GR CIVA Meetings?

[Matthew Miller]

So, what exactly goes on at these meetings. I have heard a little about them from Harry Lew and Tracy Fouts, but am interested in what the particulars are, or for what reason you meet. Basically all I know off the top of my head is that they are the last Mondays of every month.

[Eric Nykamp]

Yes, we meet the last Monday of every month. The meetings last 2 hours. The first hour we have a speaker or have a topic that we discuss. Lately we have been reading lessons which deal with various struggles that creative Christians have. You can hear a few of them on the podcast section of the main page. The second part of our meetings are split between "show and tell" and a prayer time. Show and tell is where people take in their recent work and share it with the group.

Why would someone want to come? There is a core group that would come probably no matter what. Some people come a few times a year for fellowship, networking, or to hear about the speaker or topic of the night. This is a great group to meet with other Christian visual artists. I can feel pretty isolated as an artist, and sometimes as an artist of faith. Some people get flack for being an artist who loves God in an art culture that looks down on Christianity ... and some people in the group feel that they may not be understood too well in their churches because they are artists. And of course, there are people who don't really deal with either of these things who are basically content. :)

It is a great place to network, get critiques, and fellowship with people that love art and love God. A good number of the people also feel that their art is their personal prayer language, and this too can be very moving.

We are an affiliate of the national organization CIVA (you should look them up at www.civa.org).

Anyone else want to chime in on what our group is about???

[Virginia Wieringa]

We meet to support each other, to discuss topics and to look at each others work. All ages, many walks of life, but all Christians created by God to respond to the visual.

Some of us work in isolation, some in circumstances hostile to Christian faith, some as a part of one tradition and meeting together exposes us to other Christian points of view.

No refreshments, just talk fellowship and prayer. Come and bring your own spin to the meeting. We hope to meet you! I like the work you've shared. We're multi-generational but very friendly and open.