S7 E03: Ritual Making & Performance Art with Heather Stringer

Heather Stringer is a therapist, artist, and ritual maker. She is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Seattle, WA and a Fellow with the Allender Center. She completed her M.A. in Counseling Psychology at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology and the Externship Program at The Allender Center. Heather has a practice of creating narrative informed trauma therapy as well as creating rituals for people marking a significant event in their life.

Heather believes that when we are intentional about engaging the particularities of our bodies, memories, and stories, an opening for healing and change are possible.

In this episode, Stephen Roach talks with Heather about her niche of combining ritual making with performance art in ways that foster healing and inspire a more creative approach to everyday life.

Artist Profile Series 26: Aimee Semple McPherson

Aimee Semple McPherson was a celebrity personality and pioneering religious figure active during the 1920’s and 30’s. She is perhaps most remembered for her larger than life theatrical presentations of the gospel and for establishing one of the world’s first recognized mega churches. At the height of her fame, Aimee’s services filled 5300 seats three times every Sunday. She appointed two massive choirs and a fifty-piece orchestra to perform musical compositions and sacred operas which she composed. In her services, Aimee preached what she called “illustrated sermons,” accompanied by elaborate set designs and costumes created by Hollywood designers and performed by professional actors.

S2 E14: The Art of Noise: On Performance Art & The Gospel

The Clang Quartet is an improvisational percussion/performance-art show, based metaphorically on the life of Jesus Christ. In this episode, Stephen talks with Clang Quartet founder, Scotty Irving about performance art as a vehicle of the gospel. The two discuss the need for resilience and tenacity in presenting uncommon or abstract forms of art. Scotty tells about his electrified crutch and the meaning behind the sound collages of his "harsh noise" genre of art.