I periodically search Google for evidence of growth in the relationship between the visual arts and the Church. On my most recent search of "Art in Church" I discovered an article published in Time Magazine called "Art Needs the Church". The article highlighted a decision by the National Council of Churches to establish a Department of Worship and the Arts. If I hadn't been paying attention I might of missed that the article was dated February 13, 1956. That's right, 1956. Take Google at face value and you would think not much has happened with "Art in Church" for over 50 years (other than the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and an article by Alfred J. Freddoso at University of Notre Dame).

In the early eighties Tim Rollins began working in the Bronx as a school teacher, teaching emotionally handicapped and learning disabled students. Art-making provided a teaching strategy, and the collaborative process of Tim Rollins and KOS (Kids of Survival) grew out of this pedagogical model.

I See the Promised Land is a printed copy of the speech by Martin Luther King Jr. with a black triangle painted over the text.

Tim Rollins and K.O.S., "I see the promised land (after the Rev. Dr. M. L. King, Jr.) Triangle" (2008)  

I returned yesterday from a conference in Chicago. During a morning break I walked down the street to Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, were I spent considerable time with an installation by Fiona Tan.

“Fiona Tan has arranged six video screens in a circle as a reference to eighteenth-century philosopher Jeremy Bentham's prison model that he termed the panopticon, which means "all-seeing." Bentham's circular building divided into cells allowed guards to anonymously survey inmates from a central tower, suggesting that the threat of being observed would keep prisoners under control. In Correction, this powerful gaze is reversed as prisoners and guards seem to watch viewers sitting in the center of the installation.” www.mcachicago.org

Art can get tiring. Sometimes it seems like there is nothing that stands out from my crowded experience. During times like this a visit to a gallery or museum becomes like a quick walk around the block. God forbid I visit with someone else who spends time with the art because I will blow through an exhibition like wind coming down from Canada onto the plains of Indiana and end up waiting in the café until they are done. I sometimes wonder if these artistic droughts will never end, leaving me wilting away in front of American Idol having forsaken the visual arts forever. Of course every time I get close to the edge, something pulls me back.

Something like the work of David Adey. Adey’s work was recently highlighted at an exhibition for Biola University’s Art Symposium. Several of his craft collages of advertising images and some sculptural pieces were included. The intelligence and craft of his work is an excellent example of an artist’s visual synthesis of concepts and construction. From rearing horses made of black screws to apocalyptic lambs, Adey is an artist and Christian in a way that defies the pigeon holes those two words take cover in when combined.

The Serpentine Gallery in London England is currently exhibiting a collection of contemporary Indian art, Indian Highway. Included in the exhibition is "found object" artist Subodh Gupta. Using cooking pots and pans and other assorted objects, Gupta creates sensational installations that form a complex visual language that remixes cultural legacy and meaning.

When I was growing up a bronze plate from India rested on wooden legs in our living room. An ever present pot of tea could be found resting on its metallic surface. These everyday objects take on a deep meaning constructed from endless memories. Gupta's transformation of these simple objects,  with our deep attachments to them, into monuments of glittering perspective is a good example of the global contemporary art movement's growing value. From China to India, exciting new forms of artistic expression are providing visual points of reflection for meaningful cross cultural dialogue.

The art world in Los Angeles has spent the last two months watching the unfolding financial crisis at the city’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). In a nutshell, the museum outspent revenue for several years and borrowed from its endowment to cover expenses. With a recent drop in donations and the endowment depleted, the museum could have run out of money in the spring of 2009.

Like much of the country, MOCA was living on credit. The good intentions of significant exhibitions ran into the reality of fiscal irresponsibility. In theory, the museum’s blockbuster shows should have attracted new donors to cover the additional cost. In reality, the donations never materialized and the bills kept coming.