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]

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

Lorenzo de Caro's "The Israelites Worshiping The Golden Calf" (c. 1758) in the permanent collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts

This week, we are attending the annual conference of Grantmakers in the Arts in Detroit, a city with a rich culture of creativity, and religious diversity. Once one of the wealthiest cities in the nation, today it remains a city that its cultural community boasts on the nation's top art museums, and admission is free to residents. Baroque painter Lorenzo de Caro (1719 – 1777) is one of the artists in the collection of the Detroit Institute of the Arts. In his era, palaces filled with lively Baroque art reflected the desire of his countrymen for opulence. Inspired by Exodus 32, his "Israelites Worshipping The Golden Calf" shows figures dancing in the opulent fashions of Caro's day, and it reminds us that where we focus our resources is what we worship. Visit Detroit, and see Lorenzo de Caro's "Israelites Worshiping The Golden Calf."

Vote for Alpha Omega Prize 2017 - 12 Finalists for Artist of the Year

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

Subscribe to recieve the ballot to vote for the Alpha & Omega Prize for Contemporary Religious Art

The Alpha Omega Arts is proud to announce the tenth consecutive round of the Alpha & Omega Prize for Contemporary Religious Arts recognizing contemporary visual art that promotes religious dialogue in America, for better or for worse. The following 12 finalists are living artists, whose art news stories generated the highest traffic on this blog site that month. This could be a result of one news story or multiple news stories during the same month. The 12 finalists for 2017: Kelvin Burzon, Abdulnasser Gharem, David Hayward, Tom Kiefer, Bernard Maisner, Adi Nes, Shirin Neshat, Raymond Pettibon, Troy Schooneman, Joel Silverstein, Devan Shimoyama, and Mark Wallinger. Voting by subscribers to the e-newsletter begins today.

Our seven Final 40 favorites reflecting religious imagination from #ArtPrize2017

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

“Flint” by Ti-Rock Moore at Fountain Street Church (New Orleans, LA)

Why vote in ArtPrize Nine? You help decide which forty artist entries will share in $500,000 in prizes including the $200,000 Public Vote Grand Prize. What's the catch? You have to register to vote in Grand Rapids but then you can vote from anywhere in the world. We are voting from Indianapolis but only after registering last week in Grand Rapids. On behalf of Alpha Omega Arts, we've posted the finalists we think spark new conversations about the religious imagination. They are images that grabbed our spiritual attention, and sparked our own conversations. Round 2 Voting for the ArtPrize Nine Final 40 will run through Thursday, October 5 at 11:59 p.m.

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

Tom Kiefer’s “El Sueño Americano (The American Dream)” | ArtPrize Nine Top 20

Six New Testaments, pulled from the trash and photographed on a bandana, all once belonged to migrants who came to America filled with hope (Hebrews 6:19). "El Sueño Americano (The American Dream)" by Tom Kiefer is one in a collection of 100+ photographs reflecting the humiliating treatment of migrants by U.S. border officials. Kiefer makes us witnesses to the confiscation and disposal of their personal property including rosaries and Bibles. This past week at Artprize (Ending October 8), "El Sueño Americano (The American Dream)" was included in both the Alpha Omega Arts Top 20 and ArtPrize jurors Top 20. Find out the Public Vote Final 20 today at 1pm.

Alpha Omega Arts predicts tonight's Top 20 for ArtPrize Nine

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

Tonight, the ArtPrize Nine Category Award Jurors present and discuss their Top 20 picks at the Jurors’ Shortlist Event. ArtPrize is an open, independently organized international art competition which takes place for 19 days each fall in Grand Rapids, Michigan. More than five hundred thousand dollars in prizes are awarded each year, which include a $200,000 prize awarded entirely by public vote and another $200,000 prize awarded by a jury of art experts. The event began last Wednesday, September 22 with 1,346 artist entries into one of four categories including 2-D, 3-D, Time-Based, and Installation. What makes up your shortlist? Below is our shortlist: