David Clayton to Speak in Tyler, Texas, Tuesday, March 11th

The Way of Beauty - Spirituality for Creatives and Creativity for All

March 11th, 6pm at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, 423 S Broadway, Tyler, Texas 

Reception to follow across the street at the Stabat Mater Atelier

Next Tuesday evening, I will give a talk at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Tyler, Texas,on The Way of Beauty - Spirituality for Creatives and Creativity for All.

When an artisan (artist) practices his art well, he is practising virtue, participating in God’s ongoing creative work, and contributing to a beautiful contemporary culture. That culture, mundane or sacred, is Christian to the degree that it bears the mark of divine beauty.

The traditional formation that might have been given to the great Catholic artists in the past did far more than teach them the skills of their craft. It was Catholic inculturation, and a formation that gave them a deep understanding of the tradition in which they worked. It was designed to develop an appreciation for and a deep understanding of the principles that underlie the beauty of the cosmos, and to impart the Christian practices and habits that incline the artist to follow inspiration and order the imagination. 

This talk will describe the core principles of such a formation, and discuss how they can be applied today to art education at any level and, more broadly, to any human activity, so that all of us can contribute gracefully and beautifully to the evangelization of contemporary culture. 

In his short presentation about the New Evangelization, Pope Benedict XVI wrote that we must cultivate the art of joyful living to draw people to the faith. The Way of Beauty is a formation that enables us to do just that: when we make beautiful choices, we follow the guiding light of divine beauty which is a source of joy, and draw others onto the same path.