Memphis Arts Moot desires for attendees to engage with artists who are followers of Christ and leaders in their fields who seek to bring Goodness, Truth and Beauty into the world through their work.
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KeynoteJohn Hendrix
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Artists who specialize in a variety of media will lead breakout sessions.
Skye Peterson SINGER-SONGWRITER Skye Peterson is a singer-songwriter based in Nashville, TN. Although she has been writing and recording since high school, she began her career as a musician after studying theology and being inspired by biblical history and hermeneutics. Now writing hymns for Getty Music, Skye is also performing her own concerts and hoping to tell the world that they are not alone and that there’s a King who’s worth singing about. Danielle Sierra Artist / Professor Danielle Sierra is a visual artist from the small rural farming town of Avenal in California. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Studio Art with a concentration in Painting at California State University, Fresno. She received her Master of Fine Arts in Painting at the University of Memphis in 2022 with her thesis, A Study in Glory, exhibited at Crosstown Arts in Memphis, Tennessee. Danielle’s work is inspired by the beauty found in the diversity of human beings and God the creator. Often combining the human figure with organic, architectural, and floral elements to convey allegoric meaning focused on biblical themes. A passion that birthed the two-year running art show “An Art(form) of Worship” at Crosstown Arts in 2016 and 2017, which she curated and exhibited in. |
Cindy McMillion photographer Cindy McMillion is a photographer living in Memphis, Tennessee. Her work revolves around the belief that recognizing and honoring the divine image inside every human being is the basis for living in community. Cindy is the parish photographer for Church of the Holy Communion (Episcopal). For many years, she also photographed weekly at St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, providing free portraits for the housing-insecure men and women who attended the community breakfast and worship. Cindy is the author of the community storytelling project, Connecting Memphis, which contains nearly 1200 photographs and interviews with people in our beloved city. Sally Thomas AUTHOR Sally Thomas is a poet, fiction writer, essayist, and editor, originally from Memphis but at home for the last fourteen years in western North Carolina. Her books include a poetry collection, Motherland (Able Muse Press 2020), a novel, Works of Mercy (Wiseblood Books 2022), and an anthology, Christian Poetry in America Since 1940 (Paraclete Press 2022), winner of Christianity Today's 2023 Book Award in Culture and the Arts. Her short fiction has received awards from Dappled Things: The Quarterly of Ideas, Art, and Faith and Relief: A Journal of Art and Faith. Her poems have appeared widely in such publications as First Things, North American Anglican, and Plough Quarterly. She is associate poetry editor for the New York Sun newspaper, where she shares the writing of a weekday "Poem of the Day" feature, and serves on the editorial staff of Able Muse literary journal. Sally and her husband Ron, who teaches in the theology faculty at Belmont Abbey College, are the parents of four grown children, ages 29 to 19. |
Dr. Junius Johnson Author / Scholar Junius Johnson is an independent scholar, teacher, musician, and writer. He is the executive director of Junius Johnson Academics, through which he offers innovative classes for both children and adults that aim to marry the sense of wonder with intellectual rigor. An avid devotee of story, he is especially drawn to fantasy, science fiction, and young adult novels. He performs professionally on the french horn and electric bass. He holds a BA from Oral Roberts University (English Lit), an MAR from Yale Divinity School (Historical Theology), and an MA, two MPhils, and a PhD (Philosophical Theology) from Yale University. He is the author of 4 books, including The Father of Lights: A Theology of Beauty. An engaging speaker and teacher, he is a frequent guest contributor to blogs and podcasts on faith and culture, and is a member of The Cultivating Project. |
Tom Rieman master gardener Tom Rieman is a long time hobby gardener with an interest in landscape and urban horticulture. Tom and his wife Laurie, who is also a master gardener, were honored to have their garden named the Commercial Appeal ‘Garden of the Year’ in 2012. As a Tennessee Extension Master Gardener and a past president of the Memphis Horticultural Society, Tom is a frequent presenter to local garden clubs and civic groups and writes a monthly column for the Bartlett Express Newspaper. |
Lisa Jo Perdue Artist / educator Lisa Jo holds a B.F.A. in Art/Graphic Design from University of Memphis and has years of experience as a graphic designer. Currently teaches Visual Arts and Digital arts classes at Harding Academy in Memphis, Tennessee where she resides with her husband Jay and her children Parks and Wren. |