ABOUT US

The first Mennonite Arts Weekend (MAW) took place in 1991—the result of a conversation that explored the need for a gathering that would bring Mennonite artists together in an effort to help them "reclaim their identity/relationship with the church." The biennial gathering, organized and supported by members of Cincinnati Mennonite Fellowship (http://cincinnati.oh.us.mennonite.net/), invites artists and art enthusiasts to join together for a weekend (every other February) of presentations, workshops, performances and worship. In doing so, MAW seeks to encourage creative expression in Mennonite communities, to provide exposure for artists working in different facets of the arts, to provide a setting for interaction and the exchange of ideas, and to bring together practicing Mennonite artists and others of all traditions interested in the arts.

Artist-presenters over the years have included artists of all kinds from across the United States and Canada—writers, poets, painters, sculptors, fabric artists, photographers, dancers, actors, comedians, musicians, composers and choirs. Some names off the list include: Jeff Gundy, Marilyn Houser-Hamm, Jean Janzen, Julia Kasdorf, Greg Luginbuhl, Ken Nafziger, Chuck Neufeld, Mary Oyer, Ted Swartz and Lee Eshleman, Lucia Unrau, Roy Yoder and Robert Regier.

For more about Mennonite Arts Weekend, read the 2002 article by Lori Bontrager in Mennonite Life at http://www.bethelks.edu/mennonitelife/2001dec/bontrager_pf.php