Competition Invites Artists to Illustrate Scriptural Theme
Garrison, NY, February 12, 2007
Following a successful hymn competition which attracted 162 entries from across the US and abroad, the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement have announced an illustration competition in anticipation of next year's centenary celebration of the praying for Christian unity. Sponsored by the Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute, New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Christians in the Visual Arts, Episcopal Church and the Visual Arts, and the Museum of Biblical Art, the competition invites artists to illustrate the scriptural admonition, “Pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:17), the scriptural theme of the 2008 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (January 18-15).
Jurors are Thomas W. Lollar, director of visual arts at New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and Dr. Ena Heller, founder and executive director of the Museum of Biblical Art. Heller quoted British art critic and philosopher Clive Bell who once wrote that "art and religion are means to a similar state of mind ...two roads by which men escape from circumstance to ecstasy." "It follows," Heller said, "that art can be a form of prayer and thus the exploration called for by this composition, limitless. It should make for extremely interesting entries."
The call for entries is posted on the CIVA and ECVA web sites as well as the Friars' recently launched centenary website, www.weekofprayer2008.org. Deadline for submissions is April 15.
The Franciscan Friars of the Atonement are a religious order of brothers and priests founded in 1898 by Father Paul Wattson. Their worldwide ministries include Christian unity; interfaith dialogue among Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists; serving the homeless and those suffering from alcoholism, drug addictions, and HIV/AIDS; preaching the gospel in parishes around the world, and offering respite and hope to those in need of spiritual renewal.
