Lesson 5

Amateur and Professional Artists: What They Need

Northwest Nazarene University students were encouraged to paint part of a triptych, regardless of any prior
artistic experience. They were led by amateur, emerging, and professional artists of the VineArts Ministry.
This lesson is about what amateur, emerging, and professional artists need in order to thrive as individuals, both spiritually and artistically.
This lesson is not about:

specific ideas and ways to serve together (this will be explored in later lessons)

inviting artists of varying abilities for projects within your church or community, and guiding the newcomer to good works (this will be addressed in the lesson on Inclusiveness with Excellence)

This lesson addresses what artists need as individuals, right where they are, and why we should draw
different types of individuals into community as artists, no matter their level of experience.
Friendship, community, healing, trust, care, and belonging need to happen first in an individual artist before
he or she will open themselves to collaborating artistically and spiritually with a group of artists.

As you watch this video:

Think about the needs of various artists who are just trying to cope in life. Some artists are swamped by the
demands their art makes on them. Others have not yet discovered the medium they will fall in love with,
and may be struggling with their identity or self-worth. Still others have never been introduced to the person of Christ. The practical and relational needs of artists are many.

Lesson 5

Amateur and Professional Artists: What They Need

Starting Inward, Buildng Outward

In 2004 the Lord gave me a 4-fold mission for VineArts. It has never changed. Through art we:
worship God,
equip artists,
bless our church,
serve our city.
Caring for the individual artist falls under the category of equip artists.
Caring for the individual artist also begins to address worshiping God through art, since many of the artists we
bring into this community learn to connect their art in the context of God and His creativity. They start to associate visual art with Gods love for them personally, and begin to respond deeply to God in what they create.

Amateur Artist: Someone who does an activity for the love of it. What does the amateur artist need?

Emerging Artist: Becoming known and/or seeing new abilities. What does the emerging artist need?

Professional / Working / Studio Artist: Diligently pursuing their craft and/or an artist further along
down the road in their art journey, as Justin Nielsen says. What does the professional artist need?

One reason we read The Heart of the Artist is to prepare ourselves to be attuned to individual artists. I used to
think the only artists who are insecure are beginners. On the contrary! The more professional artists I talk with,
the more I hear about many of them struggling with far more intense fears than those of beginners. A well-known
concert artist told me: Every time Im sitting onstage with the rest of the orchestra behind me, about to perform
my solo concerto, whats going through my head is: When you pull that bow across the string, people will finally find out what a fake you are. Theyll know youre a fraud! Another cellist told me he almost didnt come to a
small retreat for Christian artists where he was scheduled to perform, for fear of not being good enough-- and this
musician regularly travels the world to sold-out crowds. A man who joined Dean and me in Plein Air: Unexpected Conversations, when asked if he was an artist, anwered us quickly, No, I just like to draw, but we learned he
teaches visual art at the local college -- yet he hesitates to call himself an artist!
How can you welcome and work with different types of artists? What is God showing you?