ArtWay Newsletter December 2014

 ArtWay Newsletter December 2014

Dear subscriber, 

The past year was a very busy one for ArtWay. We keep on growing on all fronts: more subscribers, more visitors, more cooperation with other organizations and a website that keeps on expanding. We are thankful for all the positive reactions that make clear that our meditations are well read and well used. Needless to say, that is very important to us.

It is always good to see that the number of visitors of the website rises remarkably during Lent and Advent, which indicates that many people come to the website to search for materials. This year we saw the number of visitors increase especially in European countries like Germany, England and France, while also people from more and more countries all over the world found their way to our website – from Turkey to Poland and Brazil. The United States are still number 1 on the list of visitors.

In the Netherlands ArtWay is starting to make a slow difference, especially as to art in the church. About a year ago I was asked if I  would be willing to write a book about this subject. Shortly after a second publisher made known that they also wanted to publish this book. What a luxury position to be in! Out of this came the plan to compile a handbook for visual art in the church, with a practical focus and many images and examples, an ecumenical approach and the accent on the developments of the past two decades. In the right wing of the Dutch Protestant (mainly Reformed) world this is definitely a new development, one that we are happy to encourage and support.

Laurel Gasque (Associate Editor of ArtWay) and I intend to be at the conference of the Christians in the Visual Arts (CIVA) this coming summer in Grand Rapids. The theme of the conference is the relationship between the church and contemporary art. I look forward to getting a better idea of what is happening in this area in North America. Through my work on the handbook for visual art in the church I have grown more and more enthusiastic about the new ways in which contemporary art can contribute to the life of church communities. In our visual meditations we hope to pay extra attention to this in the coming year. Let us know if you know any good examples.

The publication of the Dutch book on the Neo-Calvinist tradition and the visual arts, that I told you about last year, has been postponed to this coming autumn. It will feature/deal with Calvin, Kuyper, Dooyeweerd, Rookmaaker, Seerveld, Wolterstorff, Zuidervaart, Chaplin, Van der Leeuw, Birtwistle, Walford, Romaine, Laurel Gasque and Bill Edgar, among others. It is my hope that the book will later also be published in English, as most of the materials are in English anyway.

Finally, we would like to ask for your support of our work. We all work as volunteers and thus with minimal expenses, but without your gift ArtWay would not be possible. Therefore, a big word of thanks to all of you who supported us last year! Your gift can be remitted online. Just go to ‘Support us’ on the ArtWay homepage (on the left).

Canadian citizens and residents can claim a tax credit by giving through MSC Canada, specifying that your gift is 'to support the work of the Lord under the direction of Laurel Gasque, Associate Editor of Artway.eu.'

The mailing address is:

MSC Canada
101 Amber Street, UNIT 18
Markham, OntarioL3R 3B2
CANADA  

The ArtWay board and team wish you a richly blessed 2015.

Warm regards,  

Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker

Image: Heidi Esch: Count the Dust on the Earth and the Stars in the Sky, 2009.