Christian Artists?

It seems that most performing arts have found their place in the modern church. Music, Drama and even dance are all a normal part of worship services.

But what about visual artists? In the past some of the World's most outstanding works of art were commissioned by churches. Do painters, craftspeople and graphic designers have an outlet to express their God-given talents in worship today?

I found an organization called "Christians in the Visual Arts" which organizes travelling gallery showings of Christian works of art. It's an interesting concept but I'd like to see a local group whose purpose was to help bring visual arts into the normal flow of a worship service.

A few years ago Jimmy Abegg painted a large canvas on stage at the Dove Awards while dc Talk played. And my father-in-law was known for doing "chalk talks" where he would sketch out scenes in colored chalk as a song played or a poem was read. These examples border on performance art but would be a step in the right direction. I think that an artist's work could easily be incorporated into Powerpoint to enhance a service for instance.

I just bet that if a group of artists got together regularly for Bible study and art critique that a lot of good ideas would come out of it.

Link: Christians in the Visual Arts