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2003
Symposium Captured In Special Edition of
Christianity
and Theater Magazine
by
Laura McGowan
 When
Dale Savidge, executive director of Christians
in Theater Arts (CITA),
approached Bryan Coley about devoting an entire issue of the
organization’s bi-annual magazine to the process of script
and screenwriting, both men knew Art Within’s first annual
symposium would provide a perfect platform for exploring the
topic.
Launched in 2003, Art
Within’s Symposium and Showcase event draws 20+ artists
interested in exploring the relationship between faith and
art. During the
annual event, playwrights,
screenwriters, and producers from all over North America
gather to attend daily think-tank sessions, exploring how to
effectively blend faith with art in a manner that is
culturally relevant.
“Dale actually sat in the back row and casually audited the
symposium over the past couple of years,” says Coley, “He
thought the subject we were exploring--intertwining faith and
writing—was worth expanding on and would ultimately catch
the attention of his readers.” Art Within agreed that its first efforts at bringing together
writers and producers for think tanks sessions was, indeed, a
process that should be documented.
So each of the sessions were videotaped and
subsequently transcribed.
“This is partly about
legacy,” explains Coley, “Some of the writers involved in
the symposium—people like David McFadzean, Buzz McLauglin,
Scott Nolte and Ron Reed--have been at this for more than 25
years. We knew we
had to capture their thoughts and experience.”
CITA magazine editor Joe Frost,
an attendee at the 2003 and 2004 symposiums, was instrumental
in culling transcripts for ideas that writers presented and
asking them to expand on their initial thoughts.
The issue highlighting Art Within’s symposium is
currently being released and has articles as diverse as “An
Evening with Flannery O’Connor” by Rick Bonn to
“Creation’s Story” by Sean Gaffney to “Wanted: A Good
Blender” by Art Within’s Bryan Coley (click
here to read article).
A limited number of pre-release
magazines were circulated at this year’s symposium,
reminding attendees of the fruit that the annual symposium is
already bearing. ”This
gathering has produced and should continue to produce cutting
edge thinking and creative exploration into the questions of
our Christian faith as it is integrated in our play and screen
writing efforts,” claims Dr. Gillette Elvgren, professor of
theatre arts at Regent University.
CITA has been serving Christian
artists since 1989. In
addition to producing a magazine, CITA holds an annual
national conference, as well as regional conferences, to
encourage and network Christians working in the theater.
Art Within has been involved with the CITA conference
since 1999. The
creative team has taught workshops, judged the annual
playwriting contest and is utilized for CITA’s script
critique service.
“If it wasn’t for CITA, Art
Within would be a completely different organization,” says
Coley, “In our infancy, CITA was responsible for giving us
hope about finding and fostering talented writers rooted in
faith. So many of
the artistic relationships that helped mentor me personally
came directly from CITA.”
You may request a copy of Christianity
and Theater magazine by accessing the CITA website at www.cita.org.
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