Winter 2025 Newsletter

2025 Winter Newsletter

From the Executive Director:

Grayshift

Noun. the tendency for future goals and benchmarks to feel huge when viewed in advance, only to fade into banality as soon as you’ve achieved them–finally reaching the top of the ladder, only to notice it circling back around like a hamster wheel.

A variation on redshift and blueshift, the astronomical processes that make objects moving away look redder than they really are and objects moving toward you look bluer.

I know, I know not the energizing, motivational, new year kind of quote you perhaps expected or hoped for. I’ve been reading John Koenig’s Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows while trudging through a chapter of personal grief this winter. I’ve been musing, ”What do goals, benchmarks, even futures look like in a season of grief—in lives that inevitably become heavy with grief over time?” Koenig’s pithy, poignant book is a compendium of new words that aims to expand our rather limited emotional vocabulary. He writes, “It’s a calming thing to learn there’s a word for something you’ve felt all your life but didn’t know was shared by anyone else.” If language for a particular feeling exists, then so must another human who has felt that particular feeling. “It’s even oddly empowering—to be reminded that you’re not alone, you’re not crazy, you’re just an ordinary human being trying to make your way….” When we have shared vocabulary, we are more able to share the burden and the joy, the vastness and the smallness of being human. Giving a feeling a name “has the power to make the inside of your head feel a little more familiar, at least for a moment or two.”

This term grayshift made me feel a little more familiar to myself during this first week of this new year amidst the strange and delightful tug between fresh 2025 motivation and snowday gray hunkering while St. Louis became an icy winter wonderland. 2024 was a significant year of strategic planning, and reflecting on the last 5 and 10 years of our work. Our ideas and dreams and plans for the future loom large; they feel huge. I wonder at times, “How will we ever get there?” The thought of those “grand” futures fading into banality stings a bit, then makes me deflated, but after a deep breath, maybe feels kind of nice. The idea that beauty and creativity—that this work of integrating the arts into the fabric of our community to help it flourish, that people with differing ideas and backgrounds could care for one another, that the arts can help children’s literacy soar—the idea that all of this could feel so a part of the everyday experience it is “the norm” is perhaps a mark of true success.

Art, in all of its strangeness, is a kind of vocabulary that can make the inside of our heads and hearts feel ever slightly more familiar. Art can help make the inside of your loved one’s, your neighbor’s, a stranger's head ever slightly more familiar. And honestly, I think that a hamster wheel covered in glittering mosaics and murals with rotating shelves of handmade mugs overflowing with soup that makes your mouth and mind both curious and comforted, and angular modern dancers who stir in you an infinite ache, and a string quartet that propels the wheel around again with their sheer jubilation, and because of all of this people who say, “I see you. Could you use some company this next lap around?”I think perhaps that wheel might be one worth going around on again. And again. And again.

Sarah Bernhardt

Our Core Values

Hospitality

We believe hospitality nurtures belonging! We create accessible and meaningful arts opportunities where both people and place are loved and valued. We practice a posture of deep listening to cultivate an inclusive, collective identity where people can find commonality and navigate differences.

Encouragement

We believe encouragement activates participation! We encourage and equip artists and audiences with the tools and supportive environment to make and engage creative work in order to imagine and enact a more beautiful and interconnected future.

Collaboration

We believe we are better together! We prioritize the relationships collaboration creates. We celebrate the complex process of working together with neighborhood youth and adults, artists, and institutions to accomplish more than we could individually.

In the Gallery:

Images by Bobby C Martin, Erin Shaw, and Tony Tiger

Currently on View: Altars of Reconciliation

Originally curated by Christians in the Visual Arts (CIVA) and featuring work by Native Artists Bobby C Martin (Muscogee, Creek), Erin Shaw (Chicasaw-Choctaw), and Tony Tiger (Sac & Fox, Muscogee, Seminole), This show specifically explores a theme rarely confronted in the art world: the practice of Christianity among Native peoples. Altars of Reconciliation asks “Why would Native Americans believe in the religion of the invaders?” As Native people who are Christians, the artists confront a deep paradox when asked this question.

There is and continues to be a long, rich and layered history of Native churches and Christian tradition, but there is an equally long sense of tension and conflict among tribal peoples about questions of faith. Often framed as a “Christian vs. Traditionalist” dichotomy, the lived story is not nearly so clear-cut. By facing personal faith struggles and transformations through these ‘altarpieces,’ the artists desire to bring about healthy discussion and awareness of how Christianity has played a historic (and continuing) role among Native peoples, and in the bigger picture, to engage people in thinking about the universal questions of things eternal, and role of faith in their own lives.”

Altars of Reconciliation

will be on view in our gallery from now through Saturday, February 1. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday 10:30am-4:30pm and Saturday 12-6pm, unless posted otherwise. Follow us on Instagram or Facebook for updates about snow closings as it is that time of year again!

Coming up on Tuesday, January 28th from 6-8pm, join us for our first Dovetail event of 2025!

Join us for a locally sourced Ozarkian inspired menu, poetry by Galen Gritts and an evening of story-telling and flute performance by artist Bobby C. Martin and his wife Stephanie Martin. Attendees are encouraged to bring along a photograph of someone who has influenced their own faith journey to share temporarily on a photo wall.

Tickets are required for this event, and you can purchase them here.

Accessibility is important to us, as is paying artists for their work! We have various pricing tiers; please choose the one that best suits your budget. If those tiers are still a barrier, please email us at intersectstl@gmail.com.

In the Artrooms:

Kids in our Afterschool Program packed Community Care Kits to give away at our Fall Fest

(Image courtesy of Sarah Bernhardt)

Talent Show (images courtesy of Sarah Bernhardt)

From Aida Hasanovic, our Education Director:

This fall and winter, Artventures students have not only developed their artistic skills but have also grown significantly in their social and emotional development. Through collaborative projects like prepping and performing in the October talent show, students have learned the importance of teamwork, communication, and supporting one another. Working together to put on the talent show, they practiced problem-solving and resilience, learning how to navigate challenges and celebrate each other’s strengths. In the art rooms, from painting and drawing to sculpture and mixed media, they've been experimenting with different materials and styles. Recent projects have included creating textured mosaics, crafting colorful clay sculptures, and writing mini skits and performances in dance class.

Throughout these experiences, students have built stronger self-confidence and developed a deeper sense of belonging. We’ve seen students form new friendships, work through challenging conflicts, and be supporters of one another. I am so proud of everything they have accomplished and discovered the last few months!

In the Studios:

(Images courtesy of Ryan Stanley)

WYNACHT 2024 Recap:

Rain, rain, but fun fun! Wynacht this year proved a little soggy, but a great turn out gathered for a cozy cup of soup, great tunes and thoughtful craft! Salem Prestien from Sauce Magazine came out to judge our inaugural soup competition; Alex Braden won first place with his Revithia soup (Alex will also be crafting some culinary delights for our next Dovetail for Altars of Reconciliation and you won’t want to miss it!). The Saint Louis Sudbury School, a micro-school that uses our space throughout the week, won the people’s choice with their take on the old fable, Stone Soup. All of the soups turned out incredible! A special thanks to Alex Braden, Sara Cox, Renee Gibbs, Ben Parviz, Nithya Rajasekaran, and the Saint Louis Sudbury School (led by Charity Stone) for their amazing soup contributions!

We also enjoyed music by a variety of local acts, welcomed back returning vendors and met many amazing new artists selling their creations, gave away mutual aid bags, explored open studios with Intersect’s 3rd floor artists, made a variety of crafts, sorted through fun finds at the clothing sale/swap, enjoyed some indoor smores, and savored coffee from BLACK COFFEE by Aloha Mischeaux. Epiphany Hair + Care partnered with us to provide free community haircuts!

Thank you again to everyone who volunteered, and to everyone who participated!

(Images courtesy of Ryan Stanley)

Emily Peters, one of our new Ceramics Studio managers, led the craft in the ceramics room during Wynacht, and participants made a wide variety of clay creations! (Which, if you have not yet picked your’s up, we still have it! Please arrange to pick up your work during our office hours)

Emily Peters started off as a regular member of our ceramics studio. Jill Kuanfung teaches in our Artventures program and our summer Teen Apprenticeship programs, introducing students to the world of ceramics! Both eagerly took on the role of managing our ceramics studio, organizing shelves, onboarding new members, and firing an impressive amount of pottery to meet all the Christmas deadlines! We are so grateful to have them on board working with us! Though we currently have a waitlist, we are always taking applications for our ceramics studio membership, which you can learn more about here if you are interested!

In Collaboration with Holy Cross:

IN THE BRIDGE HOUSE:

The Bridge House, a literal third space between Holy Cross and Intersect, provides a cozy venue for meeting and for exploring art and faith. The current show, WE HAVE THIS HOPE: Incarnation, explores the idea of incarnation through the lens of 2 Corinthians 4-5 and John 1, pulling on threads of gospel, of weakness, of trial, of joy, of resurrection power, of resilience and tenacity experienced in bodies.

It features work by seven artists from the congregation at Holy Cross, inspired by creative writings done by five pastors who attend or serve at the church.

The work is on display from now through February 16th by appointment only. Appointments can be made for Tuesday-Saturday during our normal office hours. Email Megan at intersectstl@gmail.com to set up a time to see the show!

You can also see WE HAVE THIS HOPE: Incarnation by joining us for the Image journal reading group!

Image is a quarterly journal that fosters contemporary art and writing that grapples with humanity, mystery, and spirituality. Already launched in several cities, Holy Cross and Intersect have partnered together to host a monthly gathering for the St. Louis region centered on the latest journal issue, which you can find here.

The group meets once a month on Thursdays at The Bridge House (3617 Texas Ave, with parking on the street, and behind the building in the lot by Momentum school. For those with mobility issues, we highly recommend parking in the lot and coming in the back door where there is a ramp) Light refreshments will be served. Please contact Pastor Paul Gaschler for more information, the dates for this semester, and to receive materials ahead of time: paulgaschler@gmail.com (308.882.6015)

COMING UP IN THE BRIDGE HOUSE:

(Image courtesy of Allison Luce)

Serpent Tree, by Allison Luce. These incredible, complex ceramic sculptures will grace the walls of the Bridge House throughout Lent (March 5-April 19, 2025). This work will also be featured in Holy Cross’s Ash Wednesday Feast service, which you can learn more about below.

The next Feast Service at Holy Cross will be Wednesday, March 5th at 7pm!

You can learn more about this art- enriched service at holycrossstl.org/feast Below are all of this season’s dates:

2024 - 2025 Feast Service schedule:

March 5th, Ash Wednesday, 7:00pm | Featuring work from Allison Luce’s series Serpent Tree

April 17th, Maundy Thursday, 7:00pm | Featuring work by Sara Nordling

April 18th, Good Friday, 7:00pm | featuring work by Sara Nordling

April 20th, Easter, 10:30am with breakfast at 9:15am | Featuring work by Sara Nordling

June 1st, Trinity Sunday, 4:00pm with a meal to follow | Featuring The American Kantorei