Religious Literacy: The Prerequisite to Understanding Western Art

Thur May 4, 5:45pm-6:45pm;
Free

In celebrating the human spirit through the arts, The Muckenthaler Cultural Center provides a platform for artists and scholars to share how their work directly impacts the local community.

In a series of seminars, our 2023 Artist In Residence, Jac Alva, will be leading the conversation about the role of food in art. In this presentation, Jac Alva and California State University Fullerton Lecturer and author of The Abolition of Christianity (2022), Dr. Mark Walia, will discuss the relationship between religious literacy and understanding Western art. Focusing on food oriented religious artworks, Jac Alva will analyze various renditions of Last Supper, one of the most famous Christian artworks in the Western canon. This analysis will follow with Dr. Walia explaining how the Western world's increased secularization has manifested into a crisis of religious literacy. Join us for an examination of how growing religious illiteracy is preventing people from appreciating the biblical masterpieces of Western Art.

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