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Art for the Soul
As someone who lived through the rise of arts participation that began in the early 70s and the concomitant decline of religious participation, I have occasionally wondered whether people turned to the arts for spiritual inspiration when they felt their religion was failing to feed them? Churches emptied. Arts audiences burgeoned. I heard many conversations connecting the two phenomena.
As Samuel Huntington vividly described in his 1996 landmark book, The Clash of Civilizations, worldwide religious participation regained its momentum in the early 90s, especially within fundamentalist movements across the religious spectrum. Today, we see most of Huntington's predictions and observations increasingly borne out. Are arts audiences shrinking as religious participation grows?
When it comes to spiritual fulfillment, is it one or the other?
This morning I came across an article by Princeton University faculty member Robert Wuthnow that connects the devotional and meditational practices of religion with the discipline required of an artist. He examines art as a practice and a method for devotion and meditation.
As a musician, I've personally experienced the meditative state that deep, concentrated practice produces. Wuthnow compares this state to the devotional consciousness that prayer and mediation produces:
"The role of music and art in devotional life is also shaped by the pervasive conviction that it is possible to somehow feel the presence of God. Most Americans intuitively sense that prayer should be different from reading the newspaper or studying for a science test. Mood and ambience matter. One’s mind should be quiet. The space and time in which one prays should be set apart, sacralized in a way that differentiates them from the hustle and bustle of daily life. Not all prayer need be this way (certainly not the brief utterances that people squeeze in their workaday routine), but some of it must be the 15 minutes in the morning or evening that people with the most serious interest in spirituality point to as the core of their devotional lives. In these times, one expects to hear from God as one prays – perhaps not audibly, but at least by feeling more comforted, secure or serene. Music and art help. They set the mood, bringing one’s feelings and even one’s body into a state that seems more in tune with the divine"
Given the increasing importance of spiritual fulfillment to many within our communities, I think that artists and arts organizations have a great deal to gain from pondering this intersection between spirituality, religion, and art.
For example, I have believed for some years that the arts could benefit significantly from exploring the implications of moving from a transactional model of participation to a congregational model of participation. There is deep ownership and accountability in this way of interacting and owning. Clearly, there are profound implications that range from curation to governance.
Over the last 20 years there have been a number of books that speak to art and spirituality. It is an old and revered theme. I remember Thomas Moore's (Care of the Soul) residency at the 1994 Oregon Bach Festival (Spirituality in Music). As I recall some 1200 plus people attended. Even then, the intersections create resonance and generated currency.
It is a topic I will be pondering for some time.
Posted on June 28, 2006 10:03 AM | Permalink
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Comments
This is an interesting post today. There are a number of examples of places of worship using theatre and other forms of art as part of the church experience today. Mosaic Church in Los Angeles is one example (www.mosaic.org) where art, music and theater are playing an integral role. Its pastor, Erwin McManus, is himself an artist and noted speaker on this subject. There are many others.
For centuries, the art of the entire Western world was driven and influenced by the church. How one sees that impacting all subsequent art and religious practices is a matter of opinion. The church is far more diverse now, as are the arts, but broadly they're still bound together into a very interesting tradition.
I believe art and religion share a core purpose -- to celebrate our connection to something bigger than ourselves, our connection to each other, our humanity and all of the qualities in people that a person of faith (and I am one) believes come from the divine. They should work together but they're too often at odds for reasons of politics and social conventions. Shortsightedness and small thinking on BOTH sides of that fence are making the fence higher and wider.
Your question about whether rising churchgoing and declining arts audiences are linked might also speak partly to our need for connecting with other people and not just as a solitary meditative practice -- arts audience and congregations. In both cases, we meet there together because we share in an experience that transcends daily life.
Smart churches would do well to support the arts and to use the arts in their experiences. Perhaps smart arts organizations would do well to find ways to reach out to churches. But the politics are so complicated, I wonder if it's even remotely possible anymore. Too many extreme fundamentalists are speaking for people who don't want them speaking for them. Too many in the arts are buying that stereotype as the truth of all people of faith when the truth is it's as rich and diverse and interesting a group of people as one could imagine. Too many people of faith are buying into similarly shortsighted stereotypes about the arts.
Thanks, as always, for sparking thought and discussion on another very interesting topic.
Thanks for the eloquent and insightful comment, Tim. As usual, you are so right on in your observations.
I think you are so right in your implication that we are not separated by our audiences, congregations, or communities, but by our own stereotypes and narrow ideologies.
Great stuff!