The personal story behind the Thirst Art Exhibition that will celebrate Christian creativity later this fall in Oakville, Ont.
Back in February, after a couple close calls with two heart attacks and kidney failure, I found myself having to think about my own mortality, about the possibility of an imminent death.
Hospitalization with all the attached tubes and inconvenient dress code was not a welcome antidote to all the creative work I dreamed of getting done as a Christian artist. I have so many dreams that remain unfulfilled about our work in the spirituality of art-making in the Church. By that I mean helping the Church value and involve artists of all kinds again, in direct proportion to the artistry of Jesus Himself, and also helping Christians in the Church rediscover the emotionally therapeutic properties of creativity and artistry.
Laying in the intensive care unit, I found myself thinking about King Hezekiah, surrounded by Assyrian armies, gravely ill, asking God to grant him 15 more years so he could fulfill his calling to protect his people.
The Lord honoured his request and what he hoped to do. He got well and got to work. While God protected the city, Hezekiah ensured a tunnel was constructed between the Gihon Spring and the Pool of Siloam, a mile and a half long through very hard rock, dolomite, to help preserve the city’s water supply (2 Kings 18–19 and 2 Chronicles 29).
That tunnel aqueduct is still working today. I have walked it. It is a testament to a man’s faith turned creative and practical, in the realm of God’s provision.
The Portage Arts Group that I'm part of in Ontario is calling Christians to consider a simple idea, that artists are part of God’s provision to His people, just as the Pool of Siloam was – a fact honoured by Jesus by association in His own ministry (John 4:14, 9:7–11).
We are going to rebuild and tour an above-ground fabric interpretation of that tunnel, to celebrate God’s provision of such creative artistry. We are going to surround this installation with a curated gathering of superb paintings, drawings, photographs and sculptures that tell a story of going from drought to abundance in terms a water. We are presenting this as a metaphor for the therapeutic value of art-making from a Christian perspective. Hence the show title of Thirst.
We are going to do this with the help of Christians across the country who like to sew. We invite you to join us in what we believe is a God-given vision of how artists are indispensable to Christian community.
May this and other exhibitions sharing similar visions inspire God's people.
The exhibition Thirst: Water, Artistry, and Mental Health: Re-imagining Hezekiah’s Tunnel opens Nov. 2 at the Queen Elizabeth Park Cultural Centre in Oakville (2302 Bridge Rd.) with a reception at 7 p.m. For more info or to arrange school tours, contact the author.