RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Tahlib

TODD DAYTON FOX is the INSPIRE ME! Artist for March 2012.  He was born and raised in the bible-belt state of Kansas, and since childhood (b. 1972) has been exploring his imaginative interests through music, drawing and painting. In 2009, he heard the call to paint the eight part Portrait of the Passion series, which includes "Throne of Thorns" (above), a surrealist look at the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

INTERFAITH EXHIBITS:

• Handsome, 22-year-old spoken-word poet Jeff Bethke inspires interfaith debate on YouTube about Jesus (Time Magazine)
• Jewish & Christian sacred texts united for interfaith exhibition at The Vatican (Catholic News Agency)
• Researchers report that "Religion" dominated the News in 2011 (Pew Forum); but A&O reported this first on January 1, 2012 (AOA News)

BUDDHIST ART:

• In Cincinnati, Japanese art master Setsuko LaCroix, to exhibit at Malton Gallery beginning Friday, March 9 through March 22 (Alpha Omega Arts)

HINDU ART:

• In India, over 200 deities were invited to gather for Mandi Shivratri Festival (Hill Post)

ISLAMIC ART:

• Egyptian female photographer, Marwa Adel seeks to break society's taboos for women with her provocative but stately images (Ahram Online)
• American Soul singer Erykah Badu takes it in stride when the Malaysian government cancels her show because some Muslims were upset by Allah tattoos (The Sidney Mourning Herald)
• Researchers find that the number of US mosques has grown by 72% since 2000 (USA Today) 

JEWISH ART:

• A 2009 news feature on Jewish artist Tobi Kahn's exhibition at the Museum of Biblical Art in NYC is the A&O Video of Week (CBS TV)
• Michigan's Holocaust Memorial Center opens new exhibition, "Silent Witnesses" on the changes impacting synagogue buildings, and it features NYC artist Yona Verwer (Alpha Omega Arts)

CHRISTIAN ART:

• New TV show "GCB (Good Christian Bitches)" begins tonight: Sunday, March 4 on ABC, not Cable (Big Hollywood)
• 40 Days of Art for LENT 2012 (Alpha Omega Arts)
• Huffington Post's quirky salute to Ash Wednesday for "Lapsed Catholics" has an odd assortment of images (Huffington Post)
• Archeologists in Isreal discover first evidence of Christianity from time of Jesus (Sign Codex)
• New blog, "Bearded Gospel Men" takes a humorous look at the art of "Pogonotrophy" (Alpha Omega Arts)
• The Lourve announces a fashion show by designer Salvatore Ferragamo, as part of Ferragamo's backing for a new Leonardo da Vinci exhibit (ArtInfo)
• Asisan artist creates Virgin Mary portrait out of 100s of Madonna (the Pop-icon) images at NYC gallery (Art Slant)
• North Dakota's University of Mary hosts "Artists Celebrating Christ" conference in North Dakota later this month (Bismark Tribune)
• Exhibition of Christian art from the late 1300s “The Adoration of the Magi by Bartolo di Fredi” opened at the University of Virginia Art Museum this week (Charlottesville News)
• A small Christian college in California is becoming the epicenter of the art world for 2012 (WND) 

WANT MORE? Get your daily dose of Alpha Omega Arts on Facebook and/or Twitter, or just come back each day. Whether it's Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islamic, Judaic or other, there's always something new to talk about in today's interfaith world of religious arts. Each week, we also invite you to join a dialogue about your A&O MOVIE NITE experience; and at least five times a year, A&O sponsors an A&O JOURNEY to a city around the USA to see a major new religious art exhibit, so let's Meetup!