Water From the Rock

Rabbi Sandy Sasso

The 2021-22 Religion, Spirituality and the Arts Seminar (RSA) culminated in an exhibition that opened at the Harrison Center on April 1. A cohort of 13 artists studied with Rabbi Sandy Sasso and IUPUI faculty members to create works centered around the theme of “Water From the Rock.”

“In the religious imagination, water quenches both physical and spiritual thirst,” the exhibition description explains, “In the most unexpected places, wells and rocks become bearers of story. Focusing on the Exodus narrative of Moses striking the rock to open an aquifer, artists considered the power of water as sustenance, healing, and renewal and how entities such as water and rocks might help us rethink our relationship to the earth.”

The Religion, Spirituality, and the Arts (RSA) is a program of the IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute that brings together artists, religious leaders, religious communities, humanities experts, and a broad range of publics from diverse backgrounds and disciplinary perspectives for sustained study, analysis, and discussion of religious texts in a classroom environment. Directed by Rabbi Sandy Sasso, these textual discussions, which explore the varieties of religious experience and understanding, provide the inspiration for creating new artistic works. Artists share their creations through exhibitions and presentations to members of the Central Indiana community, including religious organizations, congregations, schools, libraries, and community groups. Dr. Andrew Findley curated the exhibit, and Rev Shonda Nicole Gladden served as this year’s graduate assistant.

This year’s exhibition is dedicated to the memory of RSA alumna Jacquie Reed and will remain on display throughout April in the Speck Gallery at the Harrison Center. All works are available for purchase in-person and online through the Harrison Center’s online gallery.

Additional information and artists’ statements are available at rsa-exhibit.org. Applications for the 2022-23 seminar will open in May and can be found at www.culturalecologies.org/rsa.