Call for Entries

Deadline to Enter: July 25^th 2010

Designers and Artists are invited to submit a poster design to be used in celebration with Sojourn’s 10^th anniversary.  The design should communicate that Sojourn has been a church for 10 years.  The winning design will be included on the associated Devotional Cover, T-shirts, and Posters and maybe skateboard decks (you never know).

Eligibility

All artists are eligible.  All designs should be original.  All entries should be in a digital, editable file format.

Submissions

Please submit a Full Resolution PDF or JPEG via email to mwinters@sojournchurch.com

Design should fit the dimensions 11x17, yet flexible for multiple formats

Design should not include more than 4 colors

Files must be submitted by Sunday, July 25^th

Awards

10 favorite entries will be chosen for display on sojournvisualarts.com

the corresponding artists will receive a t-shirt showcasing the winning design

1 winning entry will be chosen to represent Sojourn’s Anniversary

the corresponding artist will receive t-shirts for their entire community group

Sojourn Arts Director, Michael Winters, will be selecting the winners

Lately, I've been understanding the Sojourn arts ministry as a way in which we can join Christ in making all things new.  As artists, we can take the materials that we find in the world and we reform them, or renew them, into other things that hopefully make the world a more beautiful place.

When God made the world, he didn't leave too many 'blank' places.  Yes, there are deserts and polar ice fields and the state of Kansas, but even those places are not really blank.  They are surprisingly full of life and color and texture.  However when people make things, we often leave blank spots.  The wall behind the stage at the East campus was one such place.

Thanks to Julie Gross and some other Sojourners, that wall, and thus the whole feel of the room, has lost some of its cold blankness.  The stripe pattern is made from sheets of wood veneer which have been dyed and stained the different colors.  The colors tie together the different wood colors from the rest of the room and the layout of the stripes breaks up the monotony of straight lines and right angles while not standing completely apart from the existing room.  While there's no biblical reference to the shape or content of this wall design, the project is deeply theological and worshipful because it attempts to make things new in light of God's apparent distaste for blankness.

So, this Sunday the East Campus will be greeted with both a new stage background in time for mothers day and the opportunity for free family photos.

On top of that it's also Commitment Sunday, where we all financially commit to give to the church over the coming years so that renewal can continue throughout Sojourn and throughout the city.  Our church depends upon the Holy Spirit, grace and prayer, but it also depends on money to keep ministry moving forward.  And of course the truth is that both inside and outside the church, when money is tight, the arts are one of the first things to go.  So, for the sake of the whole church, the city, and for the sake of Sojourn Visual Arts and the 930, please consider how you can financially commit to Sojourn over the coming years.

A picture from last year's Art in the Park

This Saturday from 12-3 we're partnering up with SEED to hold a fun family-friendly event in Shelby Park.  We'll be creating one large panoramic image of Oak St.  on multiple panels.  Each kid will paint one panel and then we'll screw them all together and let some adults put on the finishing touches.

I hear there's going to be a cookout too, and some basketball.

Who's going to join us?

If you want to come and help get the kids painting, let me know - mwinters@sojournchurch.com

To do this, we need a number of photographers.  You'll be responsible for the shooting and then Michael Winters will be responsible for getting the images edited and to the moms.  It would be good too if you could bring along an assistant to help you keep track of the names and addresses.

Email mwinters@sojournchurch.com if you'd be willing to take one or more of these time slots.

Mothers Day Photography - Sunday, May 9th

Midtown
8:30-9:15 (2) Buck Buchanon with Amy
10:15-11:30 (2) Buck Buchanon with Amy
12:30-1:15 (2) Courtney Crain with Kristin Miller
4:30-5:15 (2)
6:15-7:15 (2)

East
9:15-10:00 Ginny Hobbs, Cody Chaplin
11:15-12:00 Ginny Hobbs, Cody Chaplin

This Sunday we'll be having a Sojourn Visual Arts Vision Lunch.  You definitely want to come to that, but even if you can't make that, maybe you can come help us break down the Prayer & Wisdom exhibit.  It's been nice having it up, but the time has come to say goodbye.  We'll need to get everything off the walls and off the floor, and there's A LOT of stuff on the walls and on the floor.

Just show up Sunday around 1:45 if you're coming just for gallery break down, but if you want to come to the Visual Arts Vision Lunch that starts at 12:45, RSVP by emailing michael@the930.org.

This is sort of like a Vision Catalyst meeting for our specific ministry area.
And this is both for first-timers who want to get involved and those of you who have been a part of Sojourn Visual Arts for a good while.

We'll discuss where we see Sojourn Visual Arts and the 930 going over the next ten years, or at least the next three years.
What will the 930 be like after Sojourn acquires St. Vincent's? How will Sojourn Visual Arts capitalize on the recent success of the Prayer & Wisdom exhibit? What exciting projects are happening throughout the rest of this year? We'll tell you at this get together.

And if you have project ideas or a desire to see Sojourn Visual Arts grow in a certain way, bring your ideas. This will be a great opportunity for dreaming and praying for a wonderful future for Sojourn's artistic ministries.

Then, stick around if you can to help take down the Prayer & Wisdom exhibit.

So we know how much pizza to order, write michael@the930.org and let us know you're coming.

Easter is the high point of the Christian calendar. For this special occasion of celebration, Sojourn Visual Arts is going to renew the look of our worship space by changing the paint color behind the stage and creating new window design for behind the stage. It will be similar to last year's Easter design made entirely of flowers. We'll also be re-painting the canvasses around the worship space to match the new stage color.
If you can help, please come.

Room 310 at the 930

Come join us on Sunday Feb. 21st at 11:15 to make new art for Sojourn Visual Arts' upcoming exhibit "Prayer & Wisdom".  The "Wisdom" portion of the exhibit is open for any one of any age to participate.  Just show up and we'll have the materials and instructions all laid out for you!

If you can't make this time and place, you can still participate. Either pick up the information on the 930 gallery table or just email mwinters@sojournchurch.com and request the info to be mailed to you.  But act quick because the deadline to participate is Feb. 21.

For our upcoming exhibit 'Prayer & Wisdom: Reflections on Psalms and Proverbs' we really didn't know how to create a promotional image because even though the exhibit is only three weeks away, none of the artwork exists yet (!).  The exhibit is going to be pretty wild and most of it is installation art that needs to be built into the space once the Mega Churches exhibit comes down.

So, the image above is what Bradley Speaks and I came up with.  In Sojourn Visual Art's main studio, we just piled up a bunch of the junk we're working with, banged some nails in some plywood, and wrapped the extension cord through the nails to spell 'prayer & wisdom'.  Then we plugged one end of that extension cord into the wall and the other end into one of the strobe lights I use for photography.  Bradley held the light, I clicked the picture, and with a long exposure going, Bradley walked out of the frame, leaving his image sort of ghostly.

I love the metaphor that happened.  Without too much forethought on our parts, the light, metaphorically, became evidence that there is power in prayer and wisdom.  Yes, it's literally electrical power, but in my mind it comes to represent spiritual power which, of course, is the most powerful kind of power.

I don't know if people looking at this briefly will even recognize that the light is powered by the same cord that spells out the exhibit title, but I hope so.

This list will be edited to reflect the current inventory of needs and resources as people turn in their lists and we get stuff in.

NEEDS

For Wings Shelter:

Aluminum wireform rolls
Pvc pipe
Cotton or polyester batting
Feathers (I found a company online for these)
Plaster cloth
Felt (soft blue & gray)
Cardstock (silver & gold)