Artsy types finding fellowship in affinity groups that mimic church — Art Church, Dance Church, Jazz Church:
Portland’s church of art honors a different ‘cultural leader’ each Sunday
"Most every week, a devoted band of worshippers congregate for Sunday services inside a white barn in the city’s North Deering outskirts. They gather in silence around an altar...Classical music drips from a tiny radio on the shelf...This is church — art church. 'It’s become that,' said artist Larry Hayden, who owns the barn. For a decade, like-minded artists have gathered...on the seventh day of the week, to sketch and paint....'There’s nothing else like it. It’s peaceful. We have a sign on the door that says ‘politics free zone’ so a lot of the baggage that we’re carrying around all week, with what’s going on the world, we just leave it at the door.'"
Dancing to their own tune: Duluth Dance Church melds movement and mindfulness
"Duluth Dance Church is a sober, nonreligious and community-oriented dance gathering from 1-3 p.m. Sundays....Many wonder if Dance Church is a religious event because of the name...said SeanTayah Hiwe....The Hiwes understand negative and positive associations with the word 'church.' But they noted a reclaiming of it through jazz churches....dancing together is an intimate experience. There's an exchange of vulnerabilities; you become familiar with others, and that builds trust....you don't have to be spiritually minded to come, they said. It's all about connection and movement — or even lack of movement. If people need to move their bodies, roll on the floor, lie on a yoga mat or bark like a dog, they can do that"
Portland’s church of art honors a different ‘cultural leader’ each Sunday
"Most every week, a devoted band of worshippers congregate for Sunday services inside a white barn in the city’s North Deering outskirts. They gather in silence around an altar...Classical music drips from a tiny radio on the shelf...This is church — art church. 'It’s become that,' said artist Larry Hayden, who owns the barn. For a decade, like-minded artists have gathered...on the seventh day of the week, to sketch and paint....'There’s nothing else like it. It’s peaceful. We have a sign on the door that says ‘politics free zone’ so a lot of the baggage that we’re carrying around all week, with what’s going on the world, we just leave it at the door.'"
Dancing to their own tune: Duluth Dance Church melds movement and mindfulness
"Duluth Dance Church is a sober, nonreligious and community-oriented dance gathering from 1-3 p.m. Sundays....Many wonder if Dance Church is a religious event because of the name...said SeanTayah Hiwe....The Hiwes understand negative and positive associations with the word 'church.' But they noted a reclaiming of it through jazz churches....dancing together is an intimate experience. There's an exchange of vulnerabilities; you become familiar with others, and that builds trust....you don't have to be spiritually minded to come, they said. It's all about connection and movement — or even lack of movement. If people need to move their bodies, roll on the floor, lie on a yoga mat or bark like a dog, they can do that"
