Posts Tagged ‘art exhibit’

Advent Art Exhibit Opening

December 15th, 2008

The art exhibit is in full swing and will be going on until Thursday. We did have to reduce the hours a bit, but it’s a good thing and I’m feeling good about where it’s at and what we’ve learned in the process. The best part of the week so far has definitely been the Opening on Thursday night. We had a great turn out (I didn’t get a head count, but I’d guess around 45 or so – we gave out over 60 tickets for it so I guess we could have had up to that many but I think it was a little less). Here are a few pictures from the Opening so you can get an idea of what I’ve been up to lately:



For more pictures click here.

I’ll leave you with this Advent Prayer by Henri Nouwen that a friend just shared with me yesterday. I hope it speaks to you as much as it spoke to me:

Lord, Jesus,
Master of both the light and the darkness, send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.
We who have so much to do seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.
We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us.
We who are blessed in so many ways long for the complete joy of your kingdom.
We whose hearts are heavy seek the joy of your presence.
We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking the light.
To you we say, “Come Lord Jesus!”
Amen.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

photographs by Beth Stedman

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Art Exhibit THIS WEEK!

December 7th, 2008

As many of you know I’ve been planning an art exhibit for Advent with a number of other artists. This week it actually all comes together and this tinny dream that I lay at God’s feet months ago will now actually happen. So, for those of you who are in Prague set it on your calendars:

Poiema

presents

LIGHT: an artistic exploration of Advent
18 artists explore the significance of Light in Advent

December 12-14, 2008
12:00-20:45

St. Thomas Church, Josefska 8
off Malostranske namesti

Cost: 50 Kc

Hope to see you all there! 

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

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Advent is Coming

November 1st, 2008

Today is the 1st of November and that means that Advent is just around the corner. I’ve been looking forward to this Advent ever since last Easter. And now it is almost here, just a few weeks away.

Last year I decided to learn more about the seasons of the church calendar and during each season I took some time to think and read what that season was really about. This year I want to start to reconfigure my life to fit and connect with each of the church seasons as they happen.

One of the first steps I’m taking towards that is the art exhibit I am putting together for Advent. Each of the artists will be creating art work that portrays Light in some way as a means for us to tangibly anticipate and celebrate the “light coming back.”

Under communism the Czech people weren’t suppose to celebrate Christmas. Christmas was down played, while the winter solstice was emphasized. They celebrated the fact that in December the light started to change and light started to come back into the world. But, that is also what we celebrate with Christmas and look forward to over Advent – the “Life-Light”, as Peterson calls Jesus in The Message, is coming into the world. Jesus himself says in John 8, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” This year I want to enter Advent as a season of Light – remembering and anticipating at the same time that Jesus, the Life-Light, has come and is coming and will come again.

I plan on focusing and carrying this theme of light out throughout Advent. I would like to have a time of silent, dark prayer on November 30th – really engaging in and recognizing the feeling of being in complete darkness and what it means to have light come into the world. I will also be lighting an advent wreath this year and witnessing with each passing week the lighting of an additional candle and experiencing tangibly a growing light as I anticipate the celebration of Jesus birth.

These are just a few ways that I plan on entering into  the anticipation of the Life-Light, Jesus, coming into the world. These are ways that I plan on engaging in Advent. I would love to hear how you and your family are going to engage in Advent this year. Please feel free to tell me about your advent traditions (old and new) in the comments.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

Photograph by Beth Stedman

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An Update: Yoga Training and Art Exhibit

October 7th, 2008

After a few days of not writing it’s always harder for me to get my thoughts out… So, I find myself staring at the screen unsure of what to write or where to start…

I feel like there’s a lot to write about in regards to what has happened to me since I wrote last and the things I have experienced… There are two big things that happened in my life this weekend. First, I started my yoga teacher training program and had the first session (made up of three 9+ hour days). I don’t know where to begin in telling you all about this first weekend session. It was an experience of dichotomies – it was exciting and scary, it was encouraging and frustrating, it was challenging and easier than I expected, it was wonderful and also incredibly difficult. This first session we worked on sun salutations and proper alignment and adjusting for a few common poses. We also learned about and spent a good deal of time in meditation and breathing exercises. But, it felt like the majority of our time this first session was spent talking about yoga philosophy and yoga history, which was actually really interesting. I learned a ton of stuff that I didn’t know and met a lot of very interesting, friendly and open people. I am really looking forward to the next session and to what might come from this experience in the future.  

The second big happening in my life this weekend was that we had our first meeting to talk about the art exhibit idea that I had for Advent. I shared a little about this idea on this blog, HERE. I have had a number of people express interest in participating in this and making it happen and so on Sunday we had a meeting and discussed what this project might look like. We decided to have the theme be LIGHT, and have all the art work portray light in some way. I’m really excited about this theme because I feel like it fits in well with advent and it also has a lot of creative potential. We also spent a good deal of time talking about other logistics of making this event happen and I felt good about where we came out on things. There’s still a long way to go and a lot of work to be done to make this dream of putting on an art exhibit a reality, but I feel like we are well on our way to making it happen.

 Both of these are things I’m really excited about. I feel like both meet needs in my spirit and both fit well with who I really am. With both I feel that God was directing me and leading me to do them and I feel that there is potential for a lot of growth and for future projects and partnerships to come out of them. I am excited to see what will happen. Both of these things are also going to take up a lot of my time in the coming months and both require some financial investment on my part during a time when finances are uncertain for my husband and I. But, I believe strongly that God has called me to this yoga program and that He has called me to organize this art exhibit, so, I am trusting that he will provide.

Anyway, those were the two big things going on in my life this weekend, but this doesn’t nearly scratch the surface of all that was going on in me throughout the last few days… maybe I’ll get to some of that in the next post… maybe not, we’ll see.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Beth Stedman

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Experiencing the Church Seasons Through Art

September 12th, 2008

A while back I heard about a group in London doing an art exhibit for Lent. A number of artists (mostly photographers and painters) got together and all created art work having to do with Lent and journeying through Lent. I thought this was a really cool idea and thought why can’t we do something like this in Prague?

One of the things that I have done this past year is tried to enter into, and walk with Christ through, the different seasons of the church calendar (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and “Ordinary Time”). It has been an incredible experience for me and God has really spoken to me through each of these seasons. God has drawn me into deeper truths about my life and my own walk with Him as I have journeyed through Christ’s life and the life of His church during the church year. One thing that I have wanted though was to make that journey more in community and to do so in creative and artistic ways that touch more than just the mind but also reach into the heart – I wanted a journey through the church calendar that would not just be mental but symbolic.

God has shown me a lot over the past few years about the power that symbols and pictures and stories can have and the special ways that God can use these things to draw us to himself. So, I started to think about getting a group of artists and creators together to make an exhibit of pictures and symbols and stories for each season of the church calendar for one year. I dreamed of a group that would consist of all types of artists (photographers, painters, sculptures, potters, writers, movie makers, etc, etc) each bringing their own unique talent and gift to the table to show the different church seasons in an artistic and creative way that would help people to enter into the redemptive moving of God in the world, whether they are far from God or near to him. I imagined a group that would be made up of artists from all different backgrounds, nationalities and churches, united with a common desire to create something that would bring glory to God.

So, that was my idea or vision and honestly I don’t really know what will happen (or not happen) with it. But, I want to take a little step towards it and create an art exhibit for Advent. The weeks before Christmas are often so hectic for people and we all spend a lot of time preparing externally for Christmas day – buying presents, decorating the house, going to parties, etc. But, I would love to see a place and an experience that would help people prepare their hearts and souls for Christmas. I’d love to create a place, through art, where people could experience Advent and what it really means – a place where they could remember that Christ has come and is coming and will come again. And I think that art can speak to that and draw people into the story of Christ and his church better than anything else.

So, I don’t have any of the details worked out. I don’t have a venue or anything yet. I do have a small handful of people who have expressed an interest in being involved though and for that I am really thankful. So, if any of what I’ve written here resonates with your heart I would love for you to join me in praying about this and for it. If you live in Prague and are at all interested in helping make this happen by creating art (in any form) for the exhibit I would love to have your help. If you have any connections with art galleries and know of a venue that might work for this I’d love to hear about it. Or if you are just curious and want to hear more about it I’d love to talk with you about it.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany

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