In 1991, Makoto Fujimura began a small gathering of artists and creative catalysts interested in wrestling with the many questions of art, faith and humanity. This group became known as International Arts Movement (IAM), and today, IAM is constantly breaking ground as a non-profit arts organization that stands not cleanly within religious or secular arena, but rather in a third arena that intersects the two. Because of its strong emphasis on matters of faith, especially the mission of seeking to rehumanize modern culture through the arts, the IAM community attracts many men and women of faith, eager to incorporate their beliefs into their creativity. Likewise, because of it’s strong emphasis on artistic excellence and generative creativity, many artists with no particular faith commitments seek to join the discussions that take place at IAM’s gatherings.

Each year in February, IAM holds an annual event known as the IAM Encounter. Part conference, part festival, part workshop, the IAM Encounter draws artists and creative catalysts from all over the globe. In 2008, over 37 states and 8 nations were represented at the three-day event based around the theme of “Transforming the Cultural River.”

IAM’s next Encounter will take place February 26-28, 2009, in lower Manhattan, and the theme of the Encounter will be “Art in Action.” When asked about the genesis of the next Encounter’s theme, Makoto Fujimura points to the 1980 book by Nicholas Wolterstorff of the same title. “Art in Action” has remained a staple on the bookshelf of artists and creative catalysts throughout the world who seek to dig deeper into the meaning and purpose for art.

Christy Tennant recently interviewed Makoto Fujimura about the 2009 Encounter, and particularly the theme of “Art in Action.” Here’s what he had to say:

CT: Mako, I was at the Calvin College Worship Symposium in January of this year, and I saw you interviewed by Dr. Wolterstorff there. How did you and he initially connect?

MF: My relationship with Nicholas Wolterstorff began years ago, through a colleague at the University of Virginia. Dr. Hunter introduced us at a conference there. I had read Art in Action and really appreciated it. I think very philosophically about issues, so for me, it was very good to have a philosopher who was also a theologian. I had known theologians who delved into art and philosophy – for example, Francis Shaffer. But he was a theologian and pastor. Nicholas Wolterstorff is a philosopher who is recognized in his field, and he writes philosophically about the very things that I am most passionate about. So his book, and the insights I gleaned from it, were very helpful to me.

CT: Your past Encounter themes have included “Artists as Reconcilers” and “Generative Creativity.” How did you decide, all these years after first being introduced to Dr. Wolterstorff’s book, to base the next Encounter on its theme of “Art in Action?”

MF: I had invited Nick to speak at an IAM event soon after 9/11 – at Kristen Frederickson Gallery (birthed after our Tribeca Temporary project ended) – which was a gallery that emerged, literally, from the ashes of Ground Zero, when artists exhibited their work as a response to that tragedy, just a few blocks away from the smoldering ruins. Later, I asked him to write an essay for my catalogue Splendor of the Medium, and it was one of the best essays ever written about my work. Nick and I connect on a philosophical level in a way I have rarely experienced with anyone else. At that time, we had a very rigorous discussion on how what Nick wrote in 1980 can apply to us today, especially in a post-9/11 world. I think this is a very important issue for IAM to be thinking about: the whole idea of art as action. To see art actualized in the world.

It’s a radical idea, when you think about it, because often, artists are seen as outsiders from culture. So, despite the mid-20th Century ideas of bringing social change to the forefront of everyday culture, in fact, change and transformation through the arts are not talked about that much. But I think that art itself calls us to return to that language of being engaged with culture, and a leading catalyst for cultural change.