“I appreciated everyone’s insight and honest comments. I thought many of the heartfelt conversations revealed a real need for open dialogue. I wonder how much of that would have occurred in a face-to-face meeting.”

—Rev. Bruce Frogge, pastor

 

Art as Centering Prayer
(Explorations for Non-Artists and Artists)

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March 9-27, 2009
Facilitator: Jeanne Tessier, MA, BCC
12.0 contact hours

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Before we human beings had words, we had images and symbols.  We were (and still are) moved by sunsets, mountains, rain and our own reflections in still water.  Many of us – including many who don’t know it – are visual learners, better able to receive wisdom when it comes in the form of images and symbols.

Art and architecture have been employed in every human culture to inspire awe, as in the great cathedrals of Europe, the pyramids of Egypt, and Angkor Wat, the great temple of Cambodia.  Images of the Divine, variously conceived in world cultures, become enshrined in the hearts and minds of all God’s people....  from Michelangelo’s Pieta to the Hindu God Vishnu, from Buddha as a symbol of a fully enlightened  being to the sarcophagi of the “divine” pharaohs.  In the same way, art has been developed and employed as a form of deep prayer around the world, from the mandalas of Hindu history to those of Hildegard of Bingen, and from the sand paintings of Tibetan Buddhists to the sand paintings of Native American spirituality.

Art as Centering Prayer is a seminar for non-artists and artists alike.  In the course of this seminar, we will explore art as centering prayer in a variety of ways: making it (fear not: no artistic ability is required and, unless you want to share it, no one will see it but you), viewing it, meditating on it, and being in it (exploring postures of our own choosing and natural settings, as ways to call our bodies and spirits to prayer simultaneously).  We will use both familiar and unfamiliar images, including images drawn from the great works of the Divine Artist in whose art we are free to walk, sit, and stand every day of our lives.

Each of these explorations will open up ways of drawing us into our own spiritual center, drawing us closer to God and deepening our awareness that God is at hand. 

No part of this seminar will involve criticism or judgment of any artwork.  The focus of everything we do, create, view, and consider will be on prayer and centering.

About the Instructor:

Jeanne Tessier is a teacher, writer, artist and hospital chaplain to children with life-threatening illnesses and their families at a free-standing children’s hospital in Louisville, KY.   She has been making art since childhood and has come to know art-making as her best and deepest form of prayer and meditation.   A body of her work entitled Interior Landscapes: Visual Poems was exhibited at the Huff Gallery of Spalding University in Louisville in 2007.  She has upcoming exhibits at the Janice Mason Art Museum in Cadiz, KY in fall 2008 and at the Huff Gallery in Louisville in early 2009. 

Jeanne has facilitated retreats on Art as Centering Prayer for church groups in the Louisville area, and many retreats on other forms of prayer, on healing life’s hurts, and on leadership for church groups and organizations. 

Jeanne has an MA in Communication and an MA in Pastoral Theology.  She is a board-certified chaplain in the National Association of Catholic Chaplains and has published essays, poetry and art in several chaplaincy publications.  She’s an award-winning teacher and the recipient of multiple Better Care Awards for her care of patients and families at her hospital. 

She will welcome, engage and encourage deep learning in all who join her in this virtual classroom. 

Discussion venue: Discussion Forum in Moodle Online Classroom

Registration: