My husband Ricardo is from Brazil and I am a native Minnesotan of Scandinavian descent. He comes from a Catholic environment where he saw Christian art create dialogue that helped communities transcend their own inner problems. I, on the other hand, grew up in a Presbyterian church where the life of the mind and ideas, not art, were prioritized, and I was personally thirsty for the experience of art in Christian worship. Our relationship builds bridges across cultures. In the same way, two (majority) cultures coexist in our ministry context, where both a Spanish-speaking community and an English-speaking community meet. As a Christian artist, I wonder, in what ways can community art-making be a medium through which to open up space for dialogue across cultural and linguistic divides? Does it matter that shared art-making is in service to religious expression (in this case, the Stations of the Cross)? Do shared faith convictions help (or hinder) the potential for dialogue? What new things will the resulting works of art teach us about familiar biblical narratives?

At the heart of my research will be the collaborative creation of large-scale representations of the Stations of the Cross. Every year, the English-speaking and Spanish-speaking faith communities at South Metro Vineyard Church hold a joint Good Friday Service with interactive stations of the cross. During a series of workshops, participants from both communities will spend time getting to know one another and making art together. My training as an artist and teacher will allow me guide the overall quality of the finished work, as well as facilitate the creative expression of others.

An increasing number of churches share spaces with immigrant faith communities and learning to build bridges across cultural lines is of utmost importance in our current social context. Community art-making has been a vital source of social change and art-making has unique potential to create dialogue and break down barriers.