Fine Arts Festival, 2007
The reports were filmed in Indianapolis just before and during the
Fine Arts Festival. They do not have voice tracks with them.
| color code | Red means written. Green means video. |
| Background | Background information on what AG Fine Arts is. |
| Why We're Here | So why did we practice months and travel over 1,000 miles? |
| Tuesday update | First day at Fine Arts and we see the room! |
| Elijah on Mt. Carmel rehearsal | Elijah practice on the competition stage. This is missing the introduction, but the video is a bit more clear than the final performance. |
| Wednesday update | Presentations don't start until tomorrow, so what happened today? |
| Thursday, first round | The judges see Elijah for the first time and...Boom! |
| Friday, second round | After Thursday? We had a surprise judge that was an answer to prayer. |
| Elijah on Mt. Carmel performance | This is actually a bit less clear than the rehearsal video, but it is open captioned. |
| After months of work... | Success or failure? |
| Final thoughts | Final thoughts on the whole thing. |
The reports
Background
Fine Arts?
NewHopeDeaf is in the Assemblies of God denomination. Each year
the AG has a talent show they call the Fine Arts Festival. The AG
says it is to train young people to show Jesus to other people
through art, music, drama and Sign Language.
Because NewHopeDeaf is committed to reaching the Deaf Community, we sent one of our own to bring a new kind of ASL song to Fine Arts. In January, 2007, we wrote Fine Arts for permission to do this new kind of song. In January, we got the written approval to do Elijah.
Instead of a 'hearing' song changed into platform interpreting ASL, Elijah on Mt. Carmel was written in ASL. It has no English voice track. We depend on a voice interpreter when necessary.
The Challenge?
Would the AG accept this new style? Good
question. The AG is full of people who love Jesus, but sometimes
they are slow to change. The AG depends on their platform
interpreters for a lot. And the platform interpreters are used to
music their way.
Judging at Fine Arts has had its problems. Sometimes judges are from the same churches as the students they are judging. We have strongly encouraged the AG to change their policy, but change is sometimes hard to accept. Sometimes older judges, hearing and Deaf, strongly prefer the old style they grew up with. They don't understand or just don't like new, different ways. Interpreters largely control the category. They tend to see things through traditional interpreter's eyes. Again, these people love Jesus. It's just that change can be hard.
The Goal?
Winning would be great, but even more important
is sowing the new idea of music from a visual perspective, not a
hearing perspective. Instead of what makes hearing people inspired,
what will inspire the Deaf Community to love Jesus? If other
students and churches catch this idea, then we have succeeded.
That's our goal and that's our prayer.
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Final thoughts
Yes, in January we wrote what kind of song we were
bringing. We gave full details. We had written approval from the
national office. In Indianapolis, the judges very much liked the
song. But they would not accept the
song. The judges decided it the song did not fit the rules. The
national office would not stand by their agreement. They would not
overrule the judges. So was the song a failure? Was all that work
wasted?
We went to Fine Arts this year to do two things. First,
sow seeds. Show other people a different way, a way that reaches
more younger Deaf. We succeeded. People who saw "Elijah", especially
younger Deaf really appreciated it. God willing, the style will
spread. God willing, in a year or two Fine Arts will open a new
category so Deaf themselves can do music and stories their way. That
would be success!
Second, after some bad judging at Fine Arts in Austin in 2004, Anna
needed to face the judges again and show that she belonged there.
Amazingly, one of the Austin judges was there in Indianapolis.
Was Anna nervous? Yes. Did painful memories come back? Yes. Did Anna
put those painful memories behind her and do a great job? Yes. Success.
We celebrate that!
Change is hard for people. Change can be very hard for large, old
organizations. That's a lesson for all of us to remember. We thank
Jesus for the healing, the growing and the seeds sown.
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