The Seminary Explores

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.

Justine Odila talks about his journey from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United States. While in the Congo, he worked to help child soldiers to return to school, their families and mental stability as well as helping other young children to not become soldiers in the first place. This work resulted in him being arrested but he escaped to Zambia where he lived in a refugee camp for 17 years where he carried assisting those around him. After a 5-year vetting process, he was finally able to come to the United States via a resettlement program. He presently works at Walmart, works part-time as a mental health counselor, and attends classes at the community college.

To learn more about the Democratic Republic of the Congo you can begin here:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cg.html

https://www.hrw.org/africa/democratic-republic-congo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo

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.

Often one party receives more votes for congress or the legislature and ends up with fewer representatives. The reason is “gerrymandering”: shaping voting districts to favor one party or the other. Steven Niebler, Coordinator, Fair Districts, Adams County, a Sub-group of Fair Districts, Pennsylvania,  argues that the key to this unbalance is that elected officials choose their own voters. “Fair Districts,” a non-partisan advocacy group, proposes an eleven-member commission, chosen partly at random and partly by serious vetting, to set impartial boundaries.

Texas-based graphic designer Cesar Rivera joins Katy Giebenhain from Seminary Ridge Review for a conversation about the Pickett’s Charge flag capture of Corporal Joseph De Castro, artifact books, working as much color theory as possible into classes and ways in which all designers are educators. Rivera was an artist-in-residence at the Gettysburg National Military Park.

Dr. Jill Titus, Associate Director, Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College and the author of Brown’s Battleground suggests that we often misunderstand historical monuments, thinking they are “history” when they are really interpretations of history. As such, they become opportunities for conversation, study, communication and reflection. When deciding the fate of such monuments, context is critical. The New Orleans monument was clearly offensive, but many others should be retained as markers of our self-understanding as Americans.

The producers would like to note that this episode was recorded on July 7^th 2017, a month before the tragic events in Charlottesville, Virginia surrounding the Robert E. Lee statue and related protests and counter protests. 

United Lutheran Seminary expresses deepest sympathy for the those killed and injured in Charlottesville.  Please take a moment to read the written response to the events in Charlottesville. 

We also encourage our listeners to revisit the episode titled “Not waiting for the Hero” to hear an example of a unique form of non-violent counter protest that was carried out 10 years ago under similar circumstances. 

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.

Dr. Nelson Strobert, Professor Emeritus of Christian Education, Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary, and author, Daniel Alexander Payne, distinguishes between a tourist and a traveler, and cites three travelers of color who journeyed to Paris to round out their education, and discovered “liberty, equality, and fraternity” as they had not in America.

The Gettysburg National Military Park is a stop for artist and art historian Anne Tait on her sabbatical. Hear more about her research and artwork (embroidered, back-lit tondi incorporating headstone imagery) in this interview with Katy Giebenhain from Seminary Ridge Review. Tait is an artist-in-residence at the Park.

Lathan Marstellar, the Artist in Residence and the Gettysburg National Military Park, talks about the worlds of virtual and augmented reality and his work creating a virtualized experience around President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Lathan will be presenting his work March 11th, 2017 from 10am-1pm at the GNMP Visitors Center.