Each semester, the studio in the Kresge Academic building is transformed anew by the Artists-in-Residence. When they come to the Seminary, they bring with them their imagery, their technique, their artistic style, and their passion. And they are eager to share all of it with anyone who walks in the studio door, sits with them at lunch, or shares a class in another discipline with them.

Over the years, the Artists-in-Residence have included painters, poets, actors, musicians, sculptors, videographers, graphic designers, potters, glass workers, iconographers, and many others, including those whose work crosses all boundaries. Since it is rarely possible to predict what an artist will do when exposed to the atmosphere of a theological seminary, I am often surprised and delighted by what the artists are doing and what they are teaching their students.

This exhibition features the works of artists who have been with us over the last two academic years. Karen Schiff, Robert Peppers, Kip Deeds, Jennifer Lea Hall, Kim Jackson, and Sudhir Kumar Dupatti were here in 2007-2008; and James Quentin Young, Tim Holmes, Cynthia Greene, and Kathy Hettinga are our Artists-in-Residence for the 2008-2009 academic year. While their works are as different from one another as are the personalities of the artists themselves, it is as if they are conversing with one another as they fill the gallery with color and form and meaning. We hope that you will linger, and listen, and maybe even join the conversation. 

We dedicate this show to the memory of Ted  Kliiman, AIR (2002-2003), whose images of bodiless, yet animated, prayer shawls remind us that death is not the final word.