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

Jacob Roman attended the very first Masterpiece Camp in 2002. He is a graduate of Biola University (‘07), who recently sold his first studio movie to Sony Pictures. He has also set up a comedy, PLUS SIZE, at Darius Films, written on TV pilots for CBS and ABC, and produced several other film, web, and TV projects. He’s repped at Creative Artists Agency and Brian Lutz Management, and lives in North Hollywood, where he writes and sits in traffic while dreaming of not living in North Hollywood. He offered the following testimonial of his experience with Masterpiece Ministries.

IDENTITY IS AN ARTIST’S LIFEBLOOD.

It’s the well from which ideas are pulled – the conduit through which inspiration moves. And the clearer that conduit is defined, the cleaner its channels are kept, and the stronger it is guided and nurtured and prompted, the more powerfully inspiration flows.

I’m thankful for this, because it’s one reason I got my first job as a studio screenwriter.

Recently, my writing partner and I sold our version of a well-known Old Testament story to Sony Pictures, in part because we each hold two degrees: one in writing movies, and one in Biblical Studies. Those two facets of our identity, guided and nurtured and prompted through years of education, mentorship, and dedication to our craft, informed every part of our creative process as we interpreted this classic Bible story into something exciting and action-packed that a global audience will (hopefully) fill theaters to see.

In young artists, the value of identity is an oft-misunderstood truth. Identity is fluid at this stage, shaped by innumerable factors: experiences, peers, mentors, environments, and cultural appetites. And the quality of those influences directly affects the quality of the conduit – the artist’s identity.

As a young artist myself not too long ago, much of this formation came through my teachers – more specifically, my mentors at Masterpiece Ministries.

In these vibrant, God-fearing human beings I saw something I’d never been exposed to before: people who were equal parts artist and Christ-follower, without compromising either. I was blown away – and still am – by their wisdom, bravery, passion and utter commitment to God.

More than this, I’m thankful for it. Because without their influence upon my formation, without the clarity, strength and faith with which they helped shape the artistic conduit that is my creative identity – there’s no way I would be where I am, adapting one of God’s own stories for the big screen.

The world needs artists whose identities are firmly planted in the truth – artists whose conduits are shaped by wise, vibrant, brave followers of Jesus Christ.

These are the people who run Masterpiece Ministries, and those are the kind of artists they influence. I would know – I’ve reaped the benefits.

Download the 2011 camp brochure