Celebrate Christmas in art during upcoming Goshen College Afternoon Sabbatical

Afternoon Sabbatical: “Celebrating Christmas in Art,” by Merrill Krabill, professor of art
Date and time: Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 1 p.m.
Location: Goshen College Music Center’s Sauder Concert Hall
Cost: Free and open to the public

As Christmas approaches, Professor of Art Merrill Krabill will explore how the divine is portrayed in art during an Afternoon Sabbatical presentation, “Celebrating Christmas in Art,” on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 1 p.m. in Goshen College Music Center’s Sauder Concert Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

At Christmas, Jesus’ coming to earth is celebrated. How might artists help reveal some of what it means to encounter the divine? God in the form of a human infant seems to be a very different thing than God as the ruler of all. Krabill will examine these thoughts and more with images from the works of a wide variety of artists.

“I am trying to think about what it is to show through art something about God coming to live with people,” said Krabill. “The place where I begin is that God with us will have the messiness and grit, the business and conusion of life as we live it, not the purity and distance we imagine in an angel choir.”

A reception in the Music Center lobby will follow the program. Afternoon Sabbatical programs are usually on the second Tuesday of the month at 1 p.m. in Sauder Concert Hall or the College Church Fellowship Hall and are free and open to the public. For more information on the Afternoon Sabbatical series, call the Goshen College Welcome Center at (574) 535-7566.

Future programs in the Afternoon Sabbatical series include:

Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012 at 1 p.m. in Sauder Concert Hall, Music Center

“Goshen’s Coffee Connection,” by Rosalyn Troiano, CSA string director, and a “merry band” of performers and singers

Love coffee? Zimmermann’s Coffee House, from Sauder Concert Hall, will present a delightful performance of “The Coffee Cantata” by J. S. Bach. Rosalyn Troiano and a “merry band” of instrumentalists will perform this humorous, coffee-loving cantata, featuring Danilelle Svonavec, soprano, Scott Hochstetler, baritone, and Jeff Martin, tenor.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at 1 p.m. in Sauder Concert Hall, Music Center

“Goshen Meets Broadway,” by the Shout for Joy Children’s Choir with Sandra Hill, director

Join Community School of the Arts music teacher Sandy Hill, several of her vocal students, the Shout for Joy Children’s Choir, as well as other guests for an afternoon on Broadway. Sit back and relax as some of the most enchanting songs from musicals make their way to Sauder Concert Hall.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at 12 p.m. in the College Church Fellowship Hall

International meal and program featuring “Lithuania: Small Surprises,” by Dr. Ervin Beck, professor emeritus of English, and Phyllis Beck

After a traditional Lithuanian meal, Ervin and Phyllis Beck, who taught for a year at Lithuania Christian College International University in Klaipeda, Lithuania, will share surprises from this interesting country. In this ancient land on the Baltic Sea, formerly a Soviet territory, they found an unspoiled seacoast, traditional villages and architecture, and people whose language most resembles the original Indo-European tongue. Cost: $20. Call (574) 535-7565 to register.

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College Acting News Bureau Coordinator Alysha Bergey Landis at (574) 535-7762 or alyshabl@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders or the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report‘s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.