In 2022, contemplative artist Julie Ann Stevens was the House of Prayer’s first Artist in Residence, bringing contemplative artwork and art experiences to the House.
Throughout the year, Julie created works reflecting on and amplifying the theme of Awakening to Wholeness: Healing Fragmentation by Holding the Tension of Opposites.
“The creative process within a Contemplative framework is creating in communion with God, others in the space, and all the aspects of one’s own personhood.
At its heart, my work is reconciliation. Reconciliation of the interior and exterior. Within ourselves — our communities — our universe. It is relational, expressing both the universal and particular.”
In addition to creating work, Julie hosted a community gathering and two overnight retreats at the House using excerpts from her workbook, Into Your Heart: A Creative Path to Healing and Wholeness. Participants engaged in creative exercises as a way to connect with the divine, within and without. Over the summer, participants also contributed to a community work of art, now on display at the House of Prayer.
“Through Contemplative Art Experiences many people recognize and release patterns that may be blocking the flow of God’s Love in their lives.”
Julie Ann Stevens is an American Contemplative artist living in Scottsdale, Arizona. Her artwork — encompassing visual imagery, written reflections, and guided experiences — has attracted an international audience drawn to its heartfulness, depth, and peace-invoking yet prophetic style.
Julie’s work engages the deeply personal in her own lived experience in order to reveal and express the universal in all of life. A central theme in her work is transformation, speaking compassionately to people in the midst of uninvited change and sparking the creative potential to participate in the divine process of being made new.
Strong influences visible and embedded in her work include the fierce landscape of the Western Minnesota Prairie (where Julie lived from 2016 to 2019), her study of the Christian Mystics, and ongoing devotion to the spirituality of Mary.
A lifelong creative with an educational background in journalism and career experience in corporate marketing communications, Julie started painting in 2010. From 2013 to 2015 she participated in the inaugural class of Richard Rohr’s Living School at the Center for Action and Contemplation. Julie is a Board member of the Episcopal House of Prayer in Collegeville, Minnesota. She is a contributor to Visio Divina, the Center for Christogenesis’ New Creation art gallery inviting people to explore the dynamic unity of God, cosmos, and humanity through the contemplative engagement of images.
Exhibits
- “Lift Up Your Heart,” The Hair District, Burnsville, MN, September — December 2021
- Open Studio, Lowertown Lofts Artist Cooperative, Saint Paul Art Crawl — October 2019
- “Into Your Heart” featuring the “Deathless Beauty” collection, Our Lady of Good Counsel, Mankato, MN, June — August 2019
- “Into Your Heart” featuring the “Deathless Beauty” collection, Tula, St. Paul, MN, February — June 2019
- “Into Your Heart” featuring the “Deathless Beauty” collection, Robbinsdale United Church of Christ, Robbinsdale, MN, October 2018
- “Grace Like Water,” Visio Divina Meditation, Montevideo United Church of Christ, September 2018
- “Deathless Beauty,” Coeur de Rose, Watson, MN, September 2017
- Artist in Residence, Villa Con Cuore, Fallbrook, CA, June 2017
- “Deep Water Hearts,” Java River, Montevideo, MN, February 2017
- “Grateful,” Tula, St. Paul, MN, March 2016
- “Behold, I Make All Things New,” Hennepin United Methodist Church, Minneapolis, MN, October 2015
- “Behold I Make All Things New” Album Launch and Gallery Event, Collaborative Project with Singer Songwriter Alana Levandoski, Robbinsdale United Church of Christ, June 2015
- “Love and New Arisings”, St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, Minneapolis, MN, February 2015
- Cache, Casket Arts Building Fall Art Event, Minneapolis, MN, November 2013
- Art-A-Whirl, Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association, Minneapolis, MN, 2012 – 2014
- Seven Swans Meditation Gallery, Architectural Antiques Building, Minneapolis, MN, December 12, 2012
Books
- Lift Up Your Heart, 2021
- Into Your Heart, A Creative Path for Healing & Wholeness, 2018
- Seven Swans Meditation Workbook, featuring the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, 2013
- Dance With Me (Creative Memoir), 2011
- Wild Wellies Wanted, 2011
Experiences
- “Doors of Grace,” Writing Practice — an experience to discover yourself and develop an authentic voice by learning to practice writing as if walking a labyrinth, Minneapolis MN, 2011— 2012
- “Letting Go in Love” — a collaborative painting experience to discover the beauty in dispossession, Minneapolis, MN, 2013
- “Visio Divina” — an experience celebrating diversity and inviting intimacy and friendship, Minneapolis, MN, 2014
- “Lenten Celebration of the Cosmic Christ,” Earthrise Farm, Madison, MN, March 2018
- “Weaving Compassion” —an experience tapping into your inner awareness to create a unique and beautiful watercolor-based mixed media work of art, pending 2022
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