Show Notes
On this episode of Nuance, Case is joined by Karen Thigpen, leader of the Arts Fellowship Orlando, and two graduates of the program, Xavier Moss and Rebecca Fox. Together they explore the intersection of art and faith, focusing on Arts Fellowship Orlando, a program designed to celebrate, engage, and grow Christ-centered artists to expand their role in God’s greater story of redemption and restoration. Karen explains the format of the Arts Fellowship, and highlights the $5,000 scholarship awarded to each artist in the program. Xavier and Rebecca share what the experience meant to them and reflect on the work they accomplished in the program. Finally, Karen and Case offer a glimpse of what can be expected at this year’s showcase in June.
Episode Resources:
Arts Fellowship Orlando – https://www.fpco.org/arts
Nuance is a podcast of The Collaborative where we wrestle together about living our Christian faith in the public square. Nuance invites Christians to pursue the cultural and economic renewal by living out faith through work every facet of public life, including work, political engagement, the arts, philanthropy, and more.
Each episode, Dr. Case Thorp hosts conversations with Christian thinkers and leaders at the forefront of some of today’s most pressing issues around living a public faith.
Our hope is that Nuance will equip our viewers with knowledge and wisdom to engage our co-workers, neighbors, and the public square in a way that reflects the beauty and grace of the Gospel.
Learn more about The Collaborative:
Website: https://wecolabor.com/
Get to know Case: https://wecolabor.com/team/
Episode Transcript
Case Thorp
Throughout history, the arts have served as more than mere decoration. They’ve been powerful vehicles for cultural reflection, public dialogue, and shaping collective identity. From the opulent frescoes of the Renaissance to the soaring architecture of medieval cathedrals, the church was once a central patron of art, commissioning works that still captivate us centuries later. Over time, however, that partnership between the sacred and the creative seemed to wane in many ways, leaving us to question how these realms might intersect again. Well, today we’re witnessing a renewed interest in the integration of art and faith with churches and faith-based communities; even our work here at the Collaborative, as folks attempt to re-engage the public square that sparked thoughtful conversations and inspired vibrant expressions of creativity. Well, so it’s into this revival that ministries like the Arts Fellowship Orlando step, bridging the gap and encouraging artists to bring their full selves, heart, craft, and soul into the cultural sphere. And so that’s our focus today, the Arts Fellowship Orlando. This is a unique opportunity for mature Christian creatives in the Greater Orlando area to engage in a six-month exploration of the intersection of art and faith. And so today I’m thrilled to have with me a dear friend and family friend, leader of the Arts Fellowship Orlando, Karen Thigpen, and two Arts Fellows who have gone through the program, Xavier Moss and Rebecca Fox. Welcome friends. Thanks for being here.
Karen Thigpen
Thank you.
Rebecca Fox
Yes, thanks.
Xavier Moss
Thanks for having us.
Case Thorp
Yeah, so Rebecca, you’re coming to us from St. Paul, Minnesota, right? And Xavier, are you here in central Florida?
Rebecca Fox
That is correct, yes, I am.
Xavier Moss
I’m here in pollen-drenched Orlando.
Case Thorp
Pollen-drenched. We had some rain this week, so that helps. And Karen, tell us how far away you’re coming to us from.
Karen Thigpen
I’m coming from the offices of First Presbyterian Church of Orlando right now.
Case Thorp
Yeah, she’s right next door to my office because sound and microphones and all that jazz, it doesn’t work in one place. Well, friends, welcome. So to our viewers and listeners, welcome to Nuance, where we seek to be faithful in the public square. I’m Case Thorp, and I want to encourage you, please, to like, subscribe and share that others might know that we’re here. So a little bit of background on our very unique and special guests. Karen Thigpen is the co-founder of the Arts Fellowship Orlando and a member of First Presbyterian Church of Orlando. She’s originally from Michigan and holds a bachelor’s from the University of Michigan. Yet from there, the world was her oyster. She spent decades in the world of dance as a choreographer, performer, and instructor with stops in New York City, South Florida, and then here to her home. She’s also held various executive leadership roles in both for-profit companies and in the nonprofit sector. She will graduate this May from Reformed Theological Seminary with a master’s degree in biblical studies, which friends, that is so impressive. And Karen, if I could say so myself as your peer, you’re not a spring chicken. And to get a master’s degree, not as a spring chicken, like you go girl, that’s awesome.
Karen Thigpen
I’m gonna get you back for that one Case, just wait.
Case Thorp
She is a mother of four (and two of hers and two of mine are very close friends), a wife of one, and they make their home in Winter Park, Florida. Our first arts fellow to introduce to you is Xavier Moss. Xavier is a Jamaican artist who focuses on the intersection of flora, fauna, and faith. Raised in Okinawa and England and Florida, wow, Xavier, there’s a story. He studied biological illustration at the University of Florida. He now teaches art at the Artistic Hand, the Orlando Museum of Art, and Mass Art. He’s also a digital missionary, one who creates digital content for Christian and non-Christian audiences, incorporating video and the visual arts. And our other arts fellow is Rebecca Fox. She is a professor at the University of Northwestern St. Paul. Her writing investigates the overlapping of narrative, imagination, and theology, drawing upon fairy tales, mythology, and folklore for inspiration. She writes about memory and time and the narrative, small or large, that shape us, both as individuals and communities. She was born in Chicago, raised all over the country in a variety of locales, holds a bachelor’s from Wheaton College, and a master of fine arts in fiction from the University of Central Florida. Well, friends, that’s a lot to say, but you are substantial folks, so I really appreciate your time. Well, let me just say, Arts Fellowship Orlando is such a unique and a special, gosh, it is a ministry, but it’s so much bigger, so much more than just your normal type ministry. Karen and her compatriots several years back said, let’s go for this and had this vision. And I’ll tell you, as a pastor, now 25 years of experience, I knew the Lord was behind this work because I’ve never seen a project come together as quickly with the right leadership, the money, and the creative model that met an audience. Like, wow! So often there may be ministry ideas or money and you have people wanting something, but to see all those intersect so quickly, The Collaborative was honored to be a part of helping to get this off the ground. So if you would, Karen, start at the beginning of Arts Fellowship and what was the impetus and how has it developed over the years?
Karen Thigpen
So the impetus was back in the winter of 2022, I had a conversation with my co-founder, Lisa Brockman. We were just two girlfriends having lunch and she had shared with me, she had just had a book published and she had been invited to participate in Cruz Transform Ministry, which walked alongside artists in the marketplace, exploring the intersection of art with their following of Christ. And as she was telling me this, I felt prompted to kind of tell her about an inkling I had had in the city of Orlando, and I had observed that there was not really a platform or a space for people who were following Christ that also wanted to produce original work that expressed their faith. I had been for a time in New York City and there were platforms where you could share work that was in progress, but I had not seen anything in Orlando that was a mechanism for people who were creative across the spectrum of the arts. And so I had thought, would it be great to have a concert or a showcase a couple of times a year that did that? And as Lisa listened, she opted to put me in touch with another missionary who had a similar vision. And the three of us, Lisa, Matt, Guilford, and myself brainstormed and thought about what we were observing would be a great thing in the city of Orlando. And that was what became the Arts Fellowship.
Case Thorp
And now we’re on our fourth cycle. And give folks an understanding of what are the components of the program.
Karen Thigpen
That’s right. Sure, so the Arts Fellowship is a six month experience. It’s a six month cohort experience that takes individuals who are active professionals in the spectrum of the arts from literary performing to visual arts and brings them together and over those six months they begin to work on an original project that shares gospel truths and unconventional ways in their artistic medium in which they have expertise. And over those six months as they’re developing that project, they work under the mentorship of a renowned artist in their field, they experience discipleship, they experience theological reading and discussion, and they experience the opportunity to practice presenting their work to other people to help them see the truths, the inspiration, and the construction of their work.
Case Thorp
And you have had artists as varied as…like a writer in Rebecca, musical theater, sculptors, dancers. It’s just really impressed me to the wide range of artists. That’s very special.
Karen Thigpen
And the diversity has been like the faith backgrounds, ethnic origins, the traditions. It’s been very diverse and varied.
Case Thorp
Now you say faith backgrounds, you mean within the realm of Christianity.
Karen Thigpen
The different Christian traditions within mainline Christian, within the Orthodox faith.
Case Thorp
And I’ve appreciated how you’re looking for Christians who are serious about their discipleship. They are looking for not just this artistic growth, but their spiritual growth. Christianity is not just a shingle for these artists.
Karen Thigpen
No, and they’re also craving community. They’re craving to work in collaboration, to have other mature adults press into their work and invite them into their process for the sake of mutual encouragement.
Case Thorp
I have always appreciated the maturity that folks bring to this experience. Now, did you mention the grant that they received for their project?
Karen Thigpen
I didn’t mention it. Through the generosity of the Heart of the City Foundation, each artist is given a $5,000 scholarship. And they’re free to put that toward whatever expenses they need to materialize their work.
Case Thorp
I mean, if I do say so myself, having helped secure that funding, just, that is to me so powerful, a very unique difference maker. As you’ve explained to me, Karen, over time, how the two things artists are hungry for are audiences to appreciate their work and the resources to produce such work. And that doesn’t necessarily mean money. It might just mean the time and the space, but by giving a grant with little strings attached. You’ve said if you need it for supplies, if you need it to rent space, if you need it to offset income, so you don’t have to wait tables. There’s a great openness for how these grants are used to help folks get their projects done.
Karen Thigpen
Well, and the scholarship money too, like you said, is intended to afford space for them to study, not just create, but to read and to spend time in community because we think that is a critical part of the creative process.
Case Thorp
So Xavier, let’s start with you. How did you hear about the program and what was your journey like?
Xavier Moss
I think Instagram was the first method, that it just popped up. The algorithm was algorithm-ing that day. And I saw this thing about, you know, are you an artist in Orlando and also Christian? And I was like, yes, yes, those things apply to me. And so it was the first time I had, I don’t know if that was the first, I don’t think it was the first cycle. It must’ve been the second one that, or no, it might’ve been, actually it was the first one I guess, cohort that I applied to. But I saw it and I was like, let me check this thing out. And then it definitely piqued my interest because it had two of the very big parts of my life. An invitation for a Christian artist community to receive constructive feedback and to grow and to network with other Christian artists in the Orlando area. So that sounded like a good time to me. So I think that was fall of ‘22. It must have been when I first saw that.
Case Thorp
What was your project?
Xavier Moss
So I applied in fall ‘22, but I didn’t get in until the next cohort after that. Yeah, so, I met Matt, Karen and Lisa and I honestly would have to ask Karen what I proposed at that time as my project, because what I ended up doing when I was in the Spring ‘24 cohort was different from that. It still was related to the intersection of biological illustration and animals that pop up throughout scripture, but it had a more honed in focus on the, a fluorescent odyssey of shame was kind of the through line of my work for the cohort, which I did not have that idea back in ‘22 when I first applied.
Case Thorp
So Xavier, you said a fluorescent odyssey of, what was that third word? Of shame. Tell us more about that.
Xavier Moss
So basically, as I’ve been going back through the Bible and highlighting animal encounters that pop up a lot, I was starting to find that there was this association of shame-filled narratives that animals popped up in a lot. And I had also been, you know, walking through how shame kind of wedges the space between me and God in that there’s like a disconnect and I fall into a spiritual rut because I’m like, I’m not worthy to come to the presence. So, and then come to find out a lot of our, you know, figures throughout scripture had this same experience. And animals, a lot of the times popped up in these instances. And I was like, how can I? So I chose originally, I was super ambitious and I was like, I’m gonna do 12 paintings in this six month period. And then Karen was like, no. And I was like, okay, let’s have it.
Case Thorp
Wait a minute, I’m sorry. I’ve heard that note.
Xavier Moss
And then I was like, okay, surely. Like I felt like it was like Abram and God dialoguing before he gets to Sodom and Gomorrah. That was like Karen and I. mean, I was definitely trying to do some haggling. And so it was 12 and then it was six. And then we finally got down to three and three was like, okay. And initially I thought like, that doesn’t seem substantial enough for like six months of work. But at the end of that, come May, I was like, thank you, Karen, for having the vision to know that that would have been bad. Had been responsible for six 24 by 30 like you can see neither of these ones were ones that were in the the fellowship but there are two by three foot painting so to have done six of those.
Case Thorp
For those listening, he’s pointing over his left shoulder to some paintings in progress.
Xavier Moss
Yes, yes go watch the YouTube. But yeah, that would have been insane. So we got it down to three and then with those three I was kind of mapping out, it was Peter, David, and then the prodigal son who all have varied experiences with shame, but all have experiences where animals also feature heavily in the highlight moment of shame. So with Peter, it’s the denial of Christ, the rooster crows, and that’s how he knows he messed up. But then later on, spoiler alert, when he gets called back to ministry, despite his denial, it’s this image of sheep that Christ uses to say, feed my sheep. And then with David, its imagery and it’s like Psalm 51 that comes up of or between there and the actual prophet Nath and coming and getting him to out himself or what he did with the affair with Bathsheba and the death of Uriah. Lambs play a huge part in all of that. And then with the prodigal son at his lowest moment when he, you know, tells his dad, I wish you were dead, give me my inheritance, runs off to the land. And then there’s suddenly economic catastrophe and famine. He catches himself from what we assume to be a Jewish background, tending pigs. He’s literally in the pig sty and contemplating like, I’m not better off than these, these animals, which in my earlier days, I would never have been close to, but now it feels like even they’re above me, and I’m not worth anything.
Case Thorp
Man, now I’m going to pay more attention. And I need help, Xavier, over your right shoulder, is that one of the paintings from this series? No.
Xavier Moss
No, this is when I started it before the fellowship and finished it after it, like all good artists. There are some paintings that just take a good minute. No, this one is based on the Trinity, but associated with all their animal counterparts that are mentioned in scriptures. So you have the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Jesus is the Lamb that was slain, and then the Holy Spirit as dove.
Case Thorp
Okay. Beautiful. That’s great. So Rebecca, what drew you to the Arts Fellowship?
Rebecca Fox
I, know, I was thinking about that question because I was part of the inaugural fellowship. The first round, so it’s been a few years now and I just like, I have kind of enough distance from being a part of it now. or maybe I should say the beginning of being part of it. Because my relationship with AFO is still so ongoing. and I’m so thankful for that. But like, when I look at it as the story of how kind of AFO entered my life and I just have these words of gracious inevitability, of course this had to happen. Of course I had to be part of this. And I guess what I mean by that is Providence. And, wow, the fact that I got to be in that spot at that time, to be part of the beginning, and just seeing how much my life has been changed in the trajectory since that, but I’m not originally from Orlando. I don’t live there now. I love Orlando dearly. But I came to Orlando because I was offered a place at the University of Central Florida in the MFA creative writing program, which it’s very hard to find places to be offered spots and there’s those kinds of programs. So I was like, anywhere that was gonna pick me I was gonna be ready to go like I could have gone to Iowa or to Cornell or…I didn’t get accepted, I’m not claiming that I got accepted everywhere…they take like six people a year, but those are the kinds of places I was applying to and so I didn’t know where I was gonna end up and there’s like oh I’m gonna move to Orlando and I pack everything in my little car and drive across the country and here I am in Orlando and so I got involved at First Pres, started meeting people and just like, I’m in this time of graduate school for two years of this really intense creativity. My learning curve is just, it’s not even a curve. It’s like a straight line. And it’s a total fit for the theme of Orlando, like a straight up roller coaster. I’m learning so quickly, my craft is just exploding. I’m in love with that. I’m also growing in my faith, just continuing that, but those things aren’t together, right? I’m the only believer in my cohort in grad school at that point. And I loved, loved my experience in grad school, but there was also something lonely, right? There was a part of me that wasn’t fully understood, and even what I was trying to do in my writing and my stories. And so I’m like, I’m living in that tension and I’m thankful for that. But then also, you know, I would be in my church communities and the people I was closest to would always support me in my art, but again, no one quite understood it. And so even sometimes at church, it would be lonely like, I might be the only artist or the only artist who’s openly doing this and pursuing this professionally in the room. And there’s that loneliness. And so I’m having conversations and had a lot of conversations with Tanner Fox and Alexa Rossi on staff there at First Pres about these concepts. And I remember so clearly we’d had these conversations. They knew I had this ache in my heart to bring these parts of myself together that I always believed were together. But I didn’t have the community, the support to really explore that and to really have the language. That’s something that AFL really gives is the opportunity to press into the language to be able to articulate how your art and your faith truly are integrated. But Alexa told me once she’s like, Rebecca, you’ve got to pay attention because I’m just hearing people talk at First Pres. Like there are ideas in the works, there are other people out there who are excited about that. And then one Sunday she goes, I have to introduce you to Karen. And I remember just being dragged across the fellowship hall and like, Rebecca, Karen, Karen, Rebecca, you guys need to talk. And so we start talking and Karen’s like, give me your email. I’ll let you know when applications open, this is actually happening. And I have no idea what this actually is. As it was so fresh and new at that time, but I was constantly updating my email for months, refreshing my email, refreshing the website of like, when’s it going to be open? And then lo and behold, there’s the application. I was just, I was hungry. And I was ready; I could not get that application in soon enough. So then I find myself doing that.
Case Thorp
Okay, like Karen, the joy, the energy, the testimonies from Rebecca and Xavier. Think back four or five years ago. I mean, did you dream? Have you just been blessed beyond belief?
Karen Thigpen
The beauty of this is it just feels like we’re being obedient, that resources and opportunities and people are coming together. And so I’ve never held this vision really tight to my chest like it’s mine. I feel like I’ve just been a conduit to some things that were supposed to be happening because like you said, Case, the resources and support came together so fast. It’s as if you walked into a situation that had already been germinating. And I just get the privilege and pleasure of every year I get to walk alongside six people that are brimming with intelligence and observation about the world around them. And I’m giving them a chance to just express in a really unique and exciting way, some of those things. So the friendships are just unbelievable.
Case Thorp
You’ve been working on your Master’s at Reformed Seminary through this time as well. Talk to us a little bit about the theological approach of the program, how you’ve evolved as you’ve put the theology of books to work in the world and ministry. Talk to us theologically of what’s going on here.
Karen Thigpen
Well, what it boils down to is if you believe in the church, if you believe that the church is commissioned by our Lord, and if you believe that all believers are members of the body, and that each of us is equipped with a gift to contribute to the growth of the body, that when you look at these artists who have extraordinary natural gifts, the question becomes, what does it look like to exercise your gifts for the sake of your faith and the faith of others. And in churches, primarily in many Protestant churches, we see the gift of music used very well to inspire masses, to change our hearts, to expand our imaginations. But there’s so many other art forms that we look at artists as an accessory to the church rather than an integral part of expressing its truth and its purpose. And I think that what we boiled down to in the Arts Fellowship, we have the artists consider five main aspects of their life as a creative believer. We asked them to think about the Trinity and the relational aspect of the Trinity and that life and creativity and regeneration starts at the center of the Trinity and what that means for their creativity, that their creativity is God honoring when it is coming out of a relationship that is with the triune God. We look at the role of idolatry in the way it’s expressed in society and in our hearts as humans and the way that the arts can help that or hinder that. We look at the notion of vocation, the entire biblical notion that you’re called into work and we consider as artists if you have natural gifting, what are ways that are honorable to express your gifts. We look at the role of the artistic expression within church, which in liturgy, within preaching, within Christian formation, within evangelism, within assembled worship. We look at all these things that the artistic expression is a critical role in helping people grasp complicated truths and manifest them in their hearts and minds. And then lastly, we look at the role of artistic expression of believers in the marketplace and in the city. What role do the arts have in sharing the love of Christ in unconventional and unexpected ways.
Case Thorp
And all this culminates with a showcase. In June of each year, we rent one of the major theaters downtown, the Dr. Phillips Center, and last year had two showings. So successful in the turnout. And Xavier, how was that? Were you nervous? Was it fun to be on a stage? Tell us about that experience.
Xavier Moss
Yeah, there were definitely some nerves, but before we got to the Dr. Phillips Center, I have to applaud Karen and the rest of our leaders of AFO because there is adequate preparation. You have several works in progress to kind of critique to find our footing and wording that best expresses what we have spent six months studying because it’s one thing to put this together to be painting, be writing, choreographing whatever it is but then to be in front of you know a couple hundred people and have to succinctly deliver the like this is why this work is important to me and what it can do for you, like that’s that’s a tall order. It was, and our level that like the art was fine. The art was OK. But it was the writing I needed Rebecca to come down and help. I felt like there was some parallel in like an alternate timeline of a conversation between Karen and I where it was just the scene from the notebook where it’s like, what do you want? And I was like, no, but we have an awesome one-on-one, like, intensive, just looking at what I was trying to say. Karen is very good at asking questions that you would not ask yourself. And it was one of my responses to those questions that she’s like, that’s it. And I’m like, that’s not my goal. That’s just like a thought prop. That’s not worth including. And then she’s like, no, that is the thing that people aren’t going to know. That’s your personal thing. So then that became, it wasn’t a total rearrangement of like the idea, but it was like, this is the vantage point. This is why you’re so passionate about it. So then once we were able to hammer that out, I felt a lot more confident going into the showcase. And I mean, I still had my index cards that I was, yeah, do what you got to do. But, I was able to get through the first one and there is a moment where it’s like, I know I’m on right after this person. And then they do your intro video and you’re like, welp. Yes, I better survive the next seven minutes. And so get out there and you know, you’re going and you’re like, okay. And then you get a little bit more comfortable and I’m like, alright, yeah, this is my stuff. This isn’t somebody else’s like far removed stuff that I’m having to memorize. This is what I’ve been spending six months talking about. So then it comes a bit more naturally and then before you know it, seven minutes is up and you’re like, okay, we survived that. Thank you, Lord. And you’re welcome.
Case Thorp
Well, it’s a wonderful night. Not only do all the fellows present, but there are other artists that will come and share. Rebecca, I believe your works in progress showcase that we hold in homes over three to four months of the spring. I believe we hosted one. Is that right? That first year.
Rebecca Fox
Yes.
Case Thorp
And I remember you read the piece you were working on. And then I didn’t hear it again until the June showcase. And it was about tears. I still remember about tears. And when you explained where you were coming from, I learned, never learnt this, and tell me if I’ve still got this right, the difference between fantasy and fable.
Rebecca Fox
Yes, so the word you’re looking for is fabulous literature, which it is connected to fable, but it’s not quite the same thing as fable, yeah. So fabulous/magical realism is this whole style of writing. I could talk for hours about this. This is one of my areas of study and I just love it so deeply. But yeah, so if you think about fantasy as, which is another form of literature that I love to study, but you picture Chronicles of Narnia going through the wardrobe door to get to this other place or Lord of the Rings, right? It’s another world, another place. People have, you know, Harry Potter, they’ll often ask like, it’s kind of in our world, but it’s not really our world. It’s also different. But magical realism and fabulism is all about being our real, ordinary world lives that we live and it’s also using these techniques of literary realism where it’s all about a concept called verisimilitude of just really trying to represent the texture of life as it is, but it’s with a twist with this dash of the fantastic and it treats the fantastic, it treats kind of that that element as like it doesn’t second guess it, it doesn’t explain it away, it doesn’t say it belongs here but not over there. It’s saying this is just as much part of our lived reality and of understanding our world as it is, you know, as any other realistic element. And there’s this long tradition and I was really passionate, I love this kind of literature, but I wasn’t seeing a lot of Christians doing it and that didn’t make sense to me because to me that literature, that way of seeing the world is so consistent with the Christian worldview of the miraculous of learning to pay attention and lean in and to see the like these just like outbreakings and flashings of the kingdom of God all around us of God at work. I think it’s connected to this idea of the sacred imagination and how we’re cultivating that in ourselves. So how can the stories that we’re telling and that we read wake up our imaginations to be able to recognize that? So the story that you’re talking about, Case, the whole premise was this girl is born and she cries diamonds, right? Okay, don’t think too much about the logic of it. All of her tears are diamonds. But what I wanted to explore there and wanted to make you think about was things about grief and pain and sorrow and also beauty and like that’s not an easy thing to think about, but there’s also this element of the commodification of other people’s pain or sorrow versus instead the example of Christ, the one who bears all our sufferings and our sorrows, who takes that upon himself when he deserves none of that and the beauty that emerges from his victory. And so by kind of making it strange, making our world strange for a moment, it actually kind of, wakes us up to the true, the miraculous and tries to break down this dichotomy of natural and supernatural when it’s like, God is so here and so present and at work and it should be stunning and shocking and awe-inspiring.
Case Thorp
Right. Now Karen, Xavier has art that is explicit biblical imagery. Rebecca has referred to theological underpinnings, but she could have a piece that in no way mentions something that would be Christian-ese. Explain more for our listeners, do you have to do something from the Bible or from church culture?
Karen Thigpen
No, granted, Xavier’s work, if you were to go to an art festival or an event where he’s showing, you wouldn’t know his work was explicitly biblical. There’s no scripture on it. There’s no cross. So I was actually standing with Xavier at one of his booths when he was showing, and I saw people walk up and it was perfect because people walked up and they pressed into the work and it gave him an invitation to explain what it was. And so, and that’s really in a nutshell, Case, the whole purpose of great art. Great art is rarely obvious. And so, you know, the craftsmanship of a great artist warrants you press and look in and take in what they did. And the blessing is when the artist is present to engage with you, to tell you why they created that work. One of the things I’ve observed, which I did not expect, when we started the Arts Fellowship is every single time an artist proposes a subject, every time. It will take the bulk of the six months, but there is always some deep personal connection they don’t even know about to the subject itself. So what I’ve learned is creative believers are incredible observers of life and they feel the rumbling culture. And they might think they’re making a social statement, but when you dig, there is something at the crux of what they’re doing that has to do as well about them. What they’re grieving, what they’re celebrating, what they’re contemplating, and it’s beautiful and it’s universal.
Case Thorp
That’s great. Okay, Karen, in a minute, I want you to tell us all about the upcoming showcase. But first, Rebecca, Xavier, tell me one element of the program that meant the most to you. So we’ve heard about the grants for the materials or the discipleship that comes through theological study, spiritual formation, the mentoring element, the works in progress, the end showcase. What one element meant the most to you, Xavier?
Xavier Moss
I think one thing that I wasn’t expecting from the program was the room to disagree. Let me back this up very quickly. Especially because there’s a reading component, to make sure Karen kind of mentioned them earlier, about the five big points and their readings that we do and we come together and have monthly discussions about these of like, what stood out to you and what. And I remember on the first one, there were some things that, and this is where the diversity of different denominations of Christianity comes up where it’s like, okay, there are some things in here that I don’t know that I necessarily am like sharing, but it’s not affecting the risen Christ that we all serve at the end of the day and my ability to use my art to image him. So it was like in our first retreat and I was so petrified…so what did you all think about the readings? And I was like, Lord have mercy I’m gonna be the first one to be like here’s where I sit on this. I don’t know if that’s gonna affect the next five months but there was space to, because as we were all super respectful of one another it was a safe space to be like hey I was grappling a bit with this statement that popped up, can you unpack that a bit for me or give me a bigger context? And there was never like a how dare you question. But I think just having that safe space wasn’t something I expected necessarily, but it was definitely very much appreciated and allowed us to be more vulnerable as time progressed and it was reciprocated because then they could ask us some soul-searching questions and I’m like okay.
Case Thorp
Okay, Rebecca?
Rebecca Fox
This isn’t my answer, but I do have to say, when I first heard about the scholarship, that was, I don’t say that as the number one, but when I heard about the scholarship, I wept. Yes, Karen could testify. I mean, I think I cried a lot at different times, during the program in the best way possible. Cause I was just so deeply moved, but about the scholarship piece, I was overwhelmed because there’s so much in the world of art that’s like according to this idea of scarcity and not getting filled up, not getting resources, but to have a community, my community of faith to come and say, we’re going to make this happen to you. We’re gonna relieve this burden from you in an extravagant way.
Case Thorp
We want to bless you.
Rebecca Fox
I’ve never made a penny off of my art. That’s not why I do it. I lose money every year just for my resources. But to have that burden lifted off of me was an incredible gift. And it gave me the permission to be able to have the other experiences that moved ahead. So, I just have to say, that is such a big deal. It’s not the thing, but it creates the way. Yeah, it creates space. And so then I have to say, it really came back to community for me. Not that loneliness. Also, I’d been in a space where I was just with other writers who were sharpening me, which was amazing. But then I got to work with and collaborate with people in other art forms, and their eyes made me see things I hadn’t seen before. I spent hours at coffee shops with other fellows, not part of the programming, of us just dreaming together and finding these intersections with our work. And I feel like this was coinciding with this time of deep discernment, vocational discernment for me. And I don’t think I would be sitting where I’m at, at the University of Northwestern St. Paul teaching the next generation of artists in the same way if I would be…I was interested in teaching, but I don’t know if I would pursue the timing the way it happened without AFO because…just your experiences of sharing my work, of teaching others, of the showcase, of being pushed to articulate what I do, why I do it, what is my purpose in this. It created the spark of like, no matter what anybody else says, no matter any other expectation of me, I actually now can understand what is obedience, what is faithfulness in my life or how God has made me to do this work. And now I need to pursue it relentlessly to share that. And so this fire was lit in me and it’s been what three or four years now since I kind of started this journey. And those flames are just getting fanned. I’m meeting other artists here in the Twin Cities who are hungry and I’m like, I’m trained, I can help you. And I’m encouraging other churches to just start conversations.
Case Thorp
Well, Rebecca mentioned the community dynamic, and that’s why I have doubled down on fellowships. They aren’t Sunday school and they’re not small groups. They are, I think, an essential discipleship tool to help us prepare for the world in which we live as Christians. And so what’s a fellowship? It’s hard. It’s not a tiptoe through the tulips. We’re really going to get shaped here. It is over time. It’s not quick and it’s not over quickly. It’s deeply formed in community, in deep relationships, and it also shapes the heart with spiritual formation as much as the mind. And so our focus for the Collaborative is that faith and work integration, and it’s just such a joy to see artists and their work come together in beautiful ways. Well, it does all come together in the big showcase in June. Karen, tell us what’s coming up.
Karen Thigpen
So June 8th, there will be two presentations of the 2025 cohort presenting. If I can tell you who’s in it, that might whet your appetite, but we have a spoken word poet and singer songwriter. We have a jazz saxophonist who will be presenting an original song that has not only influences from John Coltrane, but his Haitian origins.
Case Thorp
And he’s performing at the Apollo Theater after our performance. Man, I wanna be at the Apollo. I wanna perform, go ahead.
Karen Thigpen
He’s competing as a finalist at the Apollo Theater. We have an original choral piece that’s going to have like a dozen singers performing an original work, just choral music. We have an oil painter. We have a documentary that’s being shown. And we also have a graphic illustrator that is showing an incredible journey through the Appalachian Trail.
Case Thorp
Well, the Works in Progress happened earlier this week, and wow, folks come and participate because you will be very, very blessed.
Karen Thigpen
So the showcase is June 8th, Dr. Phillips Center. Tickets go on sale to the public April 13th. The shows probably will sell out.
Case Thorp
Okay, okay. So you’re hearing this after the tickets are already on sale. And yeah, don’t delay because they will sell out. And so folks can go to fpco.org/arts to learn more about the program as well as to obtain tickets. If you’d like to experience more of Xavier’s art go to his Instagram page xmossart and then to read some of Rebecca’s powerful work and even to link to where it’s been published go to rebecca-fox.com Rebecca-fox.com Rebecca is the crying diamonds piece there?
Rebecca Fox
It is not, unfortunately, shortly after someone else published a similar premise. I am not joking. It’s very different. And this happens sometimes. And I think it’s an amazing work, different. So I will find, my hope is that in time, I will find another opportunity to put my, to bring my spin on it. But I do have some other fiction out there that is doing the same kinds of styles and things. So the piano player and the life cycle of clouds.
Case Thorp
Yeah, well, if you asked me, I’m sure yours was much better. Well, friends, I really appreciate your time and listeners, viewers, thank you for joining us. Please like, share, and leave a comment. It really helps us to get the word out. You can go to our website, wecolabor.com, wecolabor.com for all sorts of content. Give us your email and I’ll send you a 31-day Faith at Work prompt journal. And you can find us across all the social media platforms as well. Also remember our Formed for Faithfulness podcast. This is a weekly 10-minute devotional for the working Christian that follows the liturgical calendar. Many thanks to our sponsor, the V3 Family Foundation. I’m Case Thorp, and God’s blessings on you.
