RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

Confiscated bibles in “El Sueño Americano (The American Dream)” by Tom Kiefer

We are in a Samaritan moment when artists are naming the brokenness and transforming it into beauty. One such artist is Arizona-based Tom Kiefer. He is a fine art photographer and graphic designer who retrieved the confiscated belongings of South American migrants that our Custom’s officials tossed into the trash. Kiefer then organized and photographed them. Combining his twin skills as graphic designer and photographer, Kiefer has created a snapshot of our American struggle with immigration to symbolize our collective responsibility. That's why Tom Kiefer's “El Sueño Americano (The American Dream)” is our art of the week.

A janitor preserves the seized rosaries and pocket Bibles of Mexican migrants

THE NEW YORKER
By By Peter C. Baker | March 12, 2017

The CPB considers rosaries to be potentially lethal, non-essential personal property, and agents dispose of them during intake

Tom Kiefer was a Customs and Border Protection janitor for almost four years before he took a good look inside the trash. Every day at work—at the C.B.P. processing center in Ajo, Arizona, less than fifty miles from the border with Mexico—he would throw away bags full of items confiscated from undocumented migrants apprehended in the desert. One day in 2007, he was rummaging through these bags looking for packaged food, which he’d received permission to donate to a local pantry. In the process, he also noticed toothbrushes, rosaries, pocket Bibles: a vibrant, startling testament to the lives of those who had been detained or deported. Together they make up “El Sueño Americano” (“The American Dream”), an ongoing project that, thanks to its unconventional perspective on U.S. migrant policies, has launched Kiefer into a photography career he’s dreamed of for decades. [More]

Phoenix Art Museum showcases rare Sikh objects from Arizona collection for the first tim

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

Unknown, "Portrait of Guru Arjun, the Fifth Guru" (1581-1606), `9th century. Ink and color on paper. The Khanuja Family.

PHOENIX– Since April, Phoenix Art Museum has showcased a broad range of objects related to Sikh religion and history in an exhibition entitled "Virtue and Valor: Sikh Art and Heritage." From portraiture and photographs to implements of war, the exhibition draws exclusively on featured items from the Khanuja Family Collection, a local Arizona family. Organized thematically, the items in "Virtue and Valor: Sikh Art and Heritage" traverse a visual journey of Sikh religion and history. With more than 23 million followers, Sikhism is now the fifth-largest religion in the world. "Virtue and Valor" will be on view in the Art of Asia Gallery through September 10, 2017. Admission is free for Museum Members and included with general admission.

In speedy reversal, Southern Baptists denounce white nationalists

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Jacey Fortin

PHOENIX---Delegates of the Southern Baptist Convention, an evangelical church fellowship with about 15 million members across the United States, condemned white supremacists and the “alt-right” in a resolution on Wednesday, one day after the delegates provoked a backlash by turning down a more harshly worded resolution. The denomination’s annual meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday in Phoenix attracted about 5,000 delegates and pastors from across the country. Mr. Moore said that delegates recognized “a special responsibility to be aware of racial injustice because the S.B.C. was founded on the basis of a defense of slaveholding.” The Southern Baptist Convention was founded in 1845 when it split from Baptists in the North over slavery. [More]

Two Christian extremists face jail time for refusing to make invitations for gay weddings

THE GOSPEL HERALD
By Suzette Guitierrex-Cathila

ARIZONA---Two Christian artists who create hand-painted invitations and cards could be facing jail time and heavy penalties for refusing to make invitations for same-sex weddings. Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski, owners of art design studio Brush & Nib, challenged an ordinance in Phoenix, Arizona that prohibits them from refusing clients for same-sex weddings. Under the same ordinance, they are also not allowed to discuss their convictions or the reason for not accepting clients for same-sex weddings. If they should violate these laws, they would be imprisoned for six months for every day they fail to comply. [link]

Rosh Hashana inspires Tucson artist's custom shawls

ARIZONA DAILY STAR

By Johanna Willett

Beth Surdut, who moved to Tucson in March, makes and sells prayer shawls that tell stories. One customer wanted one that reflected her love of the mountains and a theme of seeking. She cried when she saw the finished work.

ARIZONA---When Beth Surdut dons her prayer shawl, she wraps around her shoulders a silk garment inspired by Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year. The holiday’s start at sunset on Sunday, Sept. 13 begins the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Rosh Hashana lasts through Tuesday, Sept. 15. For Jews, this is a time of reflection, with Rosh Hashana commemorating the creation of the world and Yom Kippur reflecting on repentance and forgiveness. [link]

Jewish artist Brooke Sendele Foster finds inspiration in everyday life

JEWISH NEWS
By Jennifer Goldberg

Foster’s drawing of the "Al Netilas Yadayim (hand washing prayer)" was commissioned by a family in Scottsdale. Image courtesy of Brooke Foster

ARIZONA---In the work of Brooke Sendele Foster, stories from the Torah and themes of Judaism and Jewish culture burst with color and life. Her finely detailed and beautiful drawings celebrate the beauty and traditions of the Jewish faith. Foster’s path to a career as a Jewish artist was an unlikely one. Born to a Christian father and a Jewish mother, she was raised Christian in Irvine, California. Religious art isn’t exactly embraced in the serious art community, Foster says. By using bright colors, incorporating fine art elements and making the Jewish themes of her work relevant to today, she found greater acceptance of her art, Foster says. [link]

Contentious 'Draw Muhammad' Art Contest Outside Phoenix Mosque Ends Peacefully

YIBADA
By Kofi Peppeh

ARIZONA---Police in Arizona formed a line in the middle of the street to keep anti-Islam protesters and counter protesters separated on May 29 during a contentious "Muhammad Art Contest" rally outside a Phoenix mosque attended by the gunmen responsible for an attack at a similar competition in Texas earlier this month. The controversial event was scheduled to concur with jummah, the Friday night communal prayer, at the Islamic Community Center in Phoenix. Organizers of the event said their plan is to "expose Islam" and to warn the acquaintances of the two gunmen who opened fire in Texas, according to NBC News. [link]

Hebrew Calligraphy Adorns Tucsonan’s Art

ARIZONA JEWISH POST

Garden of Eden bowl – cut paper collage by Carolee Asia

ARIZONA---Tucsonan Carolee Asia will be the featured artist at the Tohono Chul Park Welcome Gallery Nov. 14 through Feb. 15. In her colorful cut paper collages, “I enjoy the play of images on all kinds of structures such as cubes and vases, platters and gourds,” Asia says in her artist’s statement. “The compositions are originally suggested by the size and shape of the basic shapes I find, and the color palette comes together as if the medium was paint.” The collages resemble tile work or ceramics due to a final application of a heavy resin varnish. Many of her pieces incorporate Hebrew calligraphy. [link]

Bible Museums Across the U.S. Range from Scholarly to Colorful

MCDONDOUGH VOICE
By Kelsey Dallas

Freer and Sackler Galleries, Washington, D.C.

In a few years, families won't be limited to exploring presidential monuments or walking along the National Mall on vacations to Washington, D.C. They'll also have access to a new Bible museum, scheduled to open in 2017 just a few blocks away from some of America's most famous tourist attractions. The project is sponsored by the family that owns Hobby Lobby. Its nonprofit organization, Museum of the Bible, also funds a traveling exhibit of biblical artifacts and a Bible curriculum for high school students. [link]

Raelian Swastika Campaign Calculated to Stoke Controversy

RELIGION DISPATCHES

History of the Swastika in world religions

ARIZONA---This weekend a plane flew over Coney Island and the Rockaways towing a banner with a swastika and an ad for proswastika.org, a new initiative by the Raelians—a religious movement that believes humans were created by ancient extra-terrestrials, and whose insignia is a swastika inside of a hexagram. According to Raelian spokesperson Thomas Kaenzig, the swastika was brought to Earth millions of years ago by our alien forefathers, which is presumably why Raelians believe the symbol appears in cultures all over the world. This weekend marked the end of “International Swastika Rehabilitation Week,” part of an attempt to reclaim the symbol from its Nazi associations which also featured street activism in Las Vegas. [link]

Bishop Thomas Olmsted Is Pursuing a Vendetta Against the ADL

PHOENIX NEW TIMES

Bishop Thomas Olmsted kicked the ADL out of Phoenix Catholic schools and
continues to pursue a hard-line stance even as Pope Francis softens the church's tone.

ARIZONA---With the challenges and dangers that young students face today (online bullying, offline bullying, gossip, hate, and the increasingly common school shooting) programs like the Anti-Defamation League's "World of Difference" has arguably never been more important. But Phoenix Catholic Bishop Thomas Olmsted disagrees. In this week's cover story, "Bishop Thomas Olmsted Expels the ADL's Sensitivity Training from Catholic Schools," Michael Lacey details how Olmsted has clung to outdated church doctrine in his vendetta against the ADL. [link]

Dadara' Builds a Religion Around Facebook "Likes" for Burning Man

MARKETING LAND
By Chris Silver Smith

Like 4 Real image © by Dadara

ARIZONA---A Dutch artist and his collaborators are planning to transform the Facebook “Like” into a religion, at least briefly, and then burn a giant golden Like icon on an altar in the Nevada desert during Burning Man later this month, in a participatory installation/performance art event. The Like4Real project was launched by artist Dadara via the Indiegogo fund-raising platform and has now exceeded its goal of $10,000. The Like4Real website homepage sports a truly hypnotic, animated mandala, clearly inspired by Buddhist mandalas, and features concentric spinning rings composed of hearts, hands, eyes, and the thumbs-up “Like” icon. [link]

Sacred Hopi Masks Allowed to be Sold in French Auction

THE GLOBE AND MAIL 
By Thomas Adamson

FRANCE --- In a chaotic auction repeatedly interrupted by protests, dozens of native American tribal masks were sold Friday after a French court ignored the objections of the Hopi tribe and the U.S. government. The total tally was €931,000 ($1.3-million), with the most expensive, the Mother Crow, selling for €160,000 euros – more than three times the presale estimate.Of the 70 masks up for sale, one was bought by an association to give back to the Hopis, the Drouot auction house said. Advocates for the Hopi tribe had argued in court the masks have special status and are not art – they represent their dead ancestors’ spirits. The Hopis, a Native American tribe whose territory is surrounded by Arizona, nurture the masks as if they are the living dead. But the auctioneer insisted any move to block the sale could have broad repercussions for the art market in general and potentially force French museums to empty their collections of indigenous works. [link]

Hopi - Native Americans Outraged Over Auction Of Religious Items

FRONTERAS
By Laurel Morales

Hopi Katsina friend

ARIZONA — A Paris auction house plans to sell 70 sacred Native American artifacts. The northern Arizona Hopi Tribe is outraged and wants them back. The Hopi call them Katsina friends and they are treated as such. The Hopi people use them in ceremonies and dances to call upon the spirits to bring them rainfall, healing and protection. "Annually the Hopi people petition the spirit beings that are personified through Katsina to come to the Hopi villages," said Leigh Kuwanwisiwma, director of the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office. Kuwanwisiwma said they are not pieces of art, so they cannot be sold. Two Arizona museums have asked the auction house to cancel its sale. The Paris auction house has displayed the items on its website for its upcoming sale April 11. [link]

Kehinde Wiley's Dutch Religious Art at Phoenix Art Museum

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Tahlib

"After Memling Portrait of Saint Benedict" (2013)by Kehinde Wiley

During the Fall of 2008, when it was just me and a few friends deciding which contemporary work we considered the Religious Art of the Year, the painting of "Dead Christ in a Tomb" by Kehinde Wiley was an obvious choice for a group of friends seeking new ways of looking at religion, sexuality, and race. In his newest exhibition, "Kehinde Wiley: Memling" at the Phoenix Art Museum, he continues charging forward creating unique windows into the world of religion through the lens of men-of-color. His new series of  eight portraits take their poses and contexts from the works by the 15th century Flemish master Hans Memling (below), whose lens for faith was from a time when Christianity was exclusively white Europeans.

Phoenix Art Museum: "Kehinde Wiley: Memling," (Ends June 20), 1625 N. Central Avenue Phoenix, AZ. (602) 257-1222 or phxart.org

Brandeis University Arts Expert to Present "Truth or Beauty" Lecture in Arizona

ARIZONA JEWISH POST 

ARIZONA---The Brandeis National Committee will host its annual University on Wheels event on Thursday, Feb. 7, at 9 a.m. at Skyline Country Club. Scott Edmiston, director of the Office of the Arts at Brandeis University, will speak on: “Truth or Beauty: The Need for Art in the 21st Century.” Edmiston will explore questions such as: Do the arts play a role in creating and sustaining truth, justice, a more ethical society? In these days of proliferating reality shows, video games and media saturation, is there still a place for live theatre? Museums and art galleries? Symphony halls? Edmiston founded the Office of the Arts at Brandeis after more than 25 years as an artist, educator, administrator and arts advocate at universities and nonprofit organizations. [link]

Torah Inspires Arizona Artist's 'Visual Midrash'

ARIZONA DAILY STAR
By Gerald Gay

"Blessings of Peace"

ARIZONA---Mordecai Colodner finds faith just as important a tool as any brush, canvas or easel when it comes to creating art. His paintings vary, from abstract pieces to serene Southwest scenes, but his primary inspiration derives from the teachings of the Torah. Every room in his home just north of Oro Valley contains framed acrylic works, each relating to a different story from the Hebrew Bible. His unique paintings, mostly done in acrylics, have popped up in private collections nationally as well as in local institutions, such as the Tucson Jewish Community Center, 3800 E. River Road. [link]

Stolen Book of Mormon Recovered by DC Police

THE SACRAMENTO BEE
By Associated Press

WASHINGTON, DC -- Federal authorities have arrested a man in the theft of a rare first-edition copy of the Book of Mormon from a bookstore in a Phoenix suburb. Police in Mesa, Ariz., said Tuesday that FBI and U.S. marshals searched the apartment of Jay Linford in Washington, D.C., and recovered the book that's valued at about $40,000. [link]

First-edition Book of Mormon stolen from Arizona store

USA TODAY
By Jim Walsh

ARIZONA -- For years, Mormon missionaries would come to Helen Schlie's bookstore to have their pictures taken with a first-edition copy of the Book of Mormon. Some missionaries would cry as they touched the rare book, one of 5,000 printed in 1830 after Joseph Smith found the gold plates that he translated into the Book of Mormon, which members of the faith consider to be scripture alongside the Bible. Schlie valued the book at $100,000 when she reported it stolen. She said the book was not insured. [link]