Ich hatte die Ehre am vergangenen Wochenende Teil des Offenen Ateliers auf der “Langen Kunst Nacht in Landsberg am Lech zu sein. Ein Abonennt meines Kunstnewsletters hatte mich darauf hinwiesen, dass es ein von Christen veranstaltetes offenes Atelier gibt rund um diese lange Nacht.
The Setting
Die Stadt Landsberg am Lech hat diese “Long Art Night (Lange Kunst Nacht)” zum ersten Mal seit Corona wieder organisiert, wo Künstler die Möglichkeit bekamen in Geschäften und sonstigen Räume ihre Kunst zu präsentieren.
The Open Studio was initiated by Guila S. and supported by a group of Christians and artists. The premises were in an empty shop right on the main square in the old town. The owners were so enthusiastic about the campaign that they made the premises available free of charge (of course there were still a number of costs for the campaign, which are to be borne by donations).
In der Woche vor der eigentlichen Kunstnacht gab es bereits “Malen für Kinder” und Steine bemalen. Wir hatten uns darauf geeinigt, dass ich Friday afternoon and Saturday morning to present my art, make my art, guide people who wanted to paint a picture with me or just be there for questions. It was planned that I could stay with Guila's family.
The Friday - construction, doing art and good talks
I had framed some of my pictures in advance, had new business cards, flyers for my planned 2023 art calendar and general art printed. So we started hanging up my pictures and exhibiting my flyers. We prayed together for the studio, the art night and the visitors. We had a good time together and each of us pursued our art.
Da sich nicht genug Teilnehmer für den Tanz Flashmob am nächsten Tag angemeldet hatten und eh Regenwetter angekündigt war, sagten wir meinen Termin am Vormittag ab. Ich beschloss noch bis zur Kunstnacht zu bleiben, ein weiteres Mal zu übernachten und am Sonntag in den Gottesdienst der hiesigen Vineyard zu gehen.
The time with my hosts
I ended up staying with a retired couple who picked me up directly at the studio. Two more women were then invited to dinner in the hosts' house. We had a good chat and finally I was asked if they could now see my art. So I presented my art prints and told the story of the respective pictures. Names were mentioned that the others also knew and appreciated. So we were all touched and blessed by God that evening.
Above all, the man of the house told me many stories about how he found Jesus as an academic and how the Holy Spirit touched and used him. He's also on the leadership team at Vineyard there.
I enjoyed being able to sleep in and have breakfast in peace. The sun came out and I was able to continue the painting I had started the day before in the sunny conservatory.
During the day it rained heavily, so that I was already wondering whether I would even be able to visit the city in the dry.
I offered the hosts to get one of my art prints as a gift. The choice was not difficult, because one of the pictures spoke exactly to the situation of one of her children.
Saturday – Walk through the old town
In the afternoon I was taken to the studio. After the sun had just come out and nobody else was there, I decided to take a little walk to explore the old town. It actually stayed beautiful the whole time, so I enjoyed the sunshine, the beautiful old houses and winding streets. Despite the sun, it got too cold for me at some point.
Time with other artists in the studio
Soon the other artists who were exhibiting here came back to the studio one after the other. One had painted beautiful pictures and scratched some small guitars in a creative way that the different finishes and the wood structure created beautiful pictures and decorated the guitar body.
He had his 3 small children with him, who used pens to draw a marked area on the wall in a very expressive and imaginative way.
Another artist painted wonderful watercolors and, together with another woman, had published a small booklet with her pictures and beautiful texts. She regularly hosts an art café for teens, where she offers coffee and pastries and then gets creative with her visitors.
Die Zeit der eigentlichen “Langen Kunst Nacht”
At 6:00 p.m., the art night actually started throughout the city. So the visitors streamed in in large numbers, in places it felt like 20 people were in the rooms. Most didn't stay long after going through. Some agreed to have their shadows photographed on the wall.
Again, I got into conversation with some visitors - mainly Christians, to whom I was able to show my art. One told me his conversion story. He used to have a graphics agency and did layouts for various publications that I knew.
I stayed with the initiator Guila so that I leave my framed pictures and flyers in the studio for the time being and she will bring them to me at some point when the studio closes again.
The rest of the time in Landsberg
My host then picked me up towards the end of the Long Art Night. Unfortunately, I hadn't seen much of the actual art night in the rest of the city. But I was glad that I could go to the quarters because I was really tired and it was also quite cold.
I sat down in the living room to have a drink. I stayed a little longer because the host told many interesting stories from his life, how he came to faith, experienced the Holy Spirit and how even challenging situations in life had served him well, even in the end.
It was already very late when I went to bed. Because the next morning I had to get up early again because I wanted to attend the service at Vineyard Landsberg a. Lech. I even got the opportunity to give a brief account of the art night and present my art. The hostess even came over and said I should leave some flyers.
Afterwards I was even able to meet some former Jesus Freaks who went to church here.
The host took me to the train and waited with me until the train came. When I then wanted to go, he blessed me.
What a great weekend and what a nice outreach!
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