Vladimir Morosan on The Pursuit of Beauty Podcast
On two recent episodes of The Pursuit of Beauty podcast, I had the tremendous privilege of interviewing long-time Orthodox Arts Journal contributor Vladimir Morosan. He relates his experiences traveling abroad to the Soviet Union, being given access to photograph thousands of musical scores, and his process smuggling them back to the United States. He founded the…
Continue reading »Georgian Orthodox Chant – Almost Lost Forever, with Dr. John Graham
In this conversation with renowned Georgian Orthodox chant expert Dr. John Graham, we discuss the origins, history, and preservation of Georgia’s ancient three-part polyphonic sacred music. Dr. Graham—widely regarded as the foremost English-speaking authority on Georgian Orthodox liturgical chant—explores the early development of this musical tradition, from the creation of the Georgian alphabet and the…
Continue reading »Organicity and Sham
Author’s Note: This article was written for a Moscow magazine on church aesthetics, and speaks to the situation with church art in parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church. In American churches, the situation is somewhat different. For example, icons and church utensils in America are not manufactured on the massive scale that occurs in Russia.…
Continue reading »Windows to the Divine: Orthodox Icons – an Interview with Seraphim O’Keefe
In this captivating interview, iconographer Seraphim O’Keefe shares his remarkable journey from an unchurched teenager in Virginia to a novice monk in the Republic of Georgia and eventually a full-time iconographer in the Orthodox Church. He recounts his spiritual awakening through encounters with sacred art and ancient monastic traditions, surviving a 70-foot fall off a…
Continue reading »Beauty First: Envisioning a Civilization Worth Restoring (ARC Roundtable)
In February of this year, over four-thousand people gathered at the ARC Conference in London. Among them were a group of phenomenal Orthodox artists invited by Jonathan Pageau. I gathered many of these artists in our hotel lobby one evening and hosted a roundtable discussion. It was an unprecedented conversation, considering the extraordinary talents present.…
Continue reading »An American Kouvouklion: A New Design for the Tomb of Christ
Over the years, I have designed numerous furnishings for American Orthodox churches. Because America has a rich tradition of fine furniture making, I have always felt that liturgical woodwork is one of the areas in which America can offer something distinctive to Orthodox culture. When I was asked to design a kouvouklion (the liturgical “tomb”…
Continue reading »Building for the Divine: The Art of Orthodox Architecture with Andrew Gould
In this long-format interview, Andrew Gould discusses numerous aspects of liturgical arts and architecture with Anglican organist Matthew Wilkinson. Our conversation touches upon church architecture, Eastern and Western rites, American cultural heritage from hymn-singing to fine woodworking, robotic production of ornamentation, historic styles from baroque to brutalist, liturgical music, acoustics, and much more.
Continue reading »Humility
If only we could speak to ourselves from the future! How many valuable insights and skills could we have shared with our past selves! On the other hand, how would we have learned these things if not through the mistakes we make today? Is there a way to learn without mistakes? We have books, videos,…
Continue reading »Making Magnificent Hammer-Crafted Icons; an Interview with Evan Wilson
Gould: You’ve only recently started making icons using chasing and repoussé, yet your first projects are nothing short of magnificent. Can you tell us something about your background, to put this work in context? Wilson: I am a married father of two young sons, living on the outskirts of Austin, Texas. We attend Transfiguration Greek…
Continue reading »American Aristocrats: Art, Patronage, and Beauty with Andrew Gould and Dr. Timothy Patitsas
This video features a discussion I had with Dr. Timothy Patitsas. We discuss liturgical arts, patronage, culture, and the experience of the artist. We delve deep into the practical difficulties of realizing good art in the modern age. If you enjoyed this article, please use the PayPal button below to donate to support the work…
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