This video is the first in a series of three lectures led by experts in the intersection of Christianity and Art that help to provide a basic understanding of (1) what is the history of art and the church, (2) how can we understand new, cutting-edge art, and (3) how is the church relating to visual art today. Click the title above to see the video properly on the screen.

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Caesar from Soma shares the Story of God.

When I told people in Louisville that I was coming out to Tacoma, more than once I got in response the mysterious phrase, “oh, the aroma of Tacoma.”  Apparently, there’s a paper factory around here that gives the city a stinky reputation.  I haven’t smelled it yet.

In other smell-related thoughts, Les and Alison Groce taught Mickie and I in our pre-marital counseling to always be aware of the ‘aroma’ of our home.  That’s become a helpful indicator of how things are going for us.  For example, it stinks when we can’t seem to treat each other well and we can say the ‘aroma’ of our home is sweet when we’re being sweet with eachother.

So far this week, I’ve found the aroma of Tacoma to be quite nice.  I’m here along with four other Sojourn couples to learn from Soma Communities leaders.  They’re teaching us how they understand (1) the message of the gospel, (2) identities in the gospel, and (3) rhythms or practices because of the gospel.  The people here really have a loving vision for what it means to be a gospel-centered people on mission.

The best part has been spending two days mostly just hearing the story of the Bible being told in story form.  Seeing the redemptive arc of all history was really amazing – CREATION, FALL, REDEMPTION, COMPLETION.  God’s story is so genius.  All of the connections.  All of the richness.

The little white area that looks like a cloud is actually Mount Rainier.

Betsy, from Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, came last week to visit with us and teach the class “Church Art Now” this past Sunday.  If you missed the class, it will be online as a video soon.  Betsy is Calvin’s resident visual arts expert, and she’s probably the best person there is to come speak on the topic of contemporary church art.  She knows it back and forth.

Besides just doing the class, she also sat down with a couple different groups over good meals at Ramsi’s and then the next day at Kashmir to discuss the overall vision of visual arts ministry at Sojourn, including the 930.  Her insights into our local situation were very helpful, and paired with the recent discussions we’ve had with Steve Halla from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Taylor Worley from Union University and Joanna Taft from the Harrison Center, we’re just about ready to get a  renewed strategy on paper for seeing gospel transformation in the visual arts for individuals, the church, and the world.

Photos by Mickie Winters

On a photo excursion back in November, making album art for Bradley Hathaway’s recently released album “A Mouth Full of Dust,” Mickie and I routed Salvation Mountain into our trip. We saw the very good movie “Into the Wild” last summer, which briefly features Leonard Knight at his painted adobe mountain, and I put meeting him on my list of things to do before I die.

I didn’t know what to expect. I was worried that he might be another wildly capable - but a tad crazed and sort of angry - outsider artist like Jim Bishop, whose hand-built Bishop's Castle is one of America’s coolest places to visit. Honestly I had kind of gotten my hopes up already. We’d traveled literally across the whole US to see this place. We pulled up and Leonard was wondering around, moving paint buckets or something. He greeted us very warmly. “I’d like to show you a few things,” he said - a complete sweetheart.

After talking with him for about an hour, we came away completely charmed by this simple man who has dedicated his life to the mission of spreading the message that “God is Love” by building a mountain out of mud and hay, and painting that mountain with all the colors of the rainbow.

I keep thinking about the experience, and Leonard Knight’s dedication to a grand but simple idea.  His personal mission was so clear and concise.

He gave us a few DVD copies of a documentary that someone made about him. You can borrow a copy from the Visual Arts Lab on the third floor.