News

2022 Virtual Exhibit

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Towards the Spiritual

Opened July 26, 2022

The Marianne Oberg Foundation for Spiritual Art (MOFSA) is pleased to announce its first virtual exhibit, featuring the work of our 2022 spiritual art grant recipients Deborah Hamon and Emily McIlroy along with the work of six other artists. These artists were chosen from over 360 applicants throughout the United States for our 2022 Spiritual Art Grant opportunity. Read about the grant winners and invited artists.

MOFSA exists to support artists who create works that inspire peace within individuals and between disparate communities. MOFSA is not bound to any particular religious creed, rather we hope to encourage artists as they pursue their own spiritual path. The artists represented in our exhibit reflect different religions and spiritual perspectives, all supportive of our vision.

The theme of our exhibit is “Towards the Spiritual”. In this time of darkness and multiple challenges, we hope that the work of our artists will support you in your life’s journey and inspire hope.

“Another Sun Will Rise”
Deborah Hamon

Our virtual exhibit uses the ArtPlacer platform and provides a 3-D viewing experience. We hope you will enjoy it!

Begin your visit

2022 Spiritual Art Grant Opportunity

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We are delighted to announce our third grant program for artists who see the world from a spiritual perspective and seek to express their view of the transcendent in their artwork. The recipient should already have some body of work in this direction and a desire to create more.The recipient will be awarded a $10,000 grant to be presented at the opening of a virtual exhibit of the artist’s work in July, 2022.The grant recipient is expected to prepare a new work to be unveiled in the virtual exhibit. The exhibit will feature the work of other artists who have submitted for the grant, who will share an additional $2000 in rewards. In addition, the grant recipient’s work will be presented along with that of other spiritual artists in a website hosted by MOFSA.

Applications are closed on January 15, 2022. Full details on CaFE. Also, read our October newsletter announcing the grant. Stay tuned for  an announcement of the 2022 grant and award recipients by March 15, 2022.

MOFSA Grant to Emily Clare

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The Marianne Oberg Foundation for Spiritual Art has awarded a grant in the amount of $1000 to Emily Clare of Winston-Salem, NC. Clare’s artwork is based on the careful collection and preservation of delicate plant materials. She collects and dries specimens from her travels both far and near, including donations from a wide network of friends who know her from her daily neighborhood nature walks. The grant will fund purchase of a printing press to use with linoleum prints and mono prints,  a gelliplate, paper, and ink. The artwork will be disseminated through the Internet, at a time when art galleries and museums are closed.

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MOFSA Awards 2020 Spiritual Art Grant

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MOFSA is pleased to announce that the recipient of our second Spiritual Art Grant in the amount of $10,000 is Martin Dunn (www.martydunnartist.com) of Sarasota, Florida. Martin learned art from his father, who had been taught by his mother. His father was an artist, who worked as a commercial illustrator in the days before clip art. He was also a war hero, who suffered from PTSD for the rest of his life. His few oil paintings are dark, monochromatic renderings of fighter planes in tight formation. He was trying to say something that the society of that era wouldn’t let him put into words. Wise people say that the greatest tragedy of trauma is the loss of vulnerability. Martin’s father could never let his guard down.

Martin’s own journey has taken him to nursing homes, operating rooms, county jails, homeless camps, Hispaniola, Africa, churches, temples, mosques, and synagogues. It has led him in a spiritual direction and to create painting that are not dark but offer hope. In his own words,

I am also a mystic, which I use interchangeably with the word spiritual, as well as non-dual. As a mystic I am attempting to fully experience the ordinary while peeking through to glimpse the infinite. I also would describe myself as a Christian, since I see Jesus as the truest and most profound manifestation of the infinite. And I want so badly for everything I paint to reflect those glimpses.

We are happy that our second spiritual art grant goes to an artist whose  life and work embody so beautifully what we see as the core mission of MOFSA, for art to help heal the world. Martin paints representational art, and his chosen medium is oil. His work will be on display at MOFSA’s second exhibit, which has the theme “Towards the Spiritual.” The exhibit will be held in 2021, with details to be announced.

“Connect with Culture Day” at Carolina Raptor Center

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MOFSA was invited by the Carolina Raptor Center to participate in “Connect with Culture Day”, co-sponsored by the Arts and Sciences Council, on February 8, 2020. The theme of the event was “Raptors Inspire Art”. We had a table at which we could share information about MOFSA with the community. Also, Bob was invited to a special speaking presentation, “Birds, Spirit and Art.” To a small but appreciative audience, Bob told the story of how Marianne volunteered at the Raptor Center and he followed in her footsteps. He spoke about MOFSA and read two poems, which were composed during and after volunteer shifts. We are grateful to the Raptor Center for this opportunity and hopeful that the event can mark the beginning of greater MOFSA involvement with the local community. We handed out a little memorial card.

2020 Spiritual Art Grant Opportunity

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We are delighted to announce our second grant program for artists who see the world from a spiritual perspective and who seek to express their view of the transcendent in their artwork. The recipient should already have some body of work in this direction and a desire to create more. The recipient will be awarded a $10,000 grant to be presented at an exhibit at the Mint Hill Arts Gallery in Mint Hill, North Carolina in October, 2020. The exhibit will feature the work of the grant recipient and additional space for the work of other artists submitting for the grant, who will share in $2,000 of additional awards. The grant recipient will create a new work to be unveiled at the exhibit. Read more.

MOFSA Grant to Zangmo Alexander

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The Marianne Oberg Foundation for Spiritual Art has awarded a grant in the amount of $2550 to Zangmo Alexander of Suffolk, United Kingdom. This grant will fund a year-long project in which Zangmo will draw on 26 years of Buddhist spiritual practices and visual fine art projects. Her goal is to create a body of paintings, drawings, prints and image-text pieces using Buddhist meditation and contemplation on knowing/not knowing.

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Art in Children’s Books

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Jolene Joy Moss, first recipient of a grant from the Marianne Oberg Foundation Spiritual Art (MOFSA), will talk about her project of writing spiritually inspired  children’s books. Bob Oberg, MOFSA founder, and Carlos Alvarez Cotera, illustrator for the book, will give some background about how the project came to be. Jolene will read selections from her book Emmalina and Papa’s Healing Hands. The book lightly and playfully introduces the idea of energy and light as witnessed through “Papa’s healing hands.” On display will be some of the original paintings created by Carlos that were used for illustrations in the book. The event will be held from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 12 at the Mint Hill Arts Gallery at 11205 Lawyers Road in Mint Hill.