MINI-SOJOURN: BEHIND THE SCENES
Blog From 2018
In the summer of 2017, I had the chance to be a visual arts intern with Sojourn Arts and Culture. This is a ministry that partners with Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, K.Y. Monday-Friday I spent my time learning the ways of leading an arts ministry from the humble expertise of Michael Winters and Jordan Linehoop. From researching other arts ministries in urban settings, to exploring the streets of Louisville, my understanding of the need for creative expression within communities became solidified and significantly tangible throughout my time in this beautifully diverse mini city.
This mini wooden version of Sojourn Midtown was found in building storage. Jordan and I were able to touch it up and carried it for 3 blocks to reinstall it in the kid's church wing.
As a temporary resident of the Shelby Park neighborhood, I was a full-time commuter. The fun part about walking to work in a southern city on the daily is that you get to interact with neighbors who actually have the time of day to say hello back to you (something severely lacking in the picket-fenced Northeast suburbia that I’m accustomed to). Shelby Park is not a place that is exploding with significant economic wealth, American dream family structures, or soccer mom sedans. It is, however, a place that radiates sincerity. There may be more cracks in the sidewalks, more trash in the alleys, and more sneakers wrapped around electric wires than in the small town I come from, but there is much beauty to be explored in the cracks and crevices that a place like Shelby Park has to offer.
Sidewalk chalk goes a long way in making friends at Shelby Park.
A significant portion of my summer was devoted to exploring those cracks and alleys that I would otherwise pass by without a second thought. In the moments that I chose to be still, press in, and ask questions, incredible things happened. Relationships were formed, expectations were challenged, art was made, and art was shared.
One of my projects this summer was to create something that is life-giving for myself. This project also needed to contribute to the experience of the community which I was a part of. After jumping from one idea to the next, and with the creative direction of Michael, Jordan, and my stellar housemates, a book constructed out of recycled materials began to take form.
The natural sentimental that I am finds great joy in preserving memories and experiences through journaling, doodling, and collecting little bits of places along the way. Since this was my first time living in another state, I wanted to find a portable and meaningful way to remember my time in Louisville. As processing and reflecting is an intensive portion of my academic career (queue all the counseling major terms), I naturally began to pick up various bits of Louisville (mostly cardboard, and shards of broken glass bottles) for the moments that I wanted to look back on and remember later. This habit to hoard seemingly meaningless trash (thank you Mennonite family roots!) quickly turned into a puzzle piecing of a mini stained glass window.
Fun Fact: Glass glue exists, and it works really well with broken beer bottles if you have enough patience.
I have a thing for light, color, and detail. To my advantage-the architecture of Sojourn Community Church was a weekly inspiration for me. I’m also far too stubborn for my own well-being (ask anyone who has had to coach me into saying no, or simplifying a ridiculously detailed project). So gluing shards of glass together was oddly calming for the most part. Through my time at Sojourn Community Church, I was challenged to reevaluate my understanding of the Holy Spirit through the summer sermon series on the fruit of the Spirit. I collected left-behind bulletins underneath everyone’s seats on Sunday mornings. I added my own notes, as well as the notes from others in the congregation to this patchwork project.
Rudolph Bostic is an incredibly talented folk art painter who has been collecting recycled house paints and discarded cardboard since he was a kid, to illustrate various biblical narratives on the cheapest canvas out there. I also had the honor of helping to install his show Cardboard Chronicles in the Sojourn Arts gallery space. Holding his work in person finally brought my scattered ideas to life.
Mary Helen, one of my 8 housemates from the summer taking in the Rudolph Bostic exhibit.
I love that Sojourn is a church that finds value in art as worship.
I love that Sojourn is a church that finds value in art as worship.
I have developed an appreciation for climbing into the rafters of cathedrals and experiencing the skeleton of a building from the inside out. (Thanks to my freshman year of art history travel.) This was just a bonus to the enjoyment of this project. There's an overwhelming sense of power and peace in standing beside a church bell two-thirds your size as it echoes through the streets.
The youth ministry and counseling part of me is what drives my desire to share the joys of creativity with those around me, especially little people and their families. Just to clarify, teaching is not a gift of mine. I do like sharing. So I watched endless YouTube videos on how to book bind. I Scribbled some step-by-step directions on a scrap of paper. When people came to this workshop, I just attempted to share what I knew. We stitched brown bags into the cardboard. We looked at quality art. Reflected on ways we were being challenged. Shared life stories and inspirations. Created something to remember those moments with.
My boss Michael helped me lead my first art workshop.
Ever since my Freshman art experience in college, I have been wrestling with what it means to be in a community, and how to fully communicate the value of the arts within a community. Thankfully, the little bits of Louisville that I simply picked up out of curiosity, turned out the be the pieces that made sense of not only my freshmen year, but my struggle to grasp the complexity of who God is, and how He relates to His creation. By sitting with other creative people, the beauty of the Gospel, and the joy of making collided with storytelling, vulnerability, and community.
These are the moments that confirm that I am not in a creative rut and that I'm not on the wrong career path. These moments confirm that I am right where I need to be. The inside of the sidewalk cracks and the abandoned alleyways aren't so bad once you spend some time in them. Turns out there are people with stories there too. These stories may seem to be too different for an out-of-town visitor to understand, but I found more similarities than I had ever expected in this place. It just takes a bit of time and creativity to get there.
Exploring what’s in the trash piles, and finding beauty in the midst of what is initially passed off as useless garbage has been a life-changing process for me. More importantly, seeing that perceived mess come to be transformed into something that has been intentionally crafted with purpose is what truly excites and motivates me to keep on making, because I know for a fact that that part is completely beyond me.
My corner of the shared art studio for the summer. (Wooden Sojourn peeking out to say hello in the back!)
