The Mystery of Beauty conference celebrates the beauty to be found daily all around us as well as the ways that we can use artistry and even our very lives to display beauty particularly. Featuring internationally renowned artist, author, and speaker, Makoto Fujimura among other contributors, this half-day arts conference provides many opportunities both to engage with conversations of beauty and to encounter it.

Other speakers are Dr. Wesley Vander Lugt, professor of art and theology at Gordon-Conwell, Abilene Music, and Greenville artist, Caroline Riddle. Mysterion, an exhibition of work by Makoto Fujimura will be on display in the Galleries at First Pres.

“He has made all things beautiful in His time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11

General Admission*: $100

*Discounts available, especially for students

Special Reserved seating: $125

Register here.

Makoto Fujimura is a leading contemporary artist whose work has been featured in galleries and museums around the world, including The Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, The Huntington Library in California, the Tikotin Museum in Israel, Belvedere Museum in Vienna, C3M North Bund Art Museum in Shanghai, China, and Pola Art Museum in Japan. His process-driven, refractive “slow art” has been described by David Brooks of New York Times as “a small rebellion against the quickening of time.” Fujimura is the author of 4 books, Refractions, Culture Care, Silence and Beauty, and Art+Faith: A Theology of Making. Fujimura is the recipient of the 2023 Kuyper Prize for Excellence in Reformed Theology and Public Life as well as the American Academy of Religion’s 2014 “Religion and the Arts” award. From 2003 to 2009, Fujimura served as a Presidential appointee to the National Council on the Arts. He has also received notable recognition as a speaker, with one address selected by NPR as among the 200 “Best Commencement Addresses Ever” and by CNN as one of the top 16 “Greatest commencement speeches of all time” and is a recipient of four Doctor of Arts Honorary Degrees from Belhaven University, Biola University, Cairn University, and Roanoke College.

Dr. Wes Vander Lugt received an MDiv from Covenant Theological Seminary and a PhD in Theology, Imagination, and the Arts from The University of St Andrews. He has served as lead pastor of Warehouse 242 in Charlotte, theologian in residence at First Church Tulsa, and has been a visiting professor at Covenant Seminary, Cape Town Biblical College, and the University of St Andrews. At Gordon-Conwell, he serves as adjunct professor of theology and acting director of the Leighton Ford Initiative in Theology, the Arts, and Gospel Witness.

In addition to teaching and writing, Wes is the co-founder of Kinship Plot, a nonprofit in Charlotte seeking to imagine and embody resonant relationship of every kind. He also serves on the board with Christians in Theatre Arts (CITA) and the Lorien Academy of the Arts.

Abilene is a classical-fusion ensemble which takes its eclectic musical inspiration from the colorful, chic, and contemporary city they call home — Miami. They unashamedly find their relevance by looking to the past and reinventing the old. Members Joshua Spacht (piano / percussion), Katie Foto Berry (violin / vocals), David Molina (synths / percussion), and Gaylyn Foto (cello / vocals) combine their unique backgrounds and influences into a genre-bending style which marries classical idioms and instrumentation with modern techniques and production. The quartet’s haunting melodies, unconventional use of everyday objects for percussion, and love of film music create an unforgettable listening experience.

Caroline Crawford Riddle is a local Greenville, SC artist who has been painting for over 30 years. She graduated from Appalachian State University with a masters in Communication Disorders, which led to her years practicing at Roger C. Peace Rehabilitation Hospital in Speech-Language Pathology; specializing in Young Stroke/Traumatic Brain Injury. Following her passion, she pursued painting. More specifically, acrylic on canvas or board. For the past seven years, Caroline has made it her mission to reach out to those persons and families in Substance Use Disorder; mainly those struggling with alcohol abuse. Caroline has been in recovery for 8 years, and seeks to share her story of recovery with others, in hopes to help decrease the stigma of addiction. She incorporates her art as a venue to project healing, always sharing how faith, family, and friends are God’s bridge to recovery. Her message and journey are one of redemption and healing, and how a relationship with God has been steadfast and essential. She is active in FAVOR (Faces and Voices of Recovery), and currently on a “Colors of Gratitude” tour, speaking with groups of those seeking recovery, and their families throughout the Upstate. Her art is bold and colorful. She finds painting therapeutic, as well as a way to reach those currently suffering from the bonds of addiction. Her hope is that her paintings and speaking engagements reflect her joy and gratitude through Jesus, for life in recovery.