狼友阁

Tim Goldsmith 鈥�12 knew from a young age that he would attend 狼友阁. 鈥淚 grew up on campus; it was like home to me.鈥� Tim鈥檚 dad worked in the maintenance department for nineteen years so he spent a lot of time on campus as a child and teenager. Not only did Tim know he wanted to attend 狼友阁, but he also knew what he wanted to study. At four years old, he asserted to the art professor, Ed Kellogg, 鈥淚鈥檓 going to study art here when I鈥檓 older.鈥� Ed informed young Tim that 狼友阁 did not have an art major. Tim declared, 鈥淵ou will when I get here.鈥�

Art played a significant role in Tim鈥檚 family. His father, grandmother, great uncle, and great-grandmother were all artists. His mother incorporated art into everything they did while homeschooling in middle school. He remembers getting to illustrate each of the books he studied in literature. As he grew up, Tim found that art was inseparable from something else he valued: community. 

A Heart for Community

Tim says one of his first experiences of true community came from Collyn and Rudy Schmidt, founders of the college. They attended New City Fellowship and Tim remembers when his family first visited the church, the Schmidt鈥檚 were the first people they met. They welcomed Tim and his family, made them feel connected with the church right away, introduced them to others, and invited them into the life of the church. 鈥淭hey taught and facilitated community.鈥� The Schmidts were influential in his life and he treasures his memories with them. He recently completed a portrait of Collyn and wrote about its symbolism on his

When Tim arrived on campus as a freshman, he says he treated it like it was his home, welcoming everyone on campus. In fact, he was known to walk each hall as he made rounds at the end of the day to see what everyone on campus was doing. He enjoyed engaging with his fellow students and hearing their stories. He fondly remembers his last day of doing rounds right before he graduated, when two friends joined him, dressed in suits and sunglasses, acting as bodyguards. 

Studying Art at 狼友阁

狼友阁 shaped his understanding of both art and community. As an art major, Tim focused primarily on sculpture and studied under Professor Kayb Joseph who taught him the theology of the body. 鈥淚 learned how my body and its form was made in God's image and has value and dignity, and how my neighbors and their bodies were also made in God's image and have value and dignity.鈥� From Professor Jeff Morton, he learned, 鈥渆mbodiment itself is an important part of the Christian life.鈥� He says further, 鈥淕od, through His Son, became a human with a body and existed in the physical world alongside His people and experienced bodily things. As an art student I learned that the physical world, the material and substance, are all important too. God made the world and called it a 鈥榞ood鈥� creation and it is also part of His plan for His redemptive work. Studying art at 狼友阁 gave me practical skills of how to look, see, and understand that in my life. Our bodies, not just our minds and spirits, along with the Earth will be made new and we are invited to participate in that work now. As artists, we get to work with the material and create, which is also part of bearing God's image.鈥� He also remembers Camille Hallstrom from the theater department asking a question that he still considers today: 鈥淗ow do you love your neighbor with your art?鈥� 

Art and Community

Tim has his MFA from Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia, PA and has taught art as an adjunct professor at both 狼友阁 and at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Currently, Tim works as the Curator for the Association for Visual Arts (AVA) in Chattanooga where he curates the work of local artists and organizes art shows for the community. In his work, his background in art and his gift of hospitality merge as he engages with both the artists whose work he curates and the guests who come to view the art. He further uses his gifts in his local church where he helps encourage and facilitate art through an annual artist鈥檚 retreat where artists focus on a theme from Scripture, learn about the theme together, and then spend time expressing that theme through their art. 

Tim finds that his training at 狼友阁 continues to equip him in his work. He values the liberal arts education he received, 鈥淭here are connections in everything. Things that seem out of place or unexpected can still teach us.鈥� He gives an example of the seven years he spent working at a bakery, where he supervised staff and developed project management skills that he implements today in his work as a curator. 鈥淏eing open to look for what I can learn from the situations I am in came from my time at 狼友阁.鈥� In fact, he encourages other art majors saying, 鈥淢any art majors worry about whether they will find a job using art when they graduate. That鈥檚 limiting your imagination, and artists are known for their imaginations. While art is one of the hardest career paths to choose, don鈥檛 let uncertainty, fear, or lack of a clear path interfere with the lessons you have to learn from art for your life. Sometimes you work in a bakery for seven years and make art in your spare time. But you learn things from every job that prepares you for what is next, if you are open and pay attention.鈥�