A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I arrived in Barcelona on November 26 and as of today Alas eStudio is more or less a reality. My time so far has been truly remarkable.

La Ciutat Vella
They call our district La Ciutat Vella, “the beautiful city”. In our beautiful city, the streets are littered with trash, mined with dog doo, and streaming with urine. The walls are crumbling and windows are boarded-up. Nearly every door and wall is covered in graffiti. One especially entertaining local graffiti artist scents his trail with an enormous baby pacifier. We’re making efforts to eradicate the graffiti on our own doorpost, a barely legible message to “Samantha“, undoubtedly sprayed there in a moment of passion. During one experiment with a chemical paint remover, a clutch of neighborhood kids seized our cleaning supplies and began scrubbing away at the graffiti. They were only making it worse, but it struck me as a really sweet kind of Sesame Street moment. I kept up as best I could, teaching them how best to scrub, supplying each of them with new steel brushes, and generally trying to minimize the damage. Well, before long, sponges and brushes and splotches of paint in their wake, they demanded payment. When I offered a gift instead, they weren’t interested, running around the studio till they found my change and snagged a good Portion, earning them the title, “little punks“.

Our neighborhood is the pre-Gulliani Bronx of Barcelona, begging for the long arm of the law. Purse snatchings and pick pocketing are routine. A friend was robbed at HIV-infected syringe point. A Croatian war criminal on the lamb swindled us with his stories of desperation. When we attempted to spread a little festive Christmas spirit placing two poinsettias at our front door, every neighbor who passed scolded us and warned us they’d be stolen. I refused to be cowed. But sure enough, days later a “lady” snagged one before being apprehended by an ornery old neighbor who’s taken us under his wing. Unfortunately, another bandit eventually pulled-off a successful Great Poinsettia Robbery. Walking home we shrug off countless offers for hashish, and occasionally, sex. Orson Welles plaza, a block from our studio, is where prodigals end up. There, a community of dred-heads, neo-hippies, and people-on-the-run from all over Europe drink away their days by the liter-bottle of San Miguel beer.

And yet, it is without any irony whatsoever that I say, this indeed is the “beautiful city”! Alas eStudio lies at the center of an intricate web of cobblestone streets and plazas that extend in every direction. There are no less than four approaches to the studio, which diverge, and fork in a thousand more the further you wander. Each silken road in this web promises undiscovered treasures. Everyday it seems we discover a new café, gallery, or architectural wonder. That trash that litters the streets is a never ending supply of scavengable doors, shelves, tables, and rough materials for our next great mixed-media art piece. Barcelona has long been an artistic and architectural Mecca. There are expressions of creativity of all kinds oozing from every alley and subterranean studio. Our studio is located in the heart of it, where painters and prostitutes mingle and boutiques are flanked by houses of ill-repute. The beauty and the ugliness of the human condition is played out furiously here, every day. And it is always alive, oh so alive. This soulish, thought-provoking existence moves the hand to paint, to write, to film.

We have taken our mission to be light in this world quite literally. On our gray, gray street, we’ve painted our doors the color of a warm golden glow. They stick out audaciously, and we hope, invitingly. If you recall, the ministry of Alas eStudio is threefold.

Dando Alas (Giving Wings)
I am encouraged by the enthusiasm we are finding for the studio among Spanish students here in Barcelona. Even before any publicizing on our part, several students here and from the far reaches of Spain have begged to be a part. In December I met with the national leaders of Agape in Spain and we cleaned, painted, and furnished the studio. Our priority now is building a community of local artists. We are planning our first artist gathering for February. “El Nido” (The Nest), will be the heart of the studio where as Christian artists we will encourage and teach and hatch plans for creative ministry. Please pray with us that we would be led to the right people and that they would understand and share our vision.

Dando Voz (Giving Voice)
It is not yet a sure thing, but it is looking like much of our work these next six months to give creative voice to Agape will be directed toward an outreach this Fall. Last year the campus ministry in Malaga gave free kits to all incoming freshmen that included a campus guide, some candy, a toy, as well as a Bible and a copy of the Jesus Film. They were enthusiastically received and so this year we will be working to make the kit even more winsome still. We are putting the finishing touches on “Tres Amigos”, the story of three new Christians from Malaga. We are developing a logo and look for the campus ministry that will be incorporated in the design of the kits. And we will be developing a multimedia presentation of the gospel, very likely using the “Speechless” short film I created last year.

Dando Ojos (Giving “eyes to see and ears to listen”)
My compatriot in the studio is Nate Smith, a painter and recent grad from New Mexico State. He is currently working on an evocative series of paintings that (ambitiously enough) explores the immanence of God. I am beginning a photo essay called “Prodigals” that will seek to understand the why’s of all the street people in our neighborhood. One of the most exciting moments so far was attending the first meeting of the new Barcelona campus ministry and meeting a host of Spanish university students who are eager to reach their fellow students. There is much afoot.

Prayer

1. Praise God for bringing us to the perfect place and for his many provisions so far, especially for bringing Nate Smith’s path and mine together at the studio. He has been a tremendous help and encouragement.
2. Please be praying for our first artist gathering in February and for all the contacts that need to happen between now and then. Pray that the Spirit of God would be evident in our midst and that I would communicate clearly.
3. We recently discovered an impossibly perfect studio a couple blocks from our present location that would enhance our ministry greatly. But there are barriers. It is more expensive and we are already in a contract. Pray that, if it His will, God would prompt us to pursue this new location and provide a way to do so.

Thank you all for your support,

—
Please consider supporting Nathan Jacobson and the ministry of Alas eStudio.
You can do so online with a check card or credit card HERE.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 5th, 2002 at 10:41 pm and is filed under spain. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.