Meet: Bethany Lee
BETHANY LEE is a painter and sculptor. www.belfineart.com
Catholic Artist Connection (CAC): What brought you to NYC, and where did you come from?
Bethany Lee (BL): My hometown is St. Paul, MN. In 2013, I moved to New York in order to serve as a lay missionary with LAMP Ministries in the Bronx.
CAC: How do understand your vocation as a Catholic artist?
BL: As a Catholic Artist, I see my mission as the contemplation of beauty through the creative process. Because beauty is one of the attributes of God, this is ultimately evangelical.
CAC: Where have you found support in the Church for your vocation as an artist?
BL: On a fundamental spiritual level, being a part of the Church has changed me from being an artist because I just like to draw to being an artist who experiences God and loves other people supernaturally through my work. It’s a very different thing being an artist as a Catholic rather than as a pagan. The Church has also provided me with the opportunity to meet other Catholic artists and to grow spiritual through organizations such as the Catholic Artists Society, the Catholic Artist Connection, and Sacred Beauty. Materially, the Sheen Center in Manhattan has provided support through a residency and opportunity to show in their gallery. The apprenticeship in which I am currently engaged with sculptor Andrew Wilson Smith came about as the result of a lecture held at St. Vincent Ferrer.
CAC: Where have you found support among your fellow artists for your Catholic faith?
BL: I’m currently studying in the drawing and painting program at the Florence Academy of Art in Jersey City. My fellow students and instructors (few of whom are card-carrying Catholics) are real servants of Beauty and are a daily inspiration to me. Within the official bounds of the Church, I’ve been blessed with the friendship of people I’ve met through the Sheen Center and other Catholic Artist organizations who have been more explicitly supportive.
CAC: How can the Church be more welcoming to artists?
BL: Beautiful liturgy.
It seems to me that lots of people within the Church are bending over backwards to help and include artists but without really understanding what it is that their lives are like and what they need. I think there are a lot of simple things that the Church can do (and in many cases already does.) Here are two examples: People working in the arts often have weird work schedules and so it can be difficult to do things like get to daily mass. One of the things I love about living in New York City is that there are so many different masses at different places and times available. I use the MassTimes.org app all the time.
Another thing about people working in the arts (especially the visual arts) is that their work life can tend to be isolating - in a variety of ways. That means that it is really important to have ways to connect with other people in the church. The church I have been attending has a well attended “convivium” (coffee and donuts with wine, basically). The 20 minutes of conversation after mass really means a lot to me. Both of these examples, however, seem to me to be things that would help your average single, workaholic adult in New York City.
CAC: Where in NYC do you regularly find spiritual fulfillment?
BL: I’ve been attending 9AM mass at St. Anthony’s in Jersey City. We sing chant and polyphony. It’s glorious. Are there any singers out there? Come sing with us.
CAC: Where in NYC do you regularly find artistic fulfillment?
BL: I’m a student at the Florence Academy of Art in Jersey City in the drawing and painting program. If it were any more fulfilling, I think I’d explode.
CAC: What is your daily spiritual practice?
BL: My formal prayer life is very flexible. There are a couple of things I am committed to no matter what and other things that are optional. It’s changed a lot over the years and has helped a ton to have a spiritual director.
CAC: What is your daily artistic practice? And what are your recommendations to other artists for practicing their craft daily?
BL: Some time spend in observational drawing every day is a must.
CAC: Describe a recent day in which you were most completely living out your vocation as an artist.
BL: Hm. That’s a really good question. Just a normal day at the Florence Academy. Look at stuff. Paint it. Through that act, be present where time touches eternity. It’s the ordinary days in the studio, doing what I love to do that seem most complete.
CAC: You actually live in NYC? How!?
BL: So, I actually first moved to NYC as a lay missionary working with a ministry. They provided housing. It was actually a really good way to get to know the city. At that time, I had given up my studio practice because I thought God was calling me to a different way of life, so maybe my case is not particularly helpful to other people. But, seriously, in my own experience, the most practical thing is to surrender your life to God and ask for the next best action. Also, Jersey City is lovely. Rent in McGinley Square is not too bad. I live in a boarding house. It’s clean and there are no bugs, but I don’t get a kitchen and I share a bathroom.
CAC: But seriously, how do you make a living in NYC?
BL: I’m currently self-employed and a full time student. I’m engaged in a variety of free-lance activities the most sketchy of which is street peddling. I recently submitted a painting to Paradise Found Studios which is a website where people can buy prints of art that echo God’s glory. It looks like a cool team to be involved in. Visual artists, check it out!
CAC: What other practical resources would you recommend to a Catholic artist living in NYC?
BL: The ConArtist Collective in the East Village is a communal workspace / gallery / online forum. It’s sometimes scary, but it’s been a good resource.
