In the last several years Jan Neal
has worked primarily in digital painting, collage and photography,
though her background is in traditional mediums. She earned
her undergraduate degree in Journalism and attended the Art
Institute of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where she studied advertising
art prior to earning her J.D.
She serves as Program Director of ECVA and has exhibited her
work in numerous ECVA exhibitions and curated "Illustrating
the Hours" in 2005.
Jan is a member of NAPP and produces the publicity for her home
parish, Emmanuel Episcopal Church, in Opelika, Alabama, where
she also serves as webmaster and on the Flower, Garden and Altar
Guilds as well as ECW.
The study of gardening and plant history, Episcopal church liturgical
history and symbol are her primary areas of ecclesiastical artistic
interests, and she particularly enjoys portrait and graphic
work.
Brie
Dodson is a realist painter who seeks to evoke the “unseen
eternal” in the subjects she portrays. She paints the
Virginia countryside, its open skies and rural denizens: horses,
farm animals, and the birds outside her studio window. She also
paints about religious and spiritual subjects. Her work has
been featured in Gallery & Studio, The Living Church, Art
and Christianity, ManhattanArts, and other publications; has
been exhibited at various venues in New York City, Washington,
D.C., and several states; and resides in many private collections.
Brie was born in Texas, moved to the Washington, D.C. area during
the Johnson administration, and attended the College of William
and Mary. Her family includes her husband, Tom, and four sons,
ranging in age from four through 24. She is a member of Trinity
Episcopal Church in Upperville, Virginia. A former commercial
artist, she now paints full-time. Her work may be viewed on
her website, http://briedodson.com.
Brie serves as ECVA's Director of Communications. Her paintings
have been featured in several ECVA exhibitions and presentations,
online as well as at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific,
the Kanuga Conference Center, and the Museum of Biblical Art;
she curated the ECVA exhibition "Spirit's Fire" in
2005.
Anne Wetzel , Curator
Anne Wetzel
began
her career in photography thirteen years ago after leaving her
administrative position in the Graduate School of Fine Arts
at the University of Pennsylvania. Her fascination with Photography
began when Fine Arts faculty member, Becky Young, invited Anne
to study with her at the University. Drawing inspiration from
her love of gardening, she initially chose flowers as models,
photographing them in the studio in black and white. She then
moved on to landscape photography, also in black and white.
Her subsequent interest in human subjects was sparked when she
attended the Holy Week services at St. James Episcopal Cathedral
in Chicago, and discovered one of her true photographic interests,
the worship of God in its many forms.
"I was deeply struck by the visual power of these ancient
rites. I wanted to explore and capture with the camera the interplay
of darkness and light; the juxtaposition of the familiar and
the strange; moments of inwardness, isolation, intimacy and
communion; the vulnerable human being moving in community to
encounter the mystery of God." Her Holy Week project evolved
into a publication co-authored with Janet B. Campbell: Through
the Window of the Ordinary : Experiences of Holy Week
(Church Publishing).
In June 1998 Anne joined the communications team of the Lambeth
Conference of the Anglican Communion in Canterbury, England
as a photographer. There, caught up with the Conference's diversity,
and with the need to find a unifying symbol, she discovered
the wonderful pectoral crosses worn by the Bishops. She designed
a montage using these crosses, which was published in 1999.
In May 2000 she spent a week at Chartres Cathedral, photographing
the cathedral and especially the labyrinth which is an integral
part of the cathedral's history. The following spring Anne traveled
to China, photographing the ancient form of healing work known
as qi gong.
Anne lives on the coast of Maine, not only photographing all
of the life around her, but experimenting extensively in her
darkroom. She is a member of the parish of St. Andre and St.
John in Southwest Harbor, Maine.
Dan
Hardison, Video Director
"The
intent of any work of art is to inspire, to
move us, to touch us, to portray a message.
This is especially true when art is used
in a church."
Dan Hardison wrote these words in his
Curator's
Statement for the ECVA exhibition Art/Community/Story. As
a writer, artist and photographer
living in North Carolina, Dan specializes in documentary storytelling
and nature photography.
Dan's stories explore the role of visual art in parish history
and heritage. Just three of many are: -- the story of the Philip Perkins altar piece at Epiphany
Mission in Sherwood Tennessee -- the story of Ben Long's frescoes at The
Parish of the Holy Communion in Glendale Springs and West
Jefferson North Carolina -- the story of Ben Long's frescoes at St.
Paul's Episcopal Church in Wilkesboro North Carolina
Dan is a native of Tennessee and lives in Wilmington, North
Carolina, where he attends St. Paul's Episcopal Church. He serves
as Editor of ecva.org, the website of Episcopal Church and Visual
Arts, Inc. (ECVA) and the ECVAeNewsletter.
Clay Morris, Music Consultant
Clayton
L. Morris is the Episcopal
Church's staff officer for liturgy and music. The wisdom
he offers in his latest book, Holy
Hospitality (Church Publishing) is drawn from
his many years of experience as a parish priest.
What does it really mean to "proclaim
the good news of God in Christ" and to "continue in
the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the
bread, and in the prayers?"
These promises from the baptismal rite of
the Book of Common Prayer have become very familiar to most
Episcopalians, but they have yet to be fully lived out in most
congregations.
In this lively and accessible guide, Clayton
Morris argues that everyone present on Sunday mornings has a
ministry of hospitality, coming together in a proclamation of
welcome to all.
Clay
holds the Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance from
Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, the Master of Divinity
degree from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, and Master
of Arts and Ph.D. degrees in theology from the Graduate Theological
Union.
He was ordained deacon in the Diocese of Oregon in June of 1971
and priest in the Diocese of California in January of 1972.
Over the past three decades he has served variously as curate,
rector, organist --choirmaster, and director of liturgy and music
in several California congregations. He has also taught courses
in church music at CDSP.
Clay
serves the office of Secretary of The Episcopal
Church and Visual Arts, Inc (ECVA).
Mel Ahlborn, Producer
Mel
Ahlborn specializes in manuscript illumination. She
is a frequent lecturer on the history and production techniques
of illuminated manuscripts.
Her fine art exhibitions include the Washington National Cathedral,
The Getty Center, the British Library, Oxford College, and the
Palace of the Legion of Honor.
Ahlborn is an elected Fellow of the Center for Arts, Religion
and Education (CARE) at The Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley,
California, teaching Studio Arts courses in Manuscript Illumination
and Visual Preaching.
She has interwoven arts, spirituality and religion throughout
her career, serving as a consultant to museums, film companies,
and academic institutions. More information is available on
the web at www.illuminationstudio.org
Mrs. Ahlborn holds a double B.S. degree in Chemistry and Classics
from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. She resides
with her husband, Paul, and their two children, in Moraga, California.
She
serves as President and CEO of The Episcopal Church and Visual
Arts, Inc (ECVA).
