In "The Birth of Tragedy", Friedrich Nietzsche wrote, "We must conceive the folk song as the musical mirror of the world." (The references to music can be interchanged with any artistic medium.) Art, like a mirror, can serve two equally important purposes:
- Descriptive: Good art is a truthful reflection of the way things really are. It refuses to gloss over the dirty details; it informs our view of ourselves & our world, exposing our individual & collective strengths, faults, & biases. It is fundamentally diagnostic.
- Prescriptive: Good art also brings to our attention all the things that need to be changed, & can help us see what needs to be done to change them. It is also fundamentally remedial.
These two functions of art - as both diagnosis & remedy - are what The Mirror seeks to encourage. It will accomplish this goal through a variety of programs, beginning with weekly essays on relevant topics & monthly Featured Artists. Potential ideas for expansion include, among other things,
- workshops for aspiring artists;
- music, writing, & visual art lessons for children;
- visual art & photography exhibits;
- benefit concerts;
- film screenings; &
- publishing & recording services.
The overarching mission of The Mirror is to enable Christian artists to appreciate the beauty in the world & to make their own unique contribution to God's project of redemption as He restores the entire creation to its original state of perfect beauty, when He "saw all that He had made, & it was very good" (Gen. 1:31).
