Jumpstart your creativity on Wednesday, January 11, 6:30-8:00 or 8:30pm.
Try a workshop in visual arts, devotional poetry writing, or worship song writing.
RSVP below.
Devotional Poetry Writing
Discover how to enrich your devotional life by writing poetry. You’ll learn new tools and practices for engaging with Scripture by penning your own poetry. This workshop will include hands-on writing time, as well as the opportunity for small group sharing and mutual encouragement. Minimum age: high school. This workshop concludes at 8:30pm.
Facilitator: Andrew S. Backer 
enjoys writing poetry devotionally and finds it a place to witness the beauty of the Lord and respond in worship. He is currently pursuing a Masters in Higher Education and Student Development at Wheaton College.
Assistant Facilitator: Helen Wieger enjoys creative writing and has been nurturing a group of creatives for the last several years. She leans toward penning poetry and creative prose.
Visual Arts
Janice Skivington Wood is a painter, illustrator,
and former art teacher. She has collaborated with various artists to develop liturgical art that adorns Resurrection, including the large Jesus icon, the great doors, paintings depicting Old Testament scenes in the narthex, and more.
Emily Verdoorn uses anything from 
pen and pencil to teabags, inks, thread, or homemade dyes to explore the world of her everyday life. Her work often begins like a quiet conversation with places, spaces and the natural world.
Worship Song-Writing
Visual artists and poets at Resurrection are invited to contribute to the RezArts Gallery, a wall dedicated to rotating exhibits of original work.
The Space
The RezArts Gallery is located on the West wall in RezCafe, spanning 14 feet high and 40 feet long. On Sunday mornings, RezCafe is packed between services with churchgoers socializing over hot coffee and tea. Throughout the week, middle and high school students fellowship here, children’s classes gather, and others meet in the window-lined space. This bustling area will be enhanced by rotating exhibits on the Gallery wall.
The dimensions of our Gallery limit the number of pieces we are able to display. Artwork may be displayed in a total of six to eight columns of two rows each, depending on the size of pieces in each exhibit.
Gallery Vision
To encourage, teach, and inform the church through original artwork.
To lead our congregation and visitors to worship the Lord and contemplate things that are true, lovely, and excellent by providing space for artists to display original visual art and poetry.
To encourage artists and poets at Rez by providing a space to display work publicly.
Gallery Goals
Offer themed multi-artist rotating exhibits with opportunities for submission from artists within the church.
Offer occasional visiting artist gallery exhibits.
Supplement the church-wide RezArts Festival (Nov-Jan) to encourage year-round creative expression within the congregation.
Note
Exhibit themes focus largely on the liturgical season: Advent/Epiphany, Easter, and Ordinary Time. Acceptance of a submission will be based on its reflection of the theme, plus multiple factors, including the limited space, how each piece coordinates with other art submissions, and its ability to be displayed using existing wall hardware. Artists should be aware that acceptance or non-acceptance of submissions for exhibit depends on these various factors, and not on particular standards of artistic excellence for an individual piece.
During the season of Ordinary Time, we reflect on growth—both as a church and as individuals. As the RezArts Community, we believe part of that growth comes through nurturing and celebrating our artists: not only in what they create, but in their personal creative lives and seasons.
This year, we invite you into a different kind of gallery exhibit: one not defined by a predetermined theme, but by a shared posture.
Rest. Renewal. Joy.
This exhibit is an open submission gallery, created to celebrate the artists within our church community. Rather than asking you to create something to fit a specific topic/subject, we invite you to bring work that reflects where you are—creatively, spiritually, and personally.
We want this to be a space for you to think creatively, without the limitations of a theme, and to share the work that naturally grows out of your own questions, interests, and processes. In that way, this gallery is about growth too: honoring the unique ways each artist is developing, exploring, and being formed over time.
This could be a piece that feels refreshing or life-giving to you. It might be playful, quiet, experimental, or deeply honest. It could come from your sketchbook, a moment of exploration, a scribbled poem on a napkin, or even something unfinished that captures your current creative journey. Not every piece needs to be overtly “happy”—but we hope that the process and posture behind it brings renewal, enjoyment, or restoration.
As artists, it’s easy to live in a constant cycle of pushing, refining, and striving to create something new or impressive. Let this exhibit be an invitation from the Church: You are free to simply pause and enjoy creating—to rest in it, to have fun, and to be filled and renewed through the act of worshipping God through the gifts and joys He has woven into you.
“I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills—to make artistic designs.” –Exodus 31:3
PLEASE NOTE:
Though this is an exhibit with no direct theme, we still need to ensure the gallery remains a welcoming and peaceful space for all ages. To that end, submitted work should avoid content that is overly dark, disturbing, or inappropriate for young children. All submissions will be reviewed by the RezArts Vision & Gallery Team for approval.
Questions to ponder (if needed):
– What does it look like for you to rest in your creativity?
– What’s a creative process, medium, or subject that you like to work in?
– Are there certain colors, phrases, words, shapes, textures, lines, or patterns that have been catching your eye recently?
– What’s a passage of Scripture that you have been meditating on in this season?
– Is there a new medium or subject you’ve enjoyed exploring recently?
Submission Guidelines:
- Each artist/poet may submit one piece (group creations are welcome).
- All visual and written mediums are welcome, ensuring there is a simple way to hang your piece. Written work must fit on a single 8.5×11 paper with 1 inch margins top and bottom, in at least 14 size type.
- Visual pieces created on paper must be mounted prior to submission.
- Artwork may be a maximum of 2’x3’.
- Online submission deadline: Saturday, August 1st.
- Artwork must be dropped off at church between Sunday, August 2nd and Thursday, August 6th. Late submissions will not be accepted.
The Rest Exhibit will be on display from August 16 to November 15 on the Gallery Wall in RezCafe. Artwork must be picked up from the church between November 15 (after 10:30am) to November 22 during office hours.
Questions? Contact RezCommunityArts@churchrez.org
- Submissions must be original pieces created by the artist/writer within the last five years. Submissions to the Pentecost Wind Exhibit must have been created since September 2019.
- Submissions may be abstract and do not need to be literal representations of the theme.
- Poems must be formatted to fit on a single 8.5×11 page with 12 type, allowing 1 inch margins all around.
- The creator must include his or her name, age (if under 18), title of work, and a short description of 150 words or less about your creative process, how it reflects the theme, and what you hope it conveys. You may include a website and/or social media handle(s) for your artwork.
- Creators must be members or regular attendees of Resurrection within the last three months, at minimum.
- Each person or group may only submit one entry per exhibit. Group submissions are welcome if all individuals are regular attendees or members. An individual may submit one solo entry and participate in one group entry.
- Pieces that include nudity, profanity, graphic violence or otherwise inappropriate content for young children or a family audience will not be considered.
- We prefer visual artwork that does not depict a human representation of God the Father.
- Creators agree to allow the Resurrection to publish digital files of all submissions both online and/or in print, on its website and/or social media channels, indefinitely with appropriate credit.
- Creators grant Resurrection non-exclusive rights to use their submissions in ministry, including but not limited to services, events, public displays, or publications, sites, and programs, without further permission or payment involved, with appropriate credit to the artist(s).
- While we will do our best to care for your submission(s), we cannot guarantee the preservation of your work in its original form. The RezArts Gallery space is a highly visible and trafficked area; please be aware that your work may be touched by passing children or accidentally bumped.
Submissions of original artwork and poetry to the Pentecost Wind Exhibit must be received online by midnight Central Time on Saturday, September 21, 2024, and brought to church between Sunday, Sept 22, 8am-1pm, to Friday, Sept 27. Office hours are Mon-Thurs, 9-4:30pm, and Friday 9am-1pm.
Framing/Mounting: Visual artwork must be created or mounted on a sturdy surface, such as canvas, wood, or metal. Visual artists who choose to frame their work, may consider protecting it with a sheet of acrylic, plexiglass, or glass within the frame. Artwork larger than 16×20″ must be mounted with wire spanning the width of the back for hanging.
Poetry submissions do not need to be framed.
Dimensions: The frame must be at least 8”x10”, although the artwork itself may be as small as 4”x4”. No piece larger than 2’x3′ will be accepted without consultation.
Weight: The maximum weight of any piece must not exceed 25 pounds.
How To Submit
- Poetry must be sent via an individual digital file to dawnjewell@churchrez.org by Friday, March 15. Poets should email both a PDF and Word file of their poetry to dawnjewell@churchrez.org
- If you frame or mount your submission, it must be delivered to Resurrection in person by Sunday, March 17, 12:30pm in order to be considered for the Holy Week Exhibit. Pieces should be left at the building until at least May 19, 12:30pm. You must mount and/or frame your submission for display before dropping off per the framing requirements above.
- Include 200 words or less explaining: a) a short paragraph about your work and creative process, b) a 1-2 sentence bio of yourself, and c) (optional) your social media hand(s) and/or website where you share your creative work. Questions? Email dawnjewell@churchrez.org.
How To Submit
- Each work must be submitted online via an individual digital file. Visual artists should submit a photo(s) of their artwork in PDF, JPG or PNG files. Poets should submit both a PDF and Word file of their poetry. Please title your poem and include your name under the title.
- For submissions of actual photography, only one photo is needed. For any other form of visual art, you may include up to 4 photos of your piece.
- Submissions of visual artwork must be delivered to Resurrection in person by Friday, Sept 27, 1pm in order to be considered for the Pentecost Wind Exhibit. Pieces should be left at the building until late November. If we cannot fit your work on the Gallery wall, we will aim to display it online and notify you to pick up your physical piece sooner. You must mount and/or frame your submission for display before dropping off per the framing requirements above.
- Include a paragraph of 150 words or less explaining: a) your work, b) its size and medium, c) your creative process, d) how your entry reflects the theme in part or whole, and e) optionally your social media handle(s) and/or website.
Questions? Email dawnjewell@churchrez.org.
Submission Form
Please complete one form for each submission.