Susanna Vagt attended Masterpiece in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005! She shared these reflections with us recently.
What I love about masterpiece: My first year (THE first year!), Mandy and Jeremy led our visual art team in creating a 7 foot tall group master copy of the “Entombment of Christ.” Each of us took a square section of this piece by Caravaggio and recreated it with in our own expression and styles. One girl scrubbed grass and leaves to stain-draw her section. Another person had only used painted squares, like a mosaic. It felt strange and incomplete to contribute only a piece towards a drawing. But once it was assembled, it was like we all discovered the work we’d made together. It looked so loud. It was very good to see different voices of art together, and to be told that we are God’s masterpiece, created to create.
What I’m doing now: After 4 years of Masterpiece I graduated from highschool and went 1,000 miles away to Rhode Island School of Design. There was a lot of “new” in that transition, but working with clever artists and loving other people’s talent was not one of the new things, thanks to Masterpiece. Working on a school newspaper, being part of a student-led Christian ministry on campus, and internships all bolstered the masterpiece experience of teamwork and seeing God’s art in other people. (“teamwork makes dreams work” as one of my friends says.) I now work as a designer at a children’s book publishing company and do freelance illustration in Boston, and the teamwork only continues. My church has several outreach ministries for kids, most recently art classes and Soccer Nights. In their finest moments these ministries remind me of Masterpiece
