Chalk Talk: Christ College

This large horizontal canvas commemorates the founding of art departments at Concordia University and other Evangelical Christian colleges in the United States during the 20th century. Typically, these colleges did not have art departments because art was not considered an important nor appropriate area of study. At the time, the Christian culture apparently wanted to experiment with dropping the third member of the triumvirate of classical Christian learning: “Goodness, Truth and Beauty.” But to be fair, due to the media and advertising’s dubious use of beauty as a marketing tool, it became suspect in many Christian circles. 

However, certain professors invited artists –usually ones they knew personally– to their classrooms and illustrate history or theology lessons with chalk on the blackboards as visual aids. These “chalk-talks” were often quite beautiful and were instrumental in getting a few “experimental” art classes scheduled. These classes grew and eventually turned into the full-fledged, highly regarded art departments of schools such as Biola, Azusa Pacific, Westmont, Messiah, Bethel and Concordia, to mention just a few.

A trompe-l’oeil (literally, trick the eye) acrylic technique is used to simulate a wood framed blackboard with chalk-drawn images and text above a tray holding chalk and an eraser. The subject of the “chalk-talk,” 𝘗𝘙𝘖𝘗𝘏𝘌𝘊𝘐𝘌𝘚 𝘖𝘍 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘔𝘌𝘚𝘚𝘐𝘈𝘏 𝘍𝘜𝘓𝘍𝘐𝘓𝘓𝘌𝘋 𝘐𝘕 𝘑𝘌𝘚𝘜𝘚 𝘊𝘏𝘙𝘐𝘚𝘛, is underlined at the top left and the date and location is at the top right. (Note: Concordia University was known as Christ College when it was founded.) These prophecies are attached to a spiral line which centers on the image of a lamb holding a palm frond for peace. This image represents Christ in Revelations 21:23 when he welcomes all believers to a wedding feast celebrating his marriage to the Church in the New Jerusalem come to Earth.