Hey. tracy grubbs here. creative arts at lfc.
it's my pleasure to work with an awesome team of artists to create a stage design for each series at lake forest. hope in a house of blues is where we go crazy, so to speak. we pull out all the stops and try to come up with the most creative, even outrageous ideas/designs that we can imagine. (i mean where else in america will you find razor wire inside a church??) before i move into the deep theological implications of stage design, here are a few fun facts for you:
~we didn't buy even one piece of lumber to build the stage. we only used things we had. we think that's fabulous!
~i used facebook to find items needed for our lobby display. the green fridge, the shopping cart, even an ipod were all found by pleas for help in my facebook status.
~one of our mediums was burning, using a blow torch. no worries, we had a fire extinguisher on hand just in case.
all of us on the team really love using our creative abilities to make something cool, unique and provocative. we work hard to change it up, to come up with ideas that support the 'theme' of the sermon series. it's fun and rewarding to do. we laugh alot. all of this isn't why we do it, however. as we talked about lamentations and read thru portions of the book in our brainstorming meetings, we came up with the idea of a city in ruins...war torn and desolate. not unlike you'd find in our world today, physically speaking. there is also the ruin and desolation that isn't about buildings, but about broken systems and people's lives. about my life and maybe yours, too. at times don't we all feel burned out, empty, wondering where GOD is in the middle of hard things that come thru living everyday in this world? we see broken and heavy hearts, fragmented lives...THIS is the house of blues. we design the stage in hopes that we'll be inspired to open our hearts to come face to face with this truth and maybe in realizing our own need and the need of those around us in our families, neighborhoods and city, find the courage to do something about it. we create the stage to inspire ourselves to find HOPE for our own lives thru the life of Christ, to be the hands and feet of Christ, even in our own brokenness, in the lives of spiritually and physically vulnerable people all around us.
if the day comes that we find ourselves creating a set for any other reason, we'll stop and look for other outlets for our talents and creativity. we're always looking for fresh and unique ideas to create a honest, provocative environment where we'll all more fully encounter the LIVING GOD. that's the heart of the arts team.
