Redeeming Beauty

A must read interview in Zenit, http://zenit.org/article-22963?l=english

Redeeming Beauty
Interview With Aide at Foundation for Sacred Arts
By Kathleen Naab
WASHINGTON, D.C., JUNE 20, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Christian art cannot be permitted a lower standard; in fact, it must embrace a higher standard since Christian artists serve God with their work, says the assistant director of a sacred arts foundation.
Rachel Ross is the assistant director of the Foundation for Sacred Arts, which is dedicated to the promotion of Christian artists and composers, as well as an audience receptive to their works.
In this interview with ZENIT, Ross says there are plenty of reasons to hope that Christian art can have a comeback. And that this, in turn, will help rescue a growingly secular culture.
Q: How did the Foundation for Sacred Arts get started and what does it do?
Ross: The Foundation for Sacred Arts was begun in 2002 by our current director, James Flood, who recognized the serious need for a renewal of art and music in the Church today. The inspiration to begin the foundation was particularly timely because three years prior to this, Pope John Paul II delivered his "Letter to Artists" and called on artists of faith to evangelize the world through their art.
Our mission at the foundation is to renew the fine arts today for the glory of God and the transformation of society. We seek both to promote artists and composers interested in pursuing religious themes in their work and to form audiences who are receptive to the importance of a renewed Christian art.
One way we hope to achieve these goals is by organizing exhibitions of current religious artworks. These exhibitions travel to various Catholic venues across the United States, providing artists with wide exposure to a generally Catholic audience, and opening the eyes of many people who are unaware that a contemporary Christian art exists. Our current exhibition is entitled "Redeeming Beauty." We have also begun planning our first national conference for artists, scheduled for the summer of 2010, which will provide education, formation, networking and practical tips to working Christian artists.
In addition, we will soon launch a series of mini-conferences on art education for interested parishes and dioceses. Depending on the resources in each city, these day-long conferences will include talks on the role and importance of art in the life of the Church, and a guided visit to a museum where participants will view works of Christian art in person. One of our projects focused on music is a series of competitions for recent works of sacred composition.
Q: We should first clarify what you define as Christian art -- there are perhaps some artists who claim that title for their work ... but many who would not agree.
Ross: Christian art is an authentic expression of the Christian faith and is explicitly religious in content. Its authenticity is important to consider since much art today that claims to be "Christian" in fact undermines or demeans the faith. This occurs when an artwork's message ignores or denies the inherent dignity of the human person or conveys the world in a purely materialist way. Stylistic choices are also important; the heavy emphasis on pure abstraction in much art today makes it difficult to portray the sacramental reality of the world we live in. Christian art, in its true sense, should glorify God and should communicate truth, goodness and beauty.
Q: Your exhibit "Redeeming Beauty: Religious Works of Contemporary Artists" will be touring the United States through the beginning of 2009. Tell us about the exhibit and some of the artists who created it.
Ross: "Redeeming Beauty" includes 47 artworks in a variety of media -- painting, drawing, sculpture, photography and glass -- done by 36 American artists working today. The works are all religious, but vary a great deal in subject and style. For example, some of the pieces are traditional in style --such as Matthew Collins' 8-foot-tall "Jesus Carrying the Cross"; James Langley's "Madonna of Marienfeld"; and Anthony Frudakis' sculpture "Madonna" -- while others have a much more contemporary feel -- Ruben Salinas' "Saint Andrew, the Orphans' Savior" and Sherri Denault's "Eve's Contemplation."
Many of the works use images found in the Gospels, the lives of the saints, and the Christian life. Marie Winn's "The Eucharist" communicates the mystical presence of the entire Body of Christ in the Eucharist. Others show how the Catholic worldview illuminates even ordinary events.
For instance, Carol Castor's "Green Jesus" conveys Christ's identification with the poor, the sick and the suffering. Melissa Dayton's "Escort to God" deals with the dignity and vulnerability of the unborn, and Sr. Marian Ryan's "And Your Own Soul a Sword Shall Pierce" communicates the universal suffering of a bereft mother.
The jurors who selected the show chose the strongest artwork from those that were submitted to the foundation, and they wanted to capture the variety of types and styles possible for authentic Christian art.
The result is a rich display of the vibrancy of the Christian imagination and some of the numerous possibilities for religious art today. Incidentally, most of the artworks in "Redeeming Beauty" are available for sale.
Q: At the general audience of May 21, Benedict XVI said: "If faith is alive, Christian culture will never be 'outdated' but rather will remain alive and current" and "Faith is love and so it creates poetry and music. Faith is joy, and so it creates beauty." There is no doubt that the Church currently has a Pope with a particularly keen sense of beauty and its importance. What does that mean for the foundation?
Ross: One thing it means is that we're on the right track! Our Holy Father has a clear understanding of how beauty and the arts nourish the Christian faith, and he is candid about the dangers that emerge if we forsake beauty and settle for a mere "utilitarian" approach to worship and Christian life.
I believe that Pope Benedict's appreciation of beauty, art and music will bring people to recognize the need for artistic renewal in the Church and will lead them to join us in our work. His attention to the arts shows that the work of the foundation and similar organizations is an important part of the Church's mission to spread the Gospel. This artistic renewal will be one of the distinguishing marks of the New Evangelization.
Q: Centuries ago, the best fine arts creations often had Christian inspiration -- the works of Michelangelo, Raphael and so many others. But today, some say art with a Christian inspiration often does not compete with secular works in terms of quality. (I'm thinking not only of fine arts, but also music and literature.) Do you sense that there is a lower standard for Christian works today? Is this permissible?
Ross: Much contemporary art with a Christian message does seem to pale in comparison with the great Christian artworks of the past. In those periods, the arts were supported by a richly Catholic culture, and so works with Christian content flourished. This is no longer the case. Today, the secular culture suppresses authentic religious expression in favor of the ideologies of the contemporary art world: nihilism, materialism, radical individualism --all at odds with the Christian faith.
Because of this, many artists who would wish to pursue religious themes in their work distance themselves from the established art world and from the institutes of training. As a result, the quality of their work has often suffered.
Rather than being satisfied with a lower standard, Christian art must embrace an even higher standard.
In fact, the artist who commits himself to working in Christian subject matter has the greatest obligation to perfect his skill and to refine his artistic vision. He serves God with his art, and the quality of his work will affect the way the viewer experiences God. The Christian artist must always seek to give God the best of himself as an artist.
This implies a constant effort on the artist's part to improve his skill and to develop his insight. "Redeeming Beauty" should give heart to artists and patrons of the arts because it demonstrates that fine religious art can be produced by contemporary artists.
Q: Is there hope that Christian art can flourish even if the culture is ever more secular? Is there a way to bring back a Christian culture?
Ross: Absolutely. Even though the prospects for the Christian arts have looked dim for the past several decades, there are significant signs of hope. The secular culture certainly makes it difficult for a Christian art to re-emerge; but it does not make it impossible, or even improbable. In fact, I believe there is hope for the future of art in the Church precisely because things in the secular art world have gone so far astray. Artists have a singular opportunity right now to discover their mission and vocation as artists, and to help to redirect our culture, guiding it back to beauty, and thus to God.
Art is an expression of culture, but art can also shape and guide culture. A strong and vibrant art movement developing from within the Church will help strengthen the Christian values and ideals of our society. Steps in this direction have been made already. On a fundamental level, we are seeing more and more art academies dedicated to beauty and representation, as opposed to abstraction and themes of meaninglessness.
The public is also showing a growing receptivity to spiritual themes in art and music. We have seen this receptivity in the very enthusiastic response to our exhibit, and not exclusively from a Catholic audience.
Additionally, inspired by the same issues as the foundation, several groups are emerging that focus on providing artists of all fields -- art and music, but also the dramatic and literary arts -- with support, inspiration, and the means to play their part to revive the arts.
So there is much hope in Christian art today. But in order for an artistic renewal to occur in the Church, we need two things: talented, well-trained artists who are committed to using their gifts for the glory of God; and an audience who understands art's vital role in the Church and is willing to support the artists in their work. We are still at the beginning stages, and the fruits may take some time to mature. But with prayer and dedication, I am certain that we will once again see a vibrant Christian artistic presence that will revitalize and renew our culture.