Art Festival 2025

Close supervision of the art work is expected. The design phase is particularly important, and works will only receive their highest rating if a proposal is agreed upon before starting production.

The consistory has authorized midweek use of the Children’s Church room for this activity. Our plan is to personally contact as many families as possible, to introduce the program and arrange times for group art sessions. Artists may work when and where they choose, but group sessions provide the supervision we value.

Seriously: One thing sets this activity apart from others. While there are times that we encourage or allow or tolerate playfulness in Children’s Church, this art program is serious. When working in the church, doing art, children must be focussed and diligent, respectfully following instructions — one of the traditional values of our tribes. Parents/guardians should discuss this with their child and agree to it.

Expect to receive announcements of training opportunities: workshops to learn and experiment. For example, story books are a high priority for the Festival. We will provide one or more opportunities to practice the art of good story design.

There will be more than one way for our artists to make money from their art.

After the Festival, the artist is free to take the work home and sell it themselves. Or, with the approval of parent/guardian, finished art can be offered for sale on the Festival’s website, with all proceeds going back to the artist.

We are planning an online silent auction to be concluded at the Festival, with results announced during the awards ceremony. Artists should set a lowest acceptable bid if using the online auction.

Some works lend themselves to making reproductions. We will discuss with artists a long-term plan for advertising and selling reproductions of their work online.

Those selling copies of their picture book or story book must decide whether to print the books themselves or use an online service for printing and mailing and handling the money. In the latter case, the artist/author must set a sale price with the printing service. From that price, the service takes their costs of printing and mailing. The artist/author will receive what is left over.

For art to have its highest value, artists must collect and include their art provenance with each sale.

Provenance documents the history of the artwork. It tells the creation story: who, what, when, where, why. If interesting to buyers, the value of the art increases.

One part of the provenance is a requirement of the Festival. The artist must document how the work relates to the Festival’s theme. What verse, Bible lesson, story, catechism question, or creed was the inspiration for the art? What invisible thing is made visible? And preschoolers, don’t worry: we adults can discuss this with you and record your words.

Art that honors the language, history, or clan structure of the artist’s tribe will be highly rated. The provenance should spell out the connection between the art and the tribe.

For all those who enter a work in the Festival, we will provide you with our contribution to your work’s provenance: a certificate of authenticity.

• Examples of completed works [under construction]
• Templates for designs [under construction]
• Equipment, materials, supplies [under construction]
• cameras and lenses
• photographic printer and paper
• pony/crow beads, cord and yarn
• air-dry clay
• paints and brushes

We are open to any form of visual art — plus one extra category.

Story-telling is so important to tribal culture that the Festival will help young artists/authors self-publish their short stories even if they have no illustrations. Submissions of illustrated short stories and picture books are strongly encouraged and will be highly rated.

Here is a rundown of categories we look forward to receiving:

• drawing (pencil, pen, crayon, chalk, charcoal... and any combination):
• poster illustrating one of the 10 Commandments
• picture based on a Children's Church exercise, lesson, or verse
• painting
• miniature sculpture
• Genesis creation
• books:
• short story
• picture book
• short graphic novel
• photography:
• macro / close-up
• landscape: natural and urban
• portrait
• videography
• stop-motion video
• puppetry
• pony/crow beadwork:
• haramįhe banner
• star quilt design
• sewing
• multimedia

[Under construction. Here we plan to post images of submitted work as they come in.]