As Easter approaches, students will be able to paint their perceptions of Christ on a 7-by-14-foot canvas wall on the Quad today and tomorrow, as part of a project sponsored by The Gathering, a religious group.
"The Canvas Project" will raise personal awareness about the life of Jesus Christ, according to James Misner, president of The Gathering's on-campus group.
"It's acting as a cultural catalyst to learn who Christ was," Misner said.
The wall will have several signs already painted on it, Misner said, symbolizing "Christ representing the cross and an empty tomb."
Church members will ask students about their views of Christ. Misner said they hope students will reflect on and personally explore the idea of Christ as a
person.
All students are welcome to paint on the wall, whether the message is positive or negative, Misner said.
"Our expectation is that people actually think about who Christ was and not his name, but who he was and what he did while he was on Earth," Misner said. "If someone says, 'Oh, who do I actually think Christ was?', that is how we're measuring success."
Each year, The Gathering tries to come up with a new, creative idea to increase students' awareness of Christ.
"Most likely we'll think of something different [for next year]," Misner said, "Achieve the same objective by doing different things each time."
The Gathering, a religious group based out of McLean Bible Church in Virginia, came to AU in January. The idea for "The Canvas Project" came from a church member who lived in Australia, where the project was carried out successfully.
Because the demographics in Australia are similar to AU, The Gathering decided to try it here, according to Misner. Dan Lew, an off-campus church volunteer, will help put the pieces of the wall together on this morning.
Students are welcome to paint from 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. today and Friday.
