When my friend Johnny Sikma and I set out to create our new short film, Pastime, we wanted it to be more than “just” a short film; we wanted it to be part of something bigger. Forefront is the mission behind creative productions like Pastime.
As Johnny and I have talked to our communities about the arts, something we’ve noticed is that Christian art is not very well regarded. The lingering perception in our society is that Christians make art that is primarily focused on praise or evangelism, and is therefore low quality. The problem is, this is often true.
As Christians, too often we’ve simply copied what the popular secular artists of our day are doing. Too often we’ve used our Christianity as an excuse to make art that is not excellent (because it’s made “for the Lord”). But the Lord cares about excellence — when he created, he created well. We should be striving to do the same. Christian art shouldn’t be copycat art. It should be the most beautiful, the most meaningful, and, dare I say, the most innovative.
This is a huge mission, and it’s not something we can accomplish by ourselves. The mission of excellent art is a call that all Christian creatives need to answer. But we’re hoping to put a tangible presence to the mission, and we call it Forefront.
We hope Forefront will grow into a movement that spans countless locations, generations, and art forms. But this summer, it all starts in Pittsburgh, PA, with Forefront Festival 2015.
This is a festival of the arts: film, writing, music, discourse, and more. It will feature quality artistic productions, raise important questions about the intersection of faith and art, and begin building a new network of creatives that are committed to meaningful, excellent art.
If this sounds like a good idea, consider getting a ticket to the event — a digital version is also available in case you can’t make it in person.
We hope to see you there!
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