Resilience and Hope in the Arts: Getting to Know Dr. Brian Chan, Assistant Professor of Media Arts & Worship

Dr. Brian Shee Yuen Chan (ThM, 2004; MACE, 2004), associate professor of media arts and worship at Dallas Theological Seminary, believes theologically informed artists can produce work that generates compassion and justice. He recounts an early life experience that helped inform his understanding of the power of artistry. 

Prior to his time as a student at DTS, Brian engaged in social work at a group home for emotionally disturbed children. There he met James, a facility resident, whose dad had taken a chainsaw to his head at age seven. Brian marveled at the resilience and hope within this little boy while they sat together in the visiting room, anticipating the arrival of James’s mother for a scheduled visit. But the minutes passed, and she never showed up.

At the end of the shift that day, Brian filled out James’s visitation report as it had been filled out before: no show. Brian’s eyes welled up with tears, and his heart ached as he realized, “She’s never coming back for him.”

A desperate need for connection is widespread in a group home community. The first steps toward meeting that need include recognizing and caring for the wounded and vulnerable. The long-term goal is to facilitate foster care or adoption for the children. But potential families often avoid cases like those at the group home, unable to visualize successful outcomes.

To find solutions, Brian and the group home’s staff looked to creativity. They enlisted the artistry of a few Los Angeles–based photographers, each tasked with looking through the lenses of their cameras and communicating a different narrative of the children—a story of hope, in contrast to the perspective that so commonly led to rejection. The photographers created large-format pieces that portrayed the kids doing “normal kid” things—playing basketball or swinging on swing sets. Their stunning images captured the beauty, dignity, and humanity of the children. Brian recalls, “People no longer saw troubled kids, but little souls smiling.”

Brian began to grapple theologically with the concept of beauty and his own relationship with God the Father. During this time, he learned that an artist’s ability to transform someone’s perspective through art begins with the artist’s realization that God the Artist created them before they themselves started creating. One definition of beauty, Brian explains, is the artist’s power to accurately see God’s artistry and reflect it to the world. Contemplating artistry, beauty, and creativity in Scripture helped Brian discover that God is an artist; then he began to push back against a superficial paradigm of beauty that’s common in contemporary American culture. He emphasizes understanding the inherent beauty in being created in God’s image and the sanctification process by which God forms us into the image of Christ. Wherever Brian teaches, he wants to help his students discover the beauty of God in whatever forms of artistry they love.

As an artist himself, Brian crafts his paintings, writing, and photographs to help shift viewers’ perspectives. Through his artistry, he shares his heart and tells a story. He keeps his tools—paint, pen, camera—close at hand so that he is always ready to be used as a tool through which the Divine Artist can convey the beauty of his creations.To learn more about Brian’s perspective on beauty and theology, check out his book The Purple Curtain: Living Out Beauty in Faith & Culture from a Biblical Perspective (CrossHouse Publishing, 2011).

Hear Brian discussing “Why Christians Care about Art and Beauty” on a Table podcast with Kasey Olander and Neil R. Coulter.