The Seminary Explores

You’ll see and think about landscapes differently after hearing about the work of Dawn Waters Baker. The Dallas, Texas-based painter brings her rich perspectives and large-scale attention to spaces on and above the battlefield as an Artist-in-Residence at the Gettysburg National Military Park. She has shown extensively and her paintings are in a number of collections. “Stunning, atmospheric and spiritual” are the impressions Katy Giebenhain came away with after her Seminary Explores conversation with the artist. The culmination of paintings Waters Baker is beginning here during her residency will be exhibited in the show “Civil: Works Inspired by the Civil War” at Mary Tomas Gallery, March 2019 (Reception TBA) in Dallas.

Thanks to our host site for this interview, Waldo’s and Co. on the square in Gettysburg

The Artist-in-Residence program is made possible by the Gettysburg Foundation and The National Park Arts Foundation, with support from the National Park Service.

Gettysburg National Military Park artist-in-residence Rick Stark reflects on who we choose to memorialize, contemporary and Civil War poetry, moral injury, nature and what it is like to be a military veteran living on the Battlefield for four weeks which include the famous first week of July.

Rick Stark and Chris Lauer examine hand made paper for Rick's poetry.

Florida-based artist and sculptor Sean McGraw joins Katy Giebenhain for a conversation about his work and perspectives during his second Gettysburg residency awarded through The National Park Arts Foundation. The classically-trained artist and founder of Historical Sculpture LLC is living on the Battlefield from May 15-June 15, 2018. McGraw is focusing on WWI soldiers as well as Civil War soldiers. He sketches at the Eisenhower Farm and interacts with visitors in addition to researching the 100th anniversary of the U.S.’s major offenses of Argonne and St. Mihiel, studying doughboys training in Gettysburg and France. The Artist-in-Residence program brings artists working in a wide variety of media to the site of the Battle of Gettysburg. It is made possible by the Gettysburg Foundation and The National Park Arts Foundation, with support from the National Park Service.

Thanks to our host site for this interview, Waldo’s and Co. on the square: www.waldosandco.com . Waldo's warmly welcomes the Park's artists-in-residence to Gettysburg.

Rev. Dr. Mark Oldenburg, Professor of the Art of Worship, Dean of the Chapel, United Lutheran Seminary (Gettysburg), and hymn writer refutes the notion that good hymns aren’t written anymore and cites numerous resources online and in print. Recent hymnody has been enriched by music from the southern U.S. and by “world music” (especially Africa). He plays and discusses two examples of his own hymns, the first of which was declared the best new hymn of 1988.

Artist Joshua Osburg, MFA Candidate at FontBonne University, Artist in Residence at the Gettysburg National Military Park, and combat veteran explores the importance of art to him throughout his life. He explores the idea that art can serve as a method to eliminate stress and how art can be a vehicle for personal healing.

Chip Beck is not only a veteran and an artist, he is also a combat artist with global experience who has rendered these experiences first-hand. His academic training is in political science, but he has been capturing what he sees on paper and other surfaces since he was a small child. Beck is an artist-in-residence at the Gettysburg National Military Park. He joins Katy Giebenhain for a conversation about “stone soldiers” and his current time on Gettysburg’s battlefield.

Photographer Bill Bretzger talks about his projected portraits, great Civil War photographers, what a spotlight can do for the mood of a landscape and how he’s mixing film and digital work during his time as an artist-in-residence on the Gettysburg National Military Park.

Gettysburg National Military Park Artist-in-Residence Brian Emery joins Katy Giebenhain from Seminary Ridge Review in a conversation about his “experimental documentary” adventures on and around the Gettysburg National Military Park. The FIT photography professor shares from his experiences as an introvert in public spaces capturing voices (including the voices of birds) images and stories from past and current history.

Award-winning songwriter, performer, author and peace activist David LaMotte has travelled extensively. In Gettysburg for the first time, he talks with Katy Giebenhain from Seminary Ridge Review about change narratives, reconciliation and a wonderfully unexpected story of nonviolent response.

Writer, scholar and social justice advocate Nancy Cook describes her research and her residency experience at the Gettysburg National Military Park in this episode of The Seminary Explores. Cook holds an M.F.A. from American University and a J.D. from Georgetown University. She has done projects in very interesting settings, including a former state mental hospital in Minnesota.