union avenue christian church |
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Celebrating Creativity and Spirituality Through the Arts The Arts Group of Union Avenue (AGUA) has enjoyed great success since its inception in 1988. The members are committed and diligent in their efforts to provide Union Avenue Christian Church and its surrounding community with opportunities to celebrate and participate in the arts. This special group is responsible for many culturally stimulating activities that set Union Avenue apart from other churches. Because the programs sponsored by AGUA have gained a reputation for excellence over the years, our church family shares an extra sense of pride in the outreach efforts of this vital ministry. The mission of the Arts Group is to help individual members of the Union Avenue Christian Church and the surrounding community to: increase their knowledge of, appreciation for, and participation in a variety of art forms; to perceive such creativity as an expression of God's creativity and, thus, a source of and outlet for spiritual growth; and to provide cultural enrichment for our area, focus on positive elements of the urban environment, and use artistic expressions to discover those common pleasures and ends that we all share. Arts Programming That Suits a Diverse Audience AGUA develops its programs carefully to suit a diverse audience. The group's art exhibitions offer a wide range of media and are of the finest quality. Its programming encourages participation by the young and old alike, and its program leaders have included members of the congregation as well as noted scholars and authorities. Many of the AGUA exhibitions are juried by talented professionals, including the annual multimedia exhibition, founded and organized by the late Gretchen Brigham. Held annually since 1990, the exhibition celebrates varied aspects of life. Recent themes have included ”Revealing the Spiritual in the Everyday,” ”New World a Comin',” and ”Connecting With Nature: A Reason for Hope for Our Earth.” AGUA has worked with the Christian Education Department to offer adult study opportunities held in conjunction with these exhibitions. In the spring of 2003, AGUA planned and hosted a renewal retreat for Union Avenue at the Rickman Center (in Jefferson City, Missouri) as part of its programming surrounding "Connecting With Nature…." The theme of AGUA's 2008 multimedia exhibition is "The Power of Passion." Inspired by the three passionate productions of the upcoming summer season of Union Avenue Opera – L'elisir d'amore, Otello, and Carmen – the juried exhibition seeks to stir the strongest fundamental emotions in exhibit viewers. Love, jealousy, revent, ambition , deceit – all are celebrated in the matchless works by Donizetti, Verdi and Bizet. The exhibition will be judged by local artist Judy Seyfert, and will hang in the Gretchen Brigham Gallery August 3 – 31, 2008. AGUA has supported the work of Union Avenue Opera from its inception in 1995. To learn more about specific programming offered by AGUA or the other outreach ministries supported by Union Avenue Christian Church we invite you to explore the links in the column to the right.
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OUR OUTREACH REACHING OUT STORIES LINKS |
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