Mona Arshi: Poetry and Defamiliarization

Mona Arshi brings all of herself to her poetry: her background as a human rights lawyer, a family lineage deeply embedded in the poetic, and a keen observation of the world—with a commitment to recognize and subvert patterns within that observation. All this makes her a very special interlocutor on her artistic medium.

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Peter BouteneffComment
Aidan Hart: Creation is a Poem of Love

Aidan Hart works in multiple media—painting, sculpture, carving, mosaics—to creat liturgical art of stunning beauty. As an author and speaker he also reflects deeply on the nature of the sacred arts, stemming from a profoundly theological vision of creation. Our Luminous conversation, recorded in his studio in Shropshire, visits all these places.

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Peter BouteneffComment
A Tribute to Ivan Moody

This special episode of Luminous is a tribute to Fr. Ivan Moody—composer, scholar, musicologist, conductor, who impacted so many people and constituencies with his musicality, erudition, warmth, and infectious joy. With guests Alexander Lingas, Peter Phillips, Ivana Medic, Svetlana Poliakova, and Maria Takata-Roszczenko.

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Peter BouteneffComment
Vesper Stamper: Into Sharp Relief

Vesper Stamper writes books for some of the most discerning and important audiences: young adults. And others, but it’s this audience that informs much of our conversation. Her illustrations are as clear and articulate as her writing, and together we are swept up into a narrative of history that means everything.

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Peter Bouteneff Comment
Studying the Sacred Arts

On this special episode of Luminous, our host talks with two students in the MA Program at the Institute of Sacred Arts. This is an opportunity to meet two exceptional people, and to hear about what the work and ethos of our Institute!

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Timothy Patitsas: Beauty Heals

What does Tim Patitsas mean by his refrain of “beauty first?” That’s one question that made me want to talk with him. We go there. And many other places. As one does, with a thinking, reflective person who has listened to people of wisdom from within and outside the traditional fold.

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Gaelan GilbertComment
Mother Katherine Weston: Healing Arts

Nun Katherine Weston, an Orthodox Christian monastic, is a pastoral counselor and trauma specialist in private practice. For some 15 years she has been addressing topics central to the basic human experience, integrating an Orthodox Christian worldview with perspectives from current psychotherapies. In addition to racial identities, topics have included loneliness, shame, anger, anxiety, attachment dynamics, and racial reconciliation. Wait ‘till you hear what she says about sacred art…

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Gaelan Gilbert Comments
A Luminous Christmas

On this special episode of Luminous, some of our previous guests suggested for us their chosen musical selections that evoke the sacredness of the season. The result is a beautiful and diverse, and often surprising playlist of Christmas music. Our gift to you.

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Peter Bouteneff Comment
Andrew Gould: The Architecture of Heaven

Andrew Gould’s designs, for churches and other buildings, as well as for furnishings within churches, are exquisitely beautiful. But they are more than that. His vision of sacred art and architecture sets the bar very high—heavenly-high—which is exactly where he thinks it should be.

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Gaelan GilbertComment
Benedict Sheehan: Gestures of Music

Composer, conductor, and general musical visionary Benedict Sheehan is a rising star in the world of sacred choral music. Talking with him, as we do, about music, the sacred, his stutter, and what it means to conduct a choir, is a fascinating, enjoyable experience.

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Gaelan GilbertComment
Owen Cyclops: Graphic Theology

Owen Cyclops channels his spiritual energies and insights through his skills as an illustrator, to come up with some arresting, challenging, and otherwise trippy images. He’s thoughtful and articulate about his work and what it may or may not mean for sacred arts.

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Gaelan GilbertComment
John Michael Talbot: Here I am, Lord

A legend in the word of Christian Contemporary Music, John Michael Talbot’s songs have been the soundtrack for the spiritual life of more than a generation of the faithful. Moving increasingly into a quieter, cloistered life, he reflects with clarity, insight, and delight, on his work and on the sacred arts.

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Gaelan Gilbert Comments
Julian Davis Reid: Notes of Movement and Rest

Artist-theologian Julian Davis Reid has performed and spoken worldwide, and has released albums both solo and with his band, the Ju Ju Exchange. Having worked with Chance the Rapper, Jennifer Hudson, Peter CottonTale, and Derrick Hodge, he brings his music and life to the service of the Church, and of people seeking rest among the noise.

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Gaelan GilbertComment