CIVA Travelling Exhibition of Prints and Drawings

The beginning of the eleventh chapter of Ecclesiastes, the writer implores us to consider the sheer beauty and eternal implications of living generously. "Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth." NASV

In an age, where acts of unselfish love, service, and generosity are critically in short supply, the Christian artist should consider the unique singularity of works created from the abundant overflow of a pure and thankful heart; a heart embracing the viewer with a spirit of grace and compassion. In this way, we are able to identify with the heart of Christ as he wept, bled, and died for countless confused and helpless ones yet sitting alone in the vast and pervasive darkness. May our art generously reflect, in all of its' possible manifestations, the profound difference Christ has wrought in each of us whose names are written in blood in the Lamb's Book of Life.

CIVA and the CIVA Printmakers Network is proud to offer "Bread Upon the Waters" , a juried and invitational print and drawing exhibition, travelling throughout the U.S. during 2003-2005. The exhibition will open at Gallery W, Sacramento, CA., in March of 2003 and will travel for three years and include 40 framed works uniformly framed to 26" x 34".

Tim High, Chair, and Katherine Brimberry, Vice Chair, of CIVA Printmakers Network will serve as the jurors for this traveling exhibition. Since 1976, Tim has been a member of the studio art faculty, and initiator of the serigraphy printmaking program, at the University of Texas at Austin. Katherine is co-founder and Technical Director of the famed Flatbed Press and Gallery in Austin, Texas, which has published limited editions for such artists as: John Alexander, Terry Allen, Michael Ray Charles, Luis Jimenez, Melissa Miller, John Obuck, Dan Rizzie, and James Surls.

"The Power of Memory is a selective, incomplete, distorted and defensive force. We are born to remember and the artist has the obsession to rediscover the past, putting the pieces together. Through memory we claim the common ground of the imagination - the source and substance out of which all art is made."
... Ben Frank Moss III/ Exhibition coordinator.

This exhibition of 47 works by 32 artists is both juried and invitational. Ben Frank Moss III, Gerorge Frederick Jewett Professor of Studio Art at Dartmouth College, curated the show. The show has both two dimensional and three dimensional works. It arrives in crates and is ready to install upon reciept.

This exhibition will travel from February 2001 through December 2003. The show has an exhibition catalogue and comes with wall texts and a binder of information on the artists and the works in the show. The show has coordinated promotional materials for using for press releases and a printed invitation for galleries/museums to send out for the opening of the show.

CIVA is proud to present a traveling exhibit of Georges Rouault's intaglio prints from the Miserere Series. It includes 15 framed black and white intaglios, 1 colored aquatint from the Fleur de Mal Series and 10 photos of other pieces from the Miserere Series. Show travels continuously.

Christians in the Visual Arts is proud to present Window into Eternity: A Rediscovery of Holy Images. The purpose of the exhibit is (1) to show that iconography, far from a dead issue relegated to the past, is a vibrant on-going Christian visual worship expression, (2) to examine the place of holy images within both the Christian tradition and the world at large, (3) to encourage an understanding of those images, and (4) to provide an opportunity to have the best iconographers' works exposed to a larger community.

The CIVA traveling exhibition of icons will focus on the traditional canon and interpretation of Christian holy images. The work will be defined by a canonical perspective which will show the many variations utilized by contemporary iconographers within traditional themes. The exhibition will be an examination of the historical place of holy images in the Christian tradition within a modern framework.

This show demonstrated the strength the Christian faith brings to the long tradition of the portrait. It is impossible to disassociate the development of the portrait in western art from the concept of imago Dei. 33 paintings, drawings, prints and photographs were included in a variety of media and styles. Subjects ranged from the young and old: figures from the city and country, here and abroad; images of family, friends, self-portraits and occasionally, biblical figures. The show traveled through 1998.

This exhibition included a collection of 36 photographs by 8 photographers who depicted a wide range of imagery to express personal, world and life views. This exhibition ended its tour December 1997.

This calligraphy exhibition used the written word as imagery. Biblical text or other words inspired by the Gospel are celebrated by visual interpretation, metaphor and illustration. 35 original works were included by 20 artists from all over the United States and Canada. They ranged from the medieval illumination of Jonathan Blocher to the contemporary mixed media of Jeremy Botts. This show opened in January of 1998 in NYC and will travel through December of 1998.

A Time to Sew is a national juried exhibition of contemporary textile art inspired by a Judeo/Christian world view. The show includes 29 pieces by 25 artists from the United States and Canada. Some works are liturgical, clearly conceived to carry the weight of the liturgical tradition. Other works are highly personal, springing from a faith journey. The show travels through 1999.

Christians in the Visual Arts is proud to offer Ordained to Create: The Self-Taught Art of Southern Preachers, Prophets and Visionaries from the Sage and Steven Pattie Collection of American Art. This traveling show of 43 pieces will focus on the passionate and creative journeys of 15 southern self-taught artists including the Rev. Howard Finster, the Rev. R.A. Miller, the Rev. W.C. Rice, Myrtice West, Zebedee Armstrong, Linda Bruton, the Rev. J. L. Hunter, Elder Anderson Johnson, the Rev. B.F. Perkins, Missionary Mary Proctor, Lorenzo Scott, Bernice Sims, Mary T. Smith, Felix Virgous and the Rev. Ruby Williams. A special feature of the show is a small environmental recreation showcasing the eccentric landscape of signs and crosses from the Rev. W. C. Rice’s famous “Cross Garden” in order to provide viewers some sense of one environment’s magnitude and power.

Many did not begin to create art until late in life, their decades of keen observation and passionate living being their hardscrabble academy. Astonishingly, in many cases their unfiltered, unapologetic, and straightforward work has taken them from the margins of society to the epicenter of the contemporary art world.

Sage and Steven Pattie are among the largest collectors of contemporary self-taught art in the United States. This exhibit presents artists brimming with an unbridled passion for God, with each creating a distinct body of work all their own.

CIVA sponsors a variety of traveling exhibitions available for rental to museums, universities, colleges and galleries across the United States and Canada.

Show rental includes information for labels, brochure designed and ready for printing, a CD with all images in high resolution, and a sample news release

Drawn from the inaugural contemporary art triennial at the Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA) in New York City, The Next Generation: Contemporary Expressions of Faith features the works of approximately thirty artists active in the field of contemporary Judeo-Christian art demonstrating on a small scale the variety inherent in this field. The Next Generation developed in response to a set of seemingly simple questions about the current state of the field. Working from the very broad question of “What is contemporary Judeo-Christian art?” MOBIA sought to get a sense of some basics surrounding this art’s production and broad patronage. We wanted to know, or begin to comprehend, what Judeo-Christian art in the twenty-first century looks like, who makes it, who sees it, who supports it and who displays it. In short, we wanted to understand the context for this genre— a topic/issue that scholar and artist alike have been addressing in various ways with increasing frequency over the last ten years.

The Next Generation demonstrates how in painting, collage, sculpture, film, photography, mixed-media, and computer aided design, artists continue to draw from both the rich visual heritage and traditions of Judeo-Christian art, interpreting, combining and at times redefining its symbolism for a twenty-first century audience. The Next Generation display a diversity of styles, media, training, experiences and recognition within the larger art world—a diversity one would expect to find in any broadly defined group. Jurors Wayne Roosa (Professor of Art History, Bethel University), Ena Heller (Executive Director, MOBIA) and Patricia C. Pongracz (Chief Curator, MOBIA) chose works mirroring this inherent diversity.

The Next Generation is accompanied by a fully illustrated scholarly catalog. Wayne Roosa gives the art historical context in which the artists continue to participate and define. Patricia C. Pongracz takes care to provide a portrait of the artists and their work in both the entries and resumes published in the catalog. Each artist entry includes the artist’s statement about the particular work on display and lists educational background and current professional affiliation. The artists’ resumés, edited to include selected awards, exhibition histories, collections, and publications, are recorded in the appendix. This primary material is invaluable because it allows the artists to speak directly to the role faith may play in their creative processes. Read together the resumés also begin to suggest larger trends related to the current production and display of Judeo-Christian art, an avenue of research MOBIA will pursue in the future in exhibitions and publications.

The images shown here are just a sample of possible pieces that will be in the traveling exhibition. Please check back in the coming weeks to see the finalized listing of images.

The story of the birth of Christ has a protagonist that makes all stories of motherhood pale by comparison: the faithful and seemingly fearless servant of God, MARY.

How does Mary as an historical person, a spiritual mentor, and a cultural image serve the contemporary church and world as a source and resource to understand and experience the interpenetration of the human and the divine? In what ways has our image of humanity in general and woman in particular been formed and transformed by her, our reflections on her, and our images of her? In what distinct ways does she inspire theological reflection and artistic vision in each of the three major traditions of the Church?

Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox traditions all have images of this young Jewish woman who was declared by the archangel Gabriel to be "highly favored" in God's sight. Who exactly is Mary? How can we recover a larger sense of her meaning through the works of contemporary artists from the Christian traditions and the reflections of contemporary thinkers from these traditions?

36 pieces were chosen for Highly Favored by juror Fr. Terrence E. Dempsey, S.J., a Jesuit priest and the Founding Director of the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art (MOCRA) at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Christians in the Visual Arts and the Center for Christian Studies of Gordon College are co-sponsoring Highly Favored to open in November of 2006 along with a symposium on Mary.