard Bartle had a rather unusual notion about this most reflective of environments. “I got thinking being in a shed is almost like a religious experience, a kind of refuge,” he says. “And I thought how great it would be if, in these buildings at the bottom of the garden, there really were secret religious temples.” So, the 45-year-old of Sheffield city centre, built one in miniature. He constructed a two-foot shed and then, inside, he fitted a tiny Islamic Mosque . Now, three years later, that collection - which so wowed the Arts Council they agreed to help fund it - is finally complete. In these 12 tiny sheds are, among others, detailed interpretations of a Catholic Church (complete with stained glass windows of Mary and Joseph), a Sikh Gurdwara , a Baha’i House Of Worshi p and...

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Tahlib My favorite Christmas Tree is in Brussels this year How could anyone challenge this Christmas Tree? It's a steel installation, replacing the traditional Christmas tree at Brussels' Grand Place November 29, 2012. The 25-metre-high sculpture was designed by French architects Pier Schneider and Francois Wunschel , and I love it! What do you think?

DUKE DIVINITY SCHOOL NORTH CAROLINA--- Art, Imagination and Christian Hope: Patterns of Promise is co-edited by DITA's Director, Jeremy Begbie, with Trevor Hart and Gavin Hopps of the University of St. Andrews. Through a range of authors including Richard Bauckham, Paul S. Fiddes, and Bruce W. Longenecker, the volume attends to the contributions that architecture, drama, literature, music, and painting can make in a exploration of Christian hope. We discover that in art the poetic interplay between past, present, and future takes specific concrete forms, furnishing vital resources for sustaining an imaginative ecology of hope. For further information visit the Ashgate website . [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Tahlib Detail of new commission "Jesus Wept"  Makoto Fugimura is a leader in the religious arts movement. Tweeting , I assume from his New Jersey farmhouse/art studio, he announced: "What I was working on today in my studio: a commissioned piece in theme of 'Jesus Wept'." Considered the leading Christian artist today, by museums, art critics, and artistic-peers, we are blessed everytime he tweets out one of his images. While I am moved by the work, of which I believe this is only a small detail, I do feel a sense of irony in hearing of painting this theme during this joyful Advent season.

THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER By Inga Saffron The interior of the Church of the Assumption has been trashed recently. Last rites may be near. PENNSYLVANIA---In 2009, the future of the North Philadelphia landmark looked, if not exactly rosy, then quite hopeful. The 19th-century church where the Catholic saint Katharine Drexel was baptized had just earned a place on the commission's selective Historic Register, the strongest safeguard against demolition. An art dealer had expressed interest in purchasing the complex to use as her office. By most accounts, the ornate Gothic interior, with its ribbed arches and stained-glass windows, was still intact. Just three years later, last rites are being said for the Church of the Assumption , the oldest building on the once-elegant Spring Garden Street. [ link ]