Artist, Tony Melendez Takes Risk with the Annunciation in Indianapolis

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By TAHLIB
"Annunciation---Me?" by Tony Melendez, 
INDIANA---Spanish Harlem-native, Arsenio "Tony" Melendez denies being Roman Catholic, but he shares a Catholic fascination with the Virgin Mary. His "Annunciation---Me?" spotlights that moment when the angel Gabriel calls upon her to take a risk of the virgin birth, and her response is "Who---me?" Tony's view of that moment is the first work visitors will see in this November's "Alpha & Omega: Religious Risks" exhibition. "Tony's paintings are a favorite of people working inside the center" according to Mel Jolliff, Executive Director of Indiana Interchurch Center. "The first collector was the Episcopal Bishop," he says. "What at first looks very traditional, is instead filled with very contemporary ideas." Melendez will join the other artists in a dialogue about Art+Faith+Risk on Saturday, November 9 as part of the Spirit & Place Festival.

You can thank Tony, and the other artists for taking a risk with religious imagination, by making a gift to the Alpha Omega Prize: Artist Fund via power2give.org.