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Artists tend to operate at the fringes...
This is certainly true in the Church as well as in the wider society. Dan walks with others at these edges, recognizing the threat of loneliness and isolation there. Coming together creates new space to wrestle with and embrace what it means to be an artist and a follower of Jesus.
St. Andrews is a strategic location for this work because artist Christians often come here, to the Institute for Theology, Imagination and the Arts, searching for a place to make sense of their identities as disciples of Jesus at the intersection of art and faith. A number of these seekers take part in Transept, one of the main artist groups with whom Dan works. This group gives artists a safe place to discover more what it means to steward their identities as artists and as Christians and what it looks like to engage the world with these gifts. Together, then, and inspired by the Spirit, the margins become dynamic spaces for creative flourishing, prophetic challenge, and enriched worship.
Gathered to carry Dan’s art, these dirty hands demonstrate the beauty of supporting one another.
While the individual growth of these leaders is no small thing, we also anticipate that the gifts that have been nurtured here and the community engagement modeled here will be carried into the communities these artists go to when they move on from St. Andrews to the next season of life and work. We see these gifts as vital for the world, especially now, because the arts have the capacity to deeply probe and reveal to us who we are as humans, draw us back to what is most important to us and reveal the goodness of the Creator who invites each of us to embrace our belovedness. We long to see artists living in the fullness of who God has created them to be.
In addition to his involvement at the university, Dan has been invited to serve our local church as artist-in-residence. In this role, he brings who he is as an artist and theologian to serve the church and local community as they engage their own creativity and deepen their understanding of God.
It is our privilege to be a part of God’s creative and redemptive presence in the lives of these leaders and the communities they touch. Would you join us?
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