Worldview Initiative hosts fourth art showcase

Written by: Nathan Ecarma, Editor-in-chief

The Worldview Initiative hosted their fourth art showcase on February 18, where they exhibited the talent of Bryan students and Dayton locals.

For the first time ever, the event was off campus at Trinity Chapel in downtown Dayton. The owner of the chapel, John Bamber, took the closed church and has refurbished it.

The event featured elaborate and colorful hor d’oeuvres. “The weirdest food I had ever scene,” said a student. Another student described it as different but delicious.

Guests of the event took part in a collaborative piece where they contributed a hued glass tile to a glass window pane, giving the piece a stained-glass look.

The event exhibited many mediums of art, including paintings, sketches, prayers, poetry, photography and creative essays. Students also performed by singing and reading original work. Michael Jones, the student who performed first, said, “I thought it was a beautiful thing to perform for the art event. My song ‘Galilee’ deals with anxiety, so I was concerned it’d be too depressing to sing, but the end turns around with the hope of Christ in suffering.”

Every year has a collaborative piece. Director of the Worldview Initiative, Jack Saunders, said “We want people to not only attend, but to participate in making the event what it is.” Three years ago, they had a pin board that had an intricate design with twine. The event from two years ago featured a painting that had flowers for students to paint.

Last year’s collaborative piece was an amalgamation of little square pieces that were glued onto a bigger square. Each square shared a color scheme but featured both elaborate and simple decorations.

Julia Jones, the leader for the events council of the Worldview Initiative, said “The collaborative piece is a unique challenge because we want it to be accessible to everyone who comes to the show, so they can contribute, but we don’t want to limit them creatively.”

Each art event has a theme, with previous themes being, “Take Art; Leave Art,” “Veritas Luc,” “Calm Amidst the Chaos,” and this year’s: “Yahad,” which is Hebrew for “unity.” Jones said that the Leadership Conference from earlier this year inspired the theme. She added, “This year there has been more division than usual, but also more attempts to bridge those gifts.”

“Differences most often strengthen the collective,” Jones said. “So ‘Yahad’ is saying we are a diverse campus; we have a lot of diverse interests, needs and goals, but we are still one campus, one Bryan College.”

The event is not aimed at making money, trying to force opinions on people or trying to convince anyone of anything, said Jones. It’s an event for the sake of beauty. Bryan is slowly running out of creative outlets, so this is a really important event for Bryan’s community. The main purpose is sharing other people’s gifts with the campus and Dayton’s community and providing a space for people to come and appreciate art together.

Saunders said that each year has seen growth in both attendance and submissions. The first event from 2012 had 50-60 attendees, 210 came in 2015, and then last year’s event had 325 and this year’s attendance matched the previous year. The last art event featured 65 pieces and this year’s event had around 60.

The general goal for the event, Saunders said, is to show how the arts is a vital aspect of a healthy life. He said that everyone assumes that buildings should have an incredible aesthetic. This assumption does not foster appreciation for beauty, but only an expectation.

“We want to work against the grain of this shallow expectation for beauty and move people into a deep appreciation for beauty and art because that is what our God is like,” said Saunders. 

The goal for this year is continuing to seek community within Bryan and between Dayton and Bryan. “We’re trying to make these buzzwords [of community and unity] something that is real and tangible,” Saunders said. “So, the concept of ‘Yahad’ is recognizing that our campus is changing. There is more diversity. We want to celebrate that.”  

Nathan Ecarma studies Bible, journalism and language. He serves on the Worldview Initiative and as Editor-in-Chief for the school newspaper, the Bryan Triangle.