We love that Eckhart Tolle uses the term “good news” to preface his exploration of all the illusions humanity clings to.  Christians will quickly recognize the phrase … good news (or good messenger) that comes from the Greek work evangelion/εὐαγγέλιον which has come to commonly refer to the four gospel accounts that record Jesus’ life and teachings.  These are stories of the one sent to break through the darkness of humanity’s illusion and reorient the world to the fullness of God’s intention for creation.
 
Breaking through illusions and seeking a new earth is a consistent theme in the evolution of all human spirituality and philosophy.  While, the Buddha, the Hebrew Prophets, Confucius, Jesus, and Muhammad might have defined this good news quite differently, the message was always the same … human selfishness, greed, and a desire for power creates profound injustices in our life together.  To rediscover the fullness of our humanity begins with the recognition of these false reality that surrounds us … but we mistake as reality.
 
These enlightened men and women, along with their followers, have always relied on the arts and the creative imagination as a key tool to name and to break through the illusion.  Music, storytelling, drama, poetry, and the visual arts provided the tools, storyline, score, and stage sets for this new or awakened consciousness. 
 
As this community witnessed Pat’s energetic embrace of this ancient spiritual tradition through contemporary teachers like Eckhart Tolle, this community witnessed profound shifts in her artistic production.  Pat’s artistic practice and her spiritual practice are becoming reflections of one another.  Gone are the fun and light-hearted paintings and multi-edition prints that where much loved … and financially lucrative.  In their place are profound meditations on the human spirit and visualizations of our interconnectedness with each other and our world. 
 
The works in this exhibition were selected from the last four years of Pat’s artistic and spiritual practice.  Utilizing her often repeated mantra … “it’s either love or fear” … the works reflect her spirituality about choosing love.  Like any good disciple, Pat invites us to look through the illusion … past the ego … and toward a diverse and loving world filled with hope. 
 
As many spiritual traditions recognize, the transformation of an individual’s consciousness is solely the interior work of the individual.  The gift of the creative imagination … for both the seeker and the viewer … is to provide alternative visions of reality to contemplate, and thus aid the journey of awakening and a new vision of reality.
 
The visual centerpiece of the exhibition is an intentional installation of a donkey, an elephant, and the old church pew.  The exhibition invites to viewer to rethink the reality/illusion around us.  There is no greater feeling in our culture than the seemingly insurmountable divides we have created for ourselves and our life together.  This assemblage invites us to sit and ponder what is the reality …. and what is the illusion … and how do we reorient our current cultural crisis.  As Eckhart Tolle reminds us … the survival of illusion depends on us mistaking it for reality.
 
Mitchell Bond and Patrick Ellis

"life sucks, here's why, you can fix it, here's how"
 
- The Buddha
(as paraphrased by Andrew Henry, Religion for Breakfast)
 
The brokenness that is at the root of our current divisions and polarization is not new, but a sadly ever-reoccurring cycle in human history.  However, each of these cycles is also accompanied by great strides in philosophical and spiritual thinking.  Crises can bring great opportunities to reorient our understanding of our life together.  Religion and art have always responded in profound ways to human brokenness! 

A genuine confession of personal fault and the sincere desire for reconciliation are the key ingredients of any social healing.  The rites and rituals of all the world’s great religious traditions not only provide the opportunity to acknowledge personal fault, but they also offer accompanying rites and rituals of healing and reconciliation to bring what was broken back together.  Religion can give us a design for a journey toward wholeness. 

It is not the intention of this installation for viewers to choose a side, but rather to recognize that we find ourselves on either side of this installation at any given time.  In all religions … the rites and rituals associated with confession, forgiveness, and reconciliation are by necessity repeatable!  We are all broken … and need to be made whole … repeatedly.

This is the third time we have used Shelley Koopmann’s piece depicting Donald Trump alone at Leonardo DaVinci’s Last Supper it in a curated show.  Over the years the painting has shifted from a real-time political cartoon to a commentary on how politicians weaponize faith.  In this installation, the painting serves as a symbol and metaphor of an entrenched polarization in our collective consciousness and current social zeitgeist.

So, what do we mean when we say that Donald Trump becomes a symbols/metaphor?  In this show, Trump has become each of us, an image of our own brokenness and our isolated lives … lives lived in an age of global social and electronic connectedness.  The man alone at the table represents the worst in all of us … a shorthand for human immorality and pride … and an image for the political and religious division we choose to fester and exploit, and not to heal.  Donald Trump is us.

Sandy Ludwig came to Goose Creek Studio today to share her poem "Fractured Faith" as an invocation for the Thin Blue Line exhibit.  We are honored to have Sandy speak her truth and share it with us all.

We live in a time of polarization intensified by a complicated clash of conflicting cultural values, rigid religious convictions, uncompromising political ideologies, unresolved racial inequities, and unparalleled economic disparity.  Over the next several years, Goose Creek Studio will host a series of exhibitions entitled “The Moral Universe”.  This series, sponsored by the work and mission of the Portiuncula Guild, will focus on images, symbols, and slogans at the center of this time of polarization.  Goose Creek Studio and Portiuncula Guild share a conviction that one of the most profound and noble purpose of the arts is in exercising over society a positive power to create dialogue that seeks truth, justice, and reconciliation.  The goal of these small exhibitions is simply to showcase the work of local artists and visionaries who use imaginative storytelling to give us a sense of belonging, meaning, and invite us to help build community and work to foster social change and reconciliation. 

“Thin Blue Line” is the first in this series of exhibitions that focus on images, symbols, and slogans at the center of our nation’s divisions. The thin blue line slogan and accompanying usages amid a time of intense polarization is both a mirror and amplifier of these divisions and therefore rich subject matter for artists and storytellers. 
 
The origins for this image and slogan can be traced back to the catchphrase “thin red line” used during the Crimean War to describe a British battle formation/victory in 1856 against the Russians.  The term was propagated in art, poetry, and song to promote a sense of national pride and power.  The idea expanded to other professions and situations over the next century to describe a small but dedicated group of supporters who form a line or barricade of defense from either an internal or external risk.  The slogan was also adapted critically to describe any group of religious or political followers who form a barrier to accessing truth and accountability.  

The modern use of the term “thin blue line” can be traced to the middle of the last century and has come to embody all these historical usages.  For some, the thin blue line refers to the concept of the police as the line defense which keeps society from descending into violent chaos, and the blue signifying fraternal unity among law enforcement officers.  For others, the term fosters an “us versus them” mindset that is rooted in a long history of police reinforced racism, as well as a perceived lack of accountability and responsibility to the communities they serve.  While many police officers and supporters of law enforcement have embraced the thin blue line as a source of pride and fraternal kinship, others see the image and slogan as a banner of defiance in a time when many are calling for police reform.  The image and the slogan’s use have become convoluted and often divisive.  While its use has generated conversation and introspection within police departments across the country as it has become more and more politicized, sadly for some, the thin blue line has become a code or shibboleth for those working to divide people by race, religion, or political affiliation.

Like all good storytellers, the artists in this exhibition place the thin blue line image and the slogan within a larger context of history, faith, and contemporary political divides.   Taken as a whole, the works underscores that this image and slogan are emblematic of larger societal challenges and therefore worthy of conversation, analysis, and critique.

A series of exhibitions sponsored and curated by the Portiuncula Guild and hosted by Goose Creek Studio
 
We live in a time of polarization intensified by a complex clash of conflicting cultural values, extreme religious convictions, uncompromising political ideologies, unresolved racial inequities, and unparalleled economic disparity.  Over the next several years, Goose Creek Studio will host a series of curated exhibitions sponsored by the work and mission of the Portiuncula Guild that focuses on images and symbols at the center of this polarization. 
 
Both Goose Creek Studio and Portiuncula Guild share a conviction that one of the most profound and noble purpose of the arts is in exercising over society a positive power to create dialogue that seeks both truth and reconciliation.  The arts have a unique ability to bridge our current polarization and inspire a desire to bring the world back to a better harmony.  Goose Creek Studio and Portiuncula Guild are convinced that this bridge-building is best done through storytelling.  Stories allow us to connect our lives to others and place our current struggles within the larger context of human history.  When we explore a sacred story, a cosmic myth, or even a profound personal experience, we create a natural place to address issues of worthiness, judgement, mercy, and forgiveness.  When we highlight human heroism, or the wounded and seemingly unworthy parts of our lives and other’s lives, we create the opportunity to advocate for the dignity and worth of all humanity and the summon our better angels.  Stories can give us a sense of belonging, meaning, and invite us to help build community and work to foster social change and reconciliation. 
 
The series title come from a famous phrase in Dr. Martin Luther King’s last Sunday sermon; “we shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”  For Dr. King, any human struggle must be understood in the broader context of how God has structured the world, the universe, and all of creation.  Overcoming current injustices and restoring all humanity to the fullness that God intended can only be understood in the long history of God’s work in the world.  The work of love and justice is not simply waiting for God to do something, this is work that is always a divine/human collaboration.  This work is also founded on a belief that God has embedded in all humanity an image of his own love and justice that can be reawakened through witness amid conflict. Dr. King recognized that all human hearts could grow and change, so therefore the work of love and justice must always be hope-filled and non-violent.  
 
Established in 2013, Portiuncula Guild is a faith-based 501c3 working at the intersection of faith, craftsmanship, and creative expression. The work of the guild is to build mutually supportive creative relationships, foster conversations around the connection between art and faith, sponsor exhibitions and live performances, provide opportunities for prayer, yoga, and meditation, as well as seek out artistic collaborations at local festivals in which art can help build community and work to foster social change and reconciliation.