This Is Our City

Every Monday, a new work is released on Spark and Echo's website, totaling 52 works a year. Roberts and Zempel say that at their current rate, it will take 20 years to cover every verse in the Bible.

But they hope the project doesn't stop there. Artists are encouraged to respond creatively to works already in the collection, exploring the Bible further as part of a growing creative conversation.

Image: Courtesy of Steve Forster / sparkandecho.org

"Prophecy," Steve Forster's response to 1 Corinthians 13:8-12. 2013, 28″x56″, Oil on Linen

Spark and Echo is unique among faith and arts organizations in New York City. "One of the things we provide is the opportunity to make stuff," says Zempel. "There are a lot of groups that focus on discussion, and for good reason . . . . But our group is more about the doing and the making, and that's unique in the [faith and arts] community."

This summer Spark and Echo presented an improvisational dance and music performance by composer Evan Mazunik, who was inspired by Ecclesiastes 9:17: "The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools." The work is called "Among Fools: A Subrational Soundpainting" and involved over 15 musicians, actors, and dancers.

Taking Risks

When Roberts and Zempel started Spark and Echo, they weren't sure if non-Christians would want to get involved. But their early worries have proven unfounded.

"Non-Christians are open to creating works on the Bible if you ask them and are truly interested in them as artists," says Roberts. "Organizations are open to partnering with you if they see that you're a quality organization and the art is good. A lot of the hang-ups we thought existed in the city about the Bible and Christianity haven't been true."

Roberts and Zempel understand that inviting non-Christians to respond to the Bible requires vulnerability.

"If you tell a non-Christian, 'Here, take this passage, create what you like, and respond honestly to it,' it's a little bit of a risk that what they're going to create will be offensive to somebody," says Roberts. "The artists that we choose are all excellent, insightful, respectful artists, but they all have their different voices. And the works that come out may not exactly jive with how some Christians saw the passage."

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