ruah arts group

Coming up Saturday and Sunday July 12th and 13th, make plans to be on the Capitol Square for the 50th Annual Art Fair on the Square, presented by the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Art Fair on the Square. It’s the 50th anniversary of the Art Fair, so MMoCA is really doing it up big this year! Not only will nearly 500 artists be displaying their works in a variety of media, there will be 3 entertainment stages and lots of fun family activities. The free live music includes Mark Croft, Lou and Peter Berryman, Tift Merritt and more. See the full lineup here

Which is best? To remain obscure, perpetually in debt and tortured, but humble? Or to be invited to higher places and step by step win acclaim, falling victim to vainglory? Perhaps there’s a way to remain both humble and be recognized in the world, and if I had my guess, this may be the destiny of Grassroots Films, whose talent is obvious, and name increasingly whispered amongst the film circuit, but whose goal is the greater glory of God and the salvation of souls.

This is all fanfare to say that Grassroots Films just was awarded the Best Documentary Feature at the Maui Film Festival, an “Audience Award.” Having seen this very good feature myself in Madison (or at least a version of it) last November, it’s not so surprising that it’s becoming recognized. It is surprising, though to see the mission statement of the Maui Film Fest. It’s kind of spiritual, actually.

It all seems very lovely and inspirational. Get this. This mission is

The Maui Film Festival is built on the belief that great filmmaking is pure alchemy. When filmmakers choose to tell compassionate life-affirming stories, they can change darkness into light. It is this belief in the power of creativity to enlighten, as well as entertain, that is the guiding principal that gives the Maui Film Festival its character, its energy and its soul.

You can be as inspirational as you want but you can’t have a good film festival without funding, and you can’t get funding without sponsorship, and you can’t get sponsor ship without starpower, or in this case “luminarypower.”

A-LIST ‘LUMINARIES’
Since the inaugural Maui Film Festival at Wailea, the Festival has chosen an ‘ohana’ (family) of honorees that it prefers to call luminaries, rather than merely celebrities. As the Festival defines it, a luminary is a film artist whose overall body of work sheds as much light as heat and whose talent and work ethic place them in a category that transcends mere celebrity. A luminary is the real deal.

The list includes: Joan Allen (Galaxy Award), Angela Bassett (Pathfinder Award), Jessica Biel (Shining Star Award),Adrien Brody (Friend of the Festival),Tim Burton (Silversword Award), Patricia Clarkson (Pathfinder Award), Claire Danes (Nova Award), Geena Davis (Stella Award), Clint Eastwood (Silversword Award), Jake Gyllenhaal (Shining Star Award), Laird Hamilton & Dave Kalama (Beacon Award),Woody Harrelson (Navigator Award),Ted Hope (Trailblazer Award),Anthony Hopkins (Silversword Award), Helen Hunt (Stella Award),William Hurt (Navigator Award), Greg Kinnear (Navigator Award), William H. Macy (Rainmaker Award), Bill Maher (Maverick Award), Mike Myers (Silversword Award), John C. Reilly (Navigator Award), Rob Reiner (Lights! Camera! Passion! Award), and Owen & Luke Wilson (Shooting Star Award).

It’s all very fancy and certainly hopeful in a world growing darker by the day. Congratulations, Grassroots!

“The writer should never be ashamed of staring. There is nothing that does not require his attention.” –Flannery O’Connor