Travel: An Edification Vacation in Chautauqua, NY

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Lisa Schwarzbaum

John Shelby Spong, retired Episcopal bishop of Newark, lectures at the Chautauqua Institution.

NEW YORK---A week at Chautauqua is a microcosm of what we can make of our lives, if only we remember to slow down and pay attention. For nine weeks every summer, the 750-acre campus is a cheery, low-keyed welter of lectures, classes, concerts, theater, dance performances and art exhibitions. It’s a place — far from Westchester — in which I spent a happy week last month, drawn to a hidden utopia that has, over the years, welcomed Mark Twain and William Jennings Bryan, Franklin Roosevelt and Sandra Day O’Connor. Opportunities for spiritual uplift continue to figure prominently on the daily agenda, with services conducted every morning. But the extended denominational menu now includes Roman Catholic, Unitarian, Christian Science, Quaker, Jewish and Zen Buddhist gatherings, and Friday Muslim prayer. [link]

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Join the Christian Artist Conversation at ArtPrize 2014 in Grand Rapids

CHRISTIANS IN VISUAL ARTISTS 
By Eric Kuiper

MICHIGAN--- Just a year ago we were dreaming about how "Into The Noise" might engage with culture, spirituality, and each other at today’s most eminent festival experiences. A year later, groups of roughly 30 people have been mystified, stirred, and changed at the Sundance Film Festival and SXSW Music Festival. In October we’ll be doing it again, this time with a focus on visual art via ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, Michigan. You can learn more and register on the ArtPrize event page, or read more about how we will interact with ArtPrize on our News/Updates page. See you at the festival! [link]

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A&O Meetup on July 14 in Atlanta at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights

ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
By Bo Emerson

Portraits of rights activists.

ATLANTA---On Monday, June 23, 2014 the National Center for Civil and Human Rights opens its doors, offering visitors a history of the freedom movement in this country (told from Atlanta’s perspective) and an accounting of the modern human rights activism that civil rights pioneers inspired.The museum is in downtown Atlanta, to the east of Atlanta's Auburn Avenue District. Its immediate neighbors in the Pemberton Place tourist mecca are the World of Coke and the Georgia Aquarium. Nearby are Centennial Olympic Park and CNN Center. [link]

*A&O members are invited to Meetup with Verneida Britton in Atlanta at the National Center on Monday, July 14 at 11:00 a.m. RSVP to "Tahlib(at)AlphaOmegaArts.org."

Meetup at the Human Rights museum on July 14, 2014. Debbie Crum, Verneida Britton, Novella Smith

On the bus to Alabama

Verneida Britton, A&O Executive Director

Group photo arrival in Alabama

16th Street Baptist Church group photo

One work in the center's collection based on the life of Congressman
John Lewis. "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Speaking" by Benny Andrews.

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A&O Meetup on June 11 in Nashville at the Upper Room's Christian Art Museum

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS NEWS
By TAHLIB

Whether you are in Nashville for just a few hours or a few days, you will want to place the Upper Room Chapel and Museum at the top of your “must see” list. It is sure to be the stop you will tell your friends about and the one that will linger in your memory for years to come. The uniqueness makes the Upper Room Chapel and Museum Nashville’s best Christian attraction for individual tourists, church groups, students of all ages and a regular stop for tour bus companies. Each year the Upper Room Chapel and Museum hosts more than a thousand visitors. Christians of all denominations, religious history buffs of any faith, or those who are simply interested in art and sculpture visit this remarkable tourist spot to view the nearly life-size woodcarving of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper and the many other interesting features of the chapel and pieces of art in the museum. [Source]

• Exhibition: Museum's collection of 21st to 11th century art and artifacts.
• Location: The Upper Room Chapel, 1908 Grand Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee, 877-899-2780 ext.7207, chapel.upperroom.org
• When: Wednesday, June 11, 10:00 a.m. (2-hours)
• RSVP: By Saturday, June 7 to "Tahlib(at)AlphaOmegaArts.org"
• Cost: Admission is free. A $4.00 donation is encouraged
• Dress: Dress blue, of course and the group tour

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A&O Meetup on November 8 in Indianapolis: "Faith to Freedom"

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS NEWS
By Verneida Britton

Come join us for a celebration of "Faith to Freedom" on Saturday, November 8 with the President of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. As part of the Cincinnati museum's 10th year anniversary celebration, Rev. Clarence G. "C.G." Newsome, Ph.D., will talk with local student artists, parents and friends of freedom about the role of the cultural arts in freedom movements since the Underground Railroad. This meet-up is part of the 2014 Spirit & Place Festival and will include student art awards and reception for student-artists in the "Journey to Freedom" art contest. The program's sponsors are Alpha Omega Arts, Conner Prairie, Center for Interfaith Cooperation, and the Indiana Interchurch Center.

Event: "Faith to Freedom" - talk and awards celebration
Location: Indiana Interchurch Center, IIC Gallery, 1100 W. 42nd Street, Indianapolis, Indiana
When: Saturday, November 8, 2014, 2:00 p.m.
Who: Student-artists, families, and friends of art & freedom
Cost: "Free" but RSVP's required
RSVP: Tahlib(at)AlphaOmegaArts.org

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A&O Meetup on May 10 in Indianapolis: "Trembling Before G-D"

THE ALPHA OMEGA ARTS 
By TAHLIB

INDIANA---The 2014 Premiere of the Indianapolis Jewish Film Festival introduces nine different films examining facets of Jewish life not often explored. The Festival introduces humor with the “The Band’s Visit” (Link to description page) and “A Matter of Size” (Link); but also reveals the sensitivities of gay people in Hasidic community in “Trembling Before G-D.”


Event: "Trembling Before Go-d" " film and panel discussion
Location: Christian Theological Seminary, 100 W. 42nd Street, Indianapolis
When: Saturday, May 10, 2014, 12:00 p.m.
Who: A&O Collectors
Cost: You pay-as-you go ($10)
RSVP: Tahlib(at)AlphaOmegaArts.org
Sponsorship: Give to cultural programming

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