Outside the Box: Serving Together as Artists-in-Residence

From January 27 to February 1, 2020, the whole Sanctified Art team traveled from their homes across the country to serve as artists-in-residence for the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators Annual Gathering in Little Rock, Arkansas. The theme for the week was “Getting Outside the Box,” and this experience was outside of Sanctified Art’s box. While we have all led retreats, presented workshops, or served as artists-in-residence individually, this unique opportunity blended the talents and passions of our team in a new way.

queeringlent—wholeheARTed guest, Slats Toole

This past Lent, our wholeheARTed guest for this week, Slats Toole, embarked on a daily spiritual practice of writing poems and then sharing them publicly via Facebook and social media. Each day, these poems broke beyond the noise and frenzy of social media to offer moments of truth so visceral it's as if you could feel them lift from the screen and come to life. So many of us were moved by these poems, as they arise from the personal, but point us toward the whole—of the journey of faith, of our identity in God, of life itself.

As a recent Princeton seminary grad, Slats shares their gifts widely through hymnody, preaching, poetry, and sound/theatrical design. They also work to resource and empower the Church at-large to break beyond the binary of gender in liturgy and worship.

Lisle Gwynn GarrityAugust 30, 2017slats toole, queeringlent, poetry, lent, theater, gender identity, creative writing, soundscapeComment

Poetry, a Tool for Liberation—WholeheARTed guest, Hannah Landgraf

This week's wholeheARTed conversation couldn't have come at a better time. After the white supremacy rallies in Charlottesville, we're ever reminded of the undercurrent of racism that rocks our nation—in slow and steady tides, and in extreme, raging storms.

In a world where guns and money and hatred and fear often have such a strong grip, why art? Why spend time nurturing our creativity when we could nurture broken bodies and institutions instead?

Lisle Gwynn GarrityAugust 15, 2017poetry, hannah landgraf, enneagram, creative writing, creative liturgy, creative process, fear, creative identityComment

From Scraps and Scribbles—wholeheARTed guest, Rev. Nadine Ellsworth-Moran

Scraps and scribbles. The corners of receipts and the edges of envelopes. Idle moments in traffic. A stroll down the grocery aisle.

Inspiration has no grand arrival—she shows up in spurts, often beyond the realm of convenience, announcing herself to you. The question is not if inspiration will show up; the question is if you'll be attentive enough to notice and courageous enough to respond.

Lisle Gwynn GarrityJuly 25, 2017creative writing, poetry, faith, wholehearted, inspiration, gospel of thomas, creative worshipComment