We hosted an Arts Cafe March 7 featuring Finnish artist Nina Astrom and local artists including dance company 'Salt & Light', Creative Arts Europe's Jim & Anne Mills, and painters Elria Ellis and our own Kathy Slaughter! The event was complete with all-you-can-drink coffee or tea and Kathy's homemade desserts. Kathy and Elria premiered a work they created to a song called "Portrait of a King". During the song, they painted a portrait of Christ inspired by creation.
Some 100 artists from nine nations attended the first ‘Imagine’ conference in Brussels, May 18-20. As staff of Creative Arts Europe, we served on the organizing team, helping to plan and host the event. Kathy directed the ‘Dream Café’, serving meals and snacks during the two-day conference which featured speaker Steve Turner, author of the book, “Imagine: A Vision for the Arts & Christianity.
Lights! Camera! Action! The 'Summer of Arts' Week in Finland was all that and more as young artists studied with skilled professional teachers from all over Europe and even the USA. This camp takes place an hour north of Helsinki where the summer sun stretches into the the night and the winter moon shines in the middle of the day. Sponsored by the Finnish Lutheran Mission and joined by Creative Arts Europe staff from Belgium, Germany, Latvia, and Finland, this camp encourages hundreds of Finnish artists to use their gift to be salt and light in the world and to bring color and expression to the church. 
I attended the camp this year as part of my responsibilities with Creative Arts Europe and was impressed with the professionalism of the the teachers, the spiritual care of the campers and the incredible talents these young artists are honing. Can't wait for next year! Jeff
This week Kathy and I are in Thun (pronounced "tune"), Switzerland at the Summer Arts Session. Boy, what a place! Nestled in-between the Swiss Alps and a crystal clear lake, this camp hosts 130 German-speaking artists from Germany, Switzerland and Austria. After a morning session, participants spend five hours in one of 16 discipline-specific workshops - from piano, guitar, bass, drums and worship leading, to dance, vocals, mime, acting, web design painting! 
Kathy got to attend one of the painting classes and was especially impressed with her teacher, Heather, a young British artist who has sold textile swatches to Ralph Lauren! Today, Heather lives in Switzerland with her husband and works in an art gallery and studio that reaches out to the homeless and drug abused. They engage the disenfranchised with art and use it as a connection point for expressing the love of God. Cool, huh? I've been interviewing camp directors, workshop teachers and participants to write article for the Creative Arts Europe website, magazines and other publications. It's been incredible to meet the workshop teachers and hear their stories... ...There's a producer who has worked with Toto, and the bands of Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson. And he prays with all these guys before each studio session! ...There's a comedian who puts on shows for businesses like BMW and Deutsch Bank (the national German bank), teaching Christian values in a very unique way. ...There's a hip hop teacher who moves in and out of business circles with his company of dancers, choreographers and musicians, putting together corporate shows on a variety of themes. He also prays with the people he works with and isn't shy about presenting the gospel as he moves and ministers in the marketplace. Perhaps one of the most important things we've seen this week is how these professional artists - who are Christians - aren't afraid to move in the marketplace and be a light in this very dark world. While they could stay in the church and minister to the faithful, most of them feel called to go into the marketplace and minister to unbelievers. Jeff & Kathy
