The Catholic Artist Connection
Statement of Faith
The Catholic Artist Connection is a grassroots community of Catholic artists of all disciplines who love God and strive to live their faith deeply in their daily lives. We are individually imperfect but know ourselves to be created in the divine image of God. We are a community devoted to encouraging each other in faith and creativity, wherever we may find ourselves in the journey, and providing mutual support and friendship on the road.
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Who We Are
Our Mission
The mission of The Catholic Artist Connection is to connect and support Catholic artists of all disciplines both professionally and spiritually, through both online resources and in-person gatherings, to ease the loneliness of being a Catholic artist and encourage the creation of art for Christ.
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What We Believe
We believe in one God,
The Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages…
The Catholic Artist Connection wholeheartedly affirms all of the teachings of the Catholic Church as laid out in the Nicene Creed, The Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the teachings of the universal and ordinary Magisterium.
Of particular significance to our work as artists, we believe that all human beings are made in the image and likeness of God. We are all beloved, unrepeatable, and in possession of an inherent dignity that is impossible to strip away, regardless of our sinful nature. We are endlessly beloved by God.
We are also endlessly called. We are called to reject sin and follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, who gave his life for us. In the words of Pope Benedict XVI, “God seeks us where we are, not so that we stay there, but so that we may come to be where he is, so that we may get beyond ourselves.”
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The Role of The Artist
Through their work, artists possess a special capacity to reveal the truth about what it is to be human. In doing so, they also share certain aspects of themselves—sometimes their pain and their longing, as well as their joy. Indeed, in his Letter to Artists, Pope St. John Paul II writes, “In producing a work, artists express themselves to the point where their work becomes a unique disclosure of their own being, of what they are and of how they are what they are.”
In that same letter, St. John Paul affirms that the Church needs artists, and artists need the Church. It is the role of artists, he writes, “to translate into meaningful terms what is in itself ineffable”— just as it is “within the realm of religion that the most vital personal questions are posed, and answers both concrete and definitive are sought.
“This partnership,” Pope John Paul concludes, “has been a source of mutual spiritual enrichment.” The Catholic Artist Connection is at the service of that enrichment as we accompany artists in their unique vocation to find and express the Good, True, and Beautiful.
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Faith and Fidelity
We are a devout and diverse community of artists who love Jesus and The Catholic Church and all her teachings.
We are a community of mutual support. We welcome and celebrate the rich variety of styles of worship and artistic pursuits that find their way to our community. We genuinely hope that all art forms and positive expressions of Catholic faith can find a home here.
In the spirit of prudence, we aim to promote artwork that expresses love for God and the Catholic Church. We are not an advocacy group that advocates for changes in Church teaching and we will not promote or elevate artwork that expresses ill will or hostility toward the Church or Her doctrine. However, we reserve the right to promote art that truthfully portrays the experience of living the Catholic faith. This experience sometimes includes doubt, sadness, pain, or loneliness. The artist never runs from the truth, nor abandons the quest for the Beautiful.
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An Open Invitation
As Christ sat down at table with all who dared approach him in faith, The Catholic Artist Connection operates on the principle of open invitation. While we strongly affirm all of the teachings of the Church, we recognize that artists, and all believers, bring their doubts, their questions, and their struggles along with their yearning to be close to God. We also contend that art need not be “religious” in nature to have a place here. Indeed, many in our community spend the majority of their time creating in the secular world. We believe that insofar as artists are dedicated to seeking the Good, the True, and the Beautiful, elements of God can be found.
As stewards of The Catholic Artist Connection, we do not examine the lives, works, and beliefs of individual artists for perceived faults or endeavor to pass judgments beyond our station as lay Catholics. We only ask that while engaging with the CAC community and participating in our events we all approach with goodwill and hearts open to encountering the fullness of God’s loving plan for our lives.
We recognize that Catholics of good faith may disagree on a wide variety of topics. In this place, we focus on our essential shared doctrines and our love of God first and foremost. We strive to create a place where all of us can come together in unity for Christ and His Church. All Catholic artists are welcome in our community, regardless of where they find themselves on the journey. If you are Catholic and an artist, we hope you will feel at home here. God loves you.