The Show...

I am not sure what it looks like to have finished processing, and while I am pretty sure I have not reached that point (although I have a sneaking suspicion that processing is one of those things never truly finished) I thought I can at least do a quick overview of the show and the end of project (especially since I no longer feel constantly exhausted).

The show went well. It wasn’t as highly visited as the MET or MoMA by any means, but we did have over 160 people come through during the four day run of the show, about half of them came on opening night which is awesome because all of the artists were there and able to talk about their work.

One person in particular was Yura. Yura is a student Desiree and I did Soularium with at Columbia University. That conversation alone was one of the best I had all summer. Although he was not a Christian by any means, nor did he express much concern over it, he was very willing to dialogue about his beliefs and upbringing in the Russian Orthodox Church. As we walked away we prayed for him (especially that he meet up with Kevin C – who will be part of the NYC stint team this year) but that was the end of it.

Yura took the night off from work to come to the show. He came in almost as soon as it started and stayed until we were kicking people out (over two hours). He talked with nearly half of the artists about their work and as he left he said that he had many things to think about now. It was exciting.

For me personally nothing else was as exciting as that, but I know there are many other stories of the people who came to see the art and talk about it.

After the show came down (and we figured out how to get our vast variety of pieces home) the only thing left to do really was say our goodbyes. It was a hard time, but it was made sweeter by several opportunities to really love on each other by speaking of the beautiful things we have seen in each other this summer and challenging each other to grow. I feel like we reserve such times for trips like this, and it is such a lifegiving experience – I wonder what it would be like to be more intentional about incorporating such things into our daily grind?




Tribeca Arts Track (photo by Alicia Hansen)



Yura talking with Brian Dang

If you want to see the art, I have uploaded the images into a facebook album

A teaser ..

The show went well. I am back home now. I think I want to process some before I post for real ... so check back soon?

TONIGHT!!

The show, rehumaniz, opens tonight.

Please pray for the opening (from 6-8) that we finish tying up the loose ends in time and that we be prepared for good conversations with those who come.

Also pray for the run of the show (from tonight until Saturday) that people's hearts would be prepared and that they would come and encounter God in whatever way they are ready for.

Specifically pray for Za-Za and John (two film students I met yesterday); Darryl (our doorman who plans to come on Friday); Jamey (who I met and shared with the very first week but haven't been able to reconnect with); my Chinese friend; and Lauren (who I also met and talked with at length yesterday).


My group hard at work

Our Last weekend before the show ...

We are still working on our art ... this morning I will work on my collaborative piece with Tiffany, Rachel, and Carlee. Then Megan and I will get snacks for everyone and I can try to finish up my individual piece. Things are coming together, but there are still a lot of pieces that need to be glued in if you will.

Thursday after I updated we had our arts track time which includes dinner and then a professional artist will come in and talk about how they integrate their faith and art. This week we heard from this couple Ryan and Diana Warner. He is a dancer/singer/actor and she is a trained as a painter but works as a jewelry designer. They were a lot of fun to hear from. I think we all benefited from hearing how they make marriage work when they have careers that are somewhat in opposition at times (running a business and touring are two different lifestyles for sure) and from how Diana uses her business to help improve life for people, specifically she does a lot of job development stuff in South Africa.

Yesterday we had some mandatory fun to celebrate the 4th of July. I wasn't really looking forward to it (because of all of the work that still needs to be done) but I think that was a sign of just how much it was needed. We had a blast camping out on a pier in Queens to watch a fireworks show. It started raining and we made a massive tent under several tarps and our umbrellas - it was a blast (although we were a bit of a spectacle I suspect).

Ways you can pray:

-This weekend as we work on our art. Pray that we have the strength and wisdom to do what is best

-Overall health. We have just had a lot of issues with people getting sick or injured.

-That we will continue to seek quiet times with the Lord

-For the performance pieces that will be done this weekend - that they may impact people



My collaborative group at City College after a long day of soularium-esqu conversations

6 days until the opening

It has been an amazing week overall. Sy Rogers spoke to us on Thursday and Friday. He shared a lot of how God has brought him through the sin in his past and some of the process of dealing with those really ingrained sins, which for him involved a lot of sexual sin. It was really good stuff to hear, I feel like he had a really good sense of balance between the fact that we are a new creation in Christ and yet the physical consequences of our sin (including our inclination to continue it) are not usually just wiped away.

Most of our other time has been focused on our collaborative projects and getting ready for the exhibition next week (all of our work is due on Monday and Friday is a lost day) so things are a little tight right now.

In truth I probably wouldn't have updated if it wasn't for the fact that I just wanted to share the praise of how good and perfect God's organization is. As any regular reader may have noticed I have definitely felt ups and downs here - but I have to say the good is so good. I have just been really struck by how perfect God's organization of our discipleship groups are. Last night as our larger group was talking through things one of the girls was expressing some of the same things I have been feeling all year and in listening to her I finally felt a sense of clarity in how to interact with it. And it was just really good. (I am not sure if this makes sense - please to forgive if it doesn't)

Ways to Pray:

Our art - with the deadline on Monday, these last couple of days will be hard core.

Growth in unity.

That we may all make opportunities for one-on-one time with God - for those of us who focus poorly in noisy environments it is a hard thing to do.

The show - that we can have good conversations with the people that come and that people we have talked with will be able to come (specifically Abby, Josh, and Jamey)

The small dgroup that I am in at the outdoor graffiti section of the PS1 gallery. Apparently the random bloke who took the photo for us is a graffiti artist, Apollo 5.