Faith and Vision: Twenty-Five Years of Chrisitans in the Visual Arts
edited by Cameron Anderson and Sandra Bowden

Founded in 1979, Christians in the Visual Arts (CIVA) was born as a response to the absence of a tangible Christian community within the contemporary American art world. As it matured, CIVA grew to become a place of aesthetic stimulation and spiritual encouragement both to its members and to the several thousand artists and institutions in its formal network. This book is the record of a generation or two of Christians who heeded the call to make art and, in doing so, accepted its manifold challenges, tensions, and affirmations. The hope of the many contributors to this book is that it will serve as a signpost of encouragement to a rising cohort of artists who follow. Between its covers, this book features more than 200 images that showcase the work of CIVA’s most accomplished artists and highlight the quality and breadth of its many traveling exhibitions, conferences, directories, and publications. Click here for a smaller, low resolution sample of the book.

We recommend ordering this title through Hearts and Minds or CIVA.

"There is a renewed love affair between artists and church congregations in a desire to incorporate the lively arts in places of worship. One little known partner in this relationship is the organization called Christians in the Visual Arts. For over 25 years this energetic body of artists and artisans has worked diligently to cultivate an appreciation for the significant impact the arts have not only in places of public worship but also in the intimate domain of one's own spirituality. In this regard, Christians in the Visual Arts takes its place in a long ancestral line of guilds and art movements that have influenced religion. Students of theology and the arts need to be aware of CIVA. The release of Faith + Vision: Twenty-five Years of Christians in the Visual Arts is a compendium of essays and images that belongs in the library of every seminarian and pastor. It will introduce the reader to the passion of contemporary Christian artists and their interpretation of time-honored theological and biblical narratives."
— Richard S. Vosko, Ph.D., Hon. AIA, Designer & Consultant for Worship Environments

"If you've been reading ImageUpdate for any length of time, you've seen numerous references to art exhibitions, conferences, and newsletters organized by Christians in the Visual Arts (CIVA). Many of you non-visual-arts-types might have skipped those paragraphs, thinking you had no real way to connect with what was being described. Please don't skip this paragraph. In Faith And Vision, a book edited by long-time CIVA stalwarts Cameron Anderson and Sandra Bowden, you can now connect with the remarkable spiritual and artistic renewal that CIVA has helped to bring about in over its 25-year history. The heart of Faith and Vision is simply a collection of gorgeously reproduced color plates of art by CIVA members. The sheer act of bringing this work together in one place makes for an almost overwhelming experience. One thing is clear: membership in CIVA does not induce artists to adopt some sort of Christian “house” style—the work in this volume spans the gamut from painstaking realism in egg tempera to clips of video art and conceptual contraptions, from Byzantine icons to images of Jesus on a Wheaties box. Equally important is the book's generosity towards those who are newer to CIVA. Yes, you'll find work by masters like Fujimura, Knippers, de Staebler, Sheesley, Forte, McCleary, Grimm-Vance and company. But you'll be introduced to artists who are either young or recent discoverers of CIVA: Mark Hilpert, Chong Keun Chu, Heidi Petersen, Adrienne Outlaw, and many others. There are helpful essays by the curator Howard Fox and philosopher Nicholas Wolterstorff, plus a chronology of CIVA and an artists' index. The book is handsomely produced by Square Halo Books, another jewel in the crown of their small, but exquisite catalog of books on faith and the arts. We're proud to say that Image is mentioned many times in the book; we've been glad to be able to lend a hand from time to time to this indispensable organization."
—IMAGE

"Congratulations to Christians in the Visual Arts on its silver anniversary! You have come a long way! [Faith and Vision] happily represents the maturity of a dynamic association of contemporary artists who are finding their voice in both worlds of the church and the art community. In an age that has witnessed new creative technologies, a return to figural art, and a move away from the iconophobia that has plagued some sections of Christianity, CIVA demonstrates a way to proceed, expanding the imagination of pastor, congregation and artist alike. Without attempting to offer definite and closed answers, this volume addresses those overlapping and oft-misunderstood zones of spiritual art, religious art, and liturgical art. CIVA’s members frequently move back and forth between the three, and it is wonderful to see that the association can foster and encourage exploration in each sphere. The graphic art in this particular issue is outstanding and complements the thoughtful prose of philosophy and art history. The resilience of CIVA proves that faith does not stifle or box art in, but that it provides the richest fare on which the artist might dine and the deepest well from which inspiration might be drawn."
— Jaime Lara, Ph.D., Chair, Religion and the Arts Program, Professor of Christian Art and Architecture, Yale University Divinity School

"Something was stirring in the IN VIVO, the root and organic of the source for the artist in the early days of the 1970's.  Christians In the Visual Arts (CIVA) began to find their voices, rather their canvases, brushes and paints as they discovered one another across the vast wasteland of their barren nation.  The Christian world had retreated from its influence in the market-place to what they considered to be a safe space but what turned out to be the irrelevant ground of the Christian ghetto.  These awakening artists began to realise that they were wild birds rather than chirping budgies.  They rediscovered the biblical injunction and calling to be both salt and light in the world that their Creator had not negated.  CIVA brought these voices together.  Tears and laughter were embraced on the tapestry of fellowship as artists realised, many for the first time, that they were both called and gifted to be and to become thoroughly professional and thoroughly Christian.
 
CIVA gave lonely gifted men and women a platform, where individuals, as well as conference, heard that it was OK to be both artist and Christian.  Quickly the question moved to 'can I be artist, Christian and eat?'  Buying one another's work while we could afford it became an important injunction, part of the engagement of this rich family of fellow travellers in the arts.
 
I commend this organic, challenging movement to you all for your continued prayer, support and encouragement.  I ask that each of us who stand upon the ground of revelation might learn to see and to hear with fresh insight daily the ways by which the Great Artist declares His purpose and plan through the arts for His still so loved world.
 
It is my firm opinion that the arts are the last window open through which the voices of the 21st Century prophet may speak.  More importantly still is the fact that the arts retain the credibility that draws to themselves a vast audience, who engage with them at every level of their humanity.  CIVA, after a quarter of a century, continues to be a relevant and potent platform of excellence where imagination rather than administration dictate its precepts.  May it continue to be as the Creator I believe ordained it thus that the dog wag the tail and not vice versa and to this end I give it my full imprimatur."
—Nigel Goodwin Director of Genesis Arts Trust

"Nicholas Wolterstorff reflects in his important introduction upon the double alienation felt by many of the artists whose work graces this gorgeous book and it is a tough testimony that should be read by church folk everywhere;  what damage we have done to hinder the artists amongst us, what a mediocre ethos we have too often created which discourages those with gifts of brooding allusiveness, creative imaginativity or colorful joy.  But his pondering is only part of the story:  herein is documented in word and image, the pages of this book record the glorious work of an organization dedicated to supporting the Christian artist. CIVA is a wonderful association and this book shows off the God-blessed glory of their members’ work in extraordinary fashion. Thank God for the gentle steadfastness of CIVA, for those who compiled this excellent book, and for Square Halo who publishes manna like this." 
—Byron Borger Hearts & Minds Books (Follow this link for an alternate blog review)

"This book, and the artists it includes, represent a sea change that has taken place in Christians’ involvement in the arts in the last generation. Anyone thinking about these things will have to consult this book to get perspective on what is happening. This book demonstrates the significance these changes have not only for Christians in the arts, but for the Church, and indeed for the larger culture."
—William Dyrness Professor of Theology & Culture, Fuller Theological Seminary

"In every era of art there are rich veins of expression that lay just below the broadly acclaimed visual surface. Then at some point, these veins develop a critical mass and erupt into visibility. Faith and Vision: Twenty-five Years of Christians in the Visual Arts unearths one of those veins. In its representation of nearly three generations, the book mines the fertile vein of artists whose stylistic sources lay within the many genres of modern art, but whose sources of meaning lay within the deeply grounded spiritual content of the Judeo-Christian tradition, and forges from it a volume of authentic depth and significance."
—Wayne Roosa Art Historian, Bethel University

CIVA has been, for 25 years, a unique organization that has demonstrated that religion has not completely vanished
from art with the advent of modernism. It has been a bridge between the worlds of art and religion, and a source of information, support, and nurturing for artists exploring the long tradition of Christian art and iconography. This handsome volume is a well-deserved homage to a remarkable organization. I hope it will not only aid in helping the reader understand the history of CIVA and its community of talented artists, but also inspire a wider, interfaith dialogue about the relationship between art and religion."
—Ena Heller, Director of the Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA)