DATE: Saturday, October 30th
LOCATION: Blessed Sacrament Church, 728 Mountain Road, Stowe, VT
TIME: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.
SESSIONS: Music, Poetry, Painting, Photography and Creative Non-fiction Writing.
COST: $30 (or what you can afford) including refreshments.
INFO: Facebook: VermontChristianityArts or vermontchristianityarts@gmail.com
After a long pandemic break following our 2019 conference, we are excited for a chance to gather together. Our goal is to build community among artists of faith in Vermont (and nearby) and to encourage good and thoughtful art deeply rooted in a Christian view of the world.
We’re planning a small conference for Oct 30, 2021. This ecumenical gathering will be hosted at the Blessed Sacrament Church in Stowe VT from 8:30 AM to 4:20 PM. (Optional 4:30 mass for those who wish to stay.) We’ll participate in hands-on workshops and share some music and times of fellowship. We hope you’ll join us.
Practical details:
- To Register: Email us at VermontChristianityArts@gmail.com and tell us the names of those who want to come.
- Cost: $30 (please register in advance but pay at the door)
- Student/retired discount: $15
- Financial Aid: Full and partial scholarships are available. Please don’t let lack of funds keep you from coming. Email us if you need help.
- Lunch: included as long as you tell us in advance you’re coming.
- Masks: Out of respect for some who’ve said they only feel safe with others masked, we’re asking all participants to mask while inside except when eating or presenting.
- Other Covid Precautions: Weather permitting, we may have lunch or portions of the conference outside. Inside, we’ll keep things well ventilated.
- Share your art: Bring a piece or two of your visual art, a poem, or something that you can set out for others to enjoy. (We’re not doing a juried exhibition this year; just offering the chance for participants to put something out for others to enjoy.)
- Conference poster: We’ve attached a .pdf file of our conference poster. Feel free to forward this email to friends who might be interested, or feel free to print and post the poster at your church.
General Schedule
- Opening with silent prayer in the church sanctuary
- Brother Dutton of Molokai & the BSC art restoration project
- music presentation
- morning workshops
- lunch (included if you register in advance)
- presentation: Art in Everyday Life
- afternoon workshops
- closing reception
- all welcome to stay for 4:30 celebration of the Mass
Morning Workshops (at the same time; you’ll have to pick one)
- Nature Photography: Reflecting the Creator By considering examples of landscape and close-up photography, we recognize how the Creator reveals Himself not only in nature but also through photos we make of the natural world. This workshop will take place mostly in the classroom. Participants are encouraged to each share up to three prints or three digital files (on a flash drive). We’ll discuss both technical and aesthetic aspects of good nature photography. (Paul Rogers, a Stowe native, holds a BFA in Photography as a Fine Art from Rochester Institute of Technology.)
- Poetry Techniques and the Truth of the Heart In this workshop, we’ll read several poems and discuss elements of technique that deepen our poetry, evoke responses of the heart, and wrestle with truth. We’ll have time to write and/or revise during the workshop, considering how we can apply the techniques we’ve explored to our poems. Feel free to bring a poem you’re writing and struggling with, or come prepared to write something new. (Eric K. Taylor holds an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts.)
Afternoon Workshops (pick one)
- Visual Arts: Hearing His Voice at the Moment of Creation This workshop explores the many ways God can speak to us and how we can artistically respond.. (Kevin Moffatt is a graduate of Maryland Art institute where he majored in print making and architectural design. He’s an artist, hand paints silk scarves, and “paints prophetically” during worship services.
- Creative Nonfiction: Infusing our Stories with Grace, Beauty, and Style In this workshop, we’ll read/hear a few short pieces of creative nonfiction, and experiment with writing exercises that help us explore the intersection of our lives, our stories, and writing technique. We also explore how deep exploration of our real stories helps us tap into truth more deeply than pieces written with more didactic intent. (Eric K. Taylor holds an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts.)
What’s It All About?
Whether you’re a fan of the arts—a reader of poetry or prose, an appreciator of paintings and photographs, a lover of music or theater—or a practicing artist looking to improve your craft or think about your work from a Christian perspective, one seeking to incorporate arts into ministry or one seeking to support and encourage artists around you, this conference has something for you. There will be sessions on a variety of topics and genres, offering both hands-on craft workshops as well as discussions of art: sessions for working artists as well as for those interested in a deeper appreciation and understanding of arts, particularly from a perspective of Christian faith.