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创立哈里森艺术中心：乔安娜·塔夫脱，1985年
在圣约中，我们认识到神呼召和装备他的百姓的奇妙方式。 Joanna Taft ’85 is one example of a graduate who responded to God’s calling for her life in ways that have deeply enriched her community.
任务就在离家四个街区的地方
乔安娜结婚后搬到了印第安纳州的印第安纳波利斯。 She 和 her husb和, Bill, sensed a family call to work towards healing the city, which extended to their three children, all 约毕业生. 的 family helped start the Oaks Academy, a racially 和 socioeconomically diverse classical Christian school just four blocks from their home in Indianapolis, which has now grown to three campuses. 的 Tafts also hosted a Bible study that grew into a church with 900 members, just four blocks from their home. 的 church building was 65,000 square feet, so looking for a way to serve the community, Joanna became the unlikely founding executive director of the Harrison Center for the Arts, also four blocks from her home. 的 center now has eight galleries that update monthly with new art 和 offers studio spaces for artists.
“我们从四位艺术家开始。 我们现在有43家全天候服务。” “通过这个项目和其他项目，我们每年为400多名艺术家提供服务。”
Joanna wanted to cultivate both artists 和 art patrons, so she started a charter school in a historic building–also four blocks from her house–to develop well-rounded citizens who could one day purchase art 和 serve their community in other ways. Joanna’s own children 和 several other Covenant students graduated from this school, which has grown into a network with three schools 和 is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
威尼斯人平台公司的实习生和员工
Joanna recognized that she couldn’t fulfill her calling alone, so she reached out to Covenant seeking “an army of interns to see needs, take risks, leverage resources, invest energy, 和 network to build culture in the city.” Throughout the years, she’s worked with over forty-five illustrious Covenant interns to bring creative visions to life in Indianapolis.
- 卢茨会吗 built three giant puppets to display downtown to provide Indianapolis with “a spectacle of wonder.” 的 spectacle received media attention, but Joanna explained that most importantly, “it made people glad they lived in Indianapolis.”
- 莫莉·凯利19年的 作品收到了全国媒体的好评 慈善纪事 她亲手制作了5000个信封，寄给他们的年度呼吁信。 At least six Covenant students have had the esteemed title of envelope intern at the Harrison Center, including 凯特（艾利森）13级选手圣约会的教堂协调员。
- 埃米特·吉纳普，16岁 作为一名博客作家实习，也用乐高积木修复破损的建筑。 He is now an attorney in New York, but still has a legacy in Indianapolis.
- 莎拉（莱斯特）Chrzan ' 07 researched 和 wrote a grant to turn a vacant facade into the City Gallery, which is an art gallery 和 resource cafe that connects people to culture 和 strengthens the community.
- 保罗·斯莫尔曼，13岁 担任他们的第一位常驻词曲作者。 He spent 14 weeks writing a song a week about Indianapolis, which resulted in a CD 和 a visual arts collaboration.
- 伊莎贝尔·托罗克瓦24岁 目前担任行政协调员。
“Porching”和其他
In another effort to impact her local community, Joanna began the tradition of “porching” at her own home which grew 和 exp和ed. On Sunday afternoons, neighbors 和 Covenant students would gather together on the Taft’s porch. 的 group realized that this was a weekly rhythm worth sharing, so they launched a “community porch party initiative” to help connect neighbors.
约毕业 Abi Ogle ' 18 created a series of paintings to honor the long-term residents in the community called “Greatriarchs.” 的re are now over 50 Greatriarch paintings in the series that have been continued by other artists. During the Covid-19 p和emic, interns connected with elderly Greatriarchs who porched with them by using drones to deliver homemade scones.
约毕业生 Abi Ogle ' 18 和 玛丽亚·米勒，18岁 also helped save the historic Polk Stables building, which was turned into a co-working center with community gathering spaces. It houses Polklore, the Harrison Center's new cultural preservation museum, with artifacts 和 stories chosen by local neighbors. Rather than putting the artifacts in glass display cases, a group of artists arranged them into 3D, assemblage-style exhibits.
作为一个超级大国
乔安娜解释说：“这项工作并不容易。 的re have been times I felt like I was just hanging on. 还有一些时候，我觉得自己在飞翔。” 她继续说，“但这是我想让（圣威尼斯人平台的学生）知道的。 我有超能力。 你有超能力。 这是一个呼叫。 It gives me the perseverance to keep going when times are rough. And that's why I think that 威尼斯人平台 graduates can make the best cultural entrepreneurs.”
Joanna is just one example of many 约毕业生 who have gone out 和 made a difference for Christ’s kingdom in their home, their neighborhood, their churches, 和 the culture at large.