Sonya Menges’ recent work is up for viewing at the Hill House, which has graciously turned itself into a gallery to host her show. You’ve probably heard Sonya’s name floating around church recently, with a display at St. Gabriel’s for Good Friday and Easter and the Hill House show. A lot of Sonya’s work is there, with some of the pieces from her Lenten reflections series on display as well as other creations from the past few years. The material ranges from reflections on holy days to tree houses and waterfalls. One piece might be an installation, another a mixed media assemblage, yet another a charcoal drawing, and another a more traditional paint-and-canvas work. It’s a show that incorporates weight and whimsy, solemnity and maybe just a little silliness.
So yes. It can be a lot to take in.
In reality there are at least three shows on display there, by my count. There are a number of tree limbs and twigs assembled in the recesses of Hill House, with small platforms serving as imaginary tree forts. Tiny pieces of fabric crafted into flags and sewn together in a string connect the forts from room to room. Her reflections on Lent are also presented, arranged quite thoughtfully throughout Hill House, layering your physical progression through the series with the artistic and spiritual progression suggested by the sequence of images. And then there are pieces that represent some of Sonya’s consistent work with family memories, particularly memories associated with visits to Niagara falls.
I’m a little apprehensive to say more than that about the show in its various forms. One of the difficulties about reading art-writing is that the writing can rely on jargon or that the writing becomes more about art-writing than about art.
The real point here is that I think you should make plans to visit Hill House soon and see Sonya’s work.
The breadth of her work means that however interested in art you might be, there’s something there for you to appreciate and admire. One thought I had as I left the show was “Wow, Sonya can really draw a tree.” There’s a technical mastery in her work that’s on display, but in a subtle way. As you study her work, the technique is there without the self-aggrandizement and self-suggestion of a virtuoso. If abstract work is up your alley, Sonya’s tree house installations and her reflections on Lent will capture your attention. Some pieces are suggestive of stained glass windows or gothic architecture, while others works don’t immediately suggest a connection with such obvious religious styles or structures.
Go check it out. Go enjoy it. And enjoy it your way.
The Boston Globe calls Jake Armerding “the most gifted and promising songwriter to emerge from the Boston folk scene in years.”
Armerding grew up playing classical violin and listening to 80′s pop radio. He is the author of five albums of original music, along with a short-form recording as a member of his alter-ego instrumental ensemble, The Fretful Porcupine.
After joining a farm CSA in 2009, he adopted the idea for his own projects, and launched Community Supported Art in late 2011.
Over the course of 1500 performances since turning professional at age 12, he has shared the stage with Bela Fleck, Nickel Creek, Josh Ritter, David Wilcox and Toad the Wet Sprocket.
In her letter to the congregation posted earlier this week, Melissa said that “our desire is to develop a culture . . . where those in need receive care, and we are able to minister by bearing one another’s burdens.” Coming up on Saturday, May 5th is a very visible opportunity to walk along side a family in our body, to enter into what is, for them, a daily struggle and seek to care for them. All Saints member, 5 year old Keenan Bell, has Cystic Fibrosis and he and his family would love your support at the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s “Great Strides” walk at the Austin Zoo. Below are two letters, the first from Keenan, the second from his sister, Sydney, talking about Keenan’s struggle with CF and the importance of having the support of their friends. . .
Hi! My name is Keenan Bell and I am 5. I go to All Saints and love my Sunday School class. I learned to ride my bike today without training wheels! I have Cystic Fibrosis. CF makes me cough and sometimes get sick. I had to stay inthe hospital alot this year to get IV antibiotics to get rid of yucky bacteria and help me breathe better. I do 1 hr of treatments a day to help my breathing. My mom did a video of me doing my treatment so you can see. I also have to take my enzyme pills to help me digest my food, so I don’t have a tummy ache. I take about 21 capsules a day. I hope I get better. Come walk with me to raise money for CF, so one day I won’t have to do all my treatments and medicines. So help me and my friends with CF by donating to my walk on May 5th, 2012 at the Austin Zoo by clicking here. I love having my friends walk with me! Tell my mom and she can help you get signed up!
Thanks!
Keenan
Keenan with sister, Sydney, in February of 2012
My name is Sydney Bell and I am 7 and go to All Saints. My brother, Keenan has Cystic Fibrosis. He’s 5 years old and he has to take a treatment every morning and night and he has to take alot of pills for him to be well. Every time he eats something with fat or protein in it he has to take pills called enzymes. If he has a whole meal he has to take 4 pills and for a snack, 3 pills, and a tiny thing 1 pill. He swallows the pills all whole! Why I’m walking is to raise money and help him get better. You can let my mom know if you want to walk with us and raise money too. I like having my friends walk and we’ll be at the Austin Zoo on Saturday May 5 at 9am. It’s a fun day for our family!
You can donate online here or by bringing a check to class. Mom included a fun video of Keenan when he was little doing his treatment!
On Sunday, we welcomed 51 people into membership at All Saints, and baptized 12 children. It is pretty easy to see this evidence of growth and blessing at All Saints, as we move toward our 9th birthday in September. But there are other evidences of growth, as well.
For years, we’ve heard two things, consistently: first, that All Saints is a wonderfully welcoming community, in which people immediately feel at home and able to mature in faith; and second, that All Saints is a congregation where people find great difficulty getting connected, and where it is hard to dig below the surface. We all long for community, for intimacy, for others with whom we can put down roots and grow. I’m eager to look toward helping our congregation find connection and ministry, so that together we can be equipped to believe and live the gospel in daily life.
In the process of maturing as a body, we’ve experienced all of the needs of any congregation: grief and loss; fragile and crumbling marriages; conflict; financial and health crises. The brokenness of sin permeates not just the world around us, but also into the very midst of us. Our desire is to develop a culture of honesty and transparency, where those in need receive care, and we are able to minister by bearing one another’s burdens.
I am excited to be stepping more fully into a role of caring for our congregation. Our call to hospitality, welcoming others as Christ himself welcomes us, is to be extended from the entryway on a Sunday morning throughout all of life at All Saints, so that all whom the Lord calls here find a place to love, serve, and press on toward righteousness and Christian community.
I will also continue to oversee our ever-growing Children’s Ministry. Caring well for our children, training and teaching them the truth and freedom of the gospel, and directing them as they love, serve, and participate in the church is a blessed opportunity. The harvest is plentiful, and we are privileged to participate in worship alongside our children.
Concluding my tenure as Director of Women’s Ministry is bittersweet. After nearly 8 years I have learned, loved, and grown through my years of service to and with our women. But I can’t think of better hands into which to entrust this ministry than Kim’s. I’m eager to have her join our team, and envision a partnership in which our body—men, women, and children—will flourish.
Our family has been living in southern Maryland this year while David completes an assignment at FBI Headquarters in Washington, DC. Life by the Chesapeake Bay looks wildly different for our family than it did in Austin. Did you know they put crab on and in everything here? It’s crazy.
All our kids (17, 13, 11, 7) have jumped into the MD public schools this year and I have found some much needed time and space to read and write on this old, beautiful farm where we’re fortunate to call home for awhile. In addition, I’ve learned how to operate a tractor, a chainsaw, a shotgun, and care for twenty-five oblivious chickens (Chickens are hardly the brightest of all God’s creatures; everything would like to eat them, with or without crab).
I’m delighted to join the team at All Saints, specifically to lead and spur on our women. I really can’t think of anything I’d rather do. I’m a coach by profession, so the “tasks” of gathering, encouraging, teaching, training and pressing our women on to lives of joy and righteousness are eagerly anticipated and right up my alley.
This time away from All Saints has grown my heart even fonder for you all. I didn’t think it possible! My hope is that our church will believe the good news and be a place of energy, honesty and imagination. I pray we will know real joy and understand true hospitality; welcoming saints and sinners to lay down their burdens and find rest for their thirsty souls.
Sonya Menges’ recent work is up for viewing at the Hill House, which has graciously turned itself into a gallery to host her show. You’ve probably heard Sonya’s name floating around church recently, with a display at St. Gabriel’s for Good Friday and Easter and the Hill House show. A lot of Sonya’s work is there, with some of the pieces from her Lenten reflections series on display as well as other creations from the past few years. The material ranges from reflections on holy days to tree houses and waterfalls. One piece might be an installation, another a mixed media assemblage, yet another a charcoal drawing, and another a more traditional paint-and-canvas work. It’s a show that incorporates weight and whimsy, solemnity and maybe just a little silliness.
