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Museum Explores Bible's Influence on ArtWith the word Bible in its name, the Museum of Biblical Art might be mistaken for a faith-based institution.
But its curators say that the museum explores how the bible has influenced visual art and it is a secular institution.
The inaugural exhibition in the museum's spacious new quarters is called Coming Home.
The title refers to the rapture, the calling of the faithful home to Heaven at the end of the world.
The 73 artists are all from the South, self taught and united by the impact of religious tradition on their work.
Curator Carol Crown defines the majority as evangelical Christian - the predominant faith in America's South.
Howard Finster, who died in 2001, was in fact a Baptist preacher.
"He is the most famous Southern self-taught artist in the exhibit," said Ms. Crown. "He's kind of an icon. You know when you think of the South, you think of Elvis and Coca Cola and Jesus. Well, put Finster with them."
In a small portrait of Christ, Finster, pleading for an end to the world's ever-growing evil, signed his painting: "Howard Finster World's Red Light Stop Sign."
"This Baptist preacher began making art as he was called by the Lord to do it and his intention was to convert," she said. "He had the good news. And being a good Evangelical, he wanted to share that news. By the end of his lifetime, I b
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June 5, 2005 | Viewed 26,490 time(s)
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