What If Your Creativity Could Change the World? Art, Hope & Holy Shenanigans at the Wild Goose Festival

What happens when we stop thinking of art as something created in isolation and start seeing it as a way to build community, nurture hope, and create change?

In this episode of Holy Shenanigans, recorded live at Wild Goose Festival 2026, Tara talks with artist and creative visionary Sarah Skinner, Lumen Solis at Instagram, about the transformative power of art. She shares the story of the Witnessing Wall, a collaborative art project that grew from grief and resistance into a living expression of connection, hope, and beloved community.

Together, Tara and Lumen explore what happens when we let go of control, invite others into the creative process, and allow our art—and ourselves—to ripple out into the world. They talk about creativity as a spiritual and even liturgical practice, the courage to face difficult realities, and the unexpected ways community can catch us when life gets hard.

And, of course, there are a few holy shenanigans along the way—including a goose with wings and bells.

You don't have to think of yourself as an artist to join this conversation. You simply have to be willing to make something beautiful, share your gifts, and discover what happens when creativity calls us back into community.

Blessed Are the Burned-Out
Apr 7, 2025
Written By Sarah Skinner
Before the palms, before the cross, before the sunrise—this is for you.

For the hands tending Sacred Refuge,
for those who feel they must be more than human—
this is your invitation to pause.
To remember that you are holy.
That you are human.
That you are held.

In my work in ministry,
I have walked alongside hundreds of pastors and church workers.
And I know:
You are tired.

This blessing is one small offering in return—
a moment of restoration in the Holy Currency of Wellness.
A reminder that you, too, are part of the ecosystem of grace.

Let me take your hands, and place this blessing in them.

Blessed are the burned-out,
the ones with sermon notes in the margins of bulletins,
who haven’t sat through a full worship service in years
because they’re always making it happen for someone else.

Blessed are the ones who stayed late to fold bulletins,
to run through sound checks, to clean up candle wax—
so someone else could experience sacredness.

Blessed are the ones who can’t cry during the Good Friday service
because they know they have to lead the Easter one.

Blessed are the cracked-voiced singers,
the undercaffeinated liturgists,
the ones whose hearts are full of beauty
and whose bodies are just so tired.

Blessed are the pastors who write resurrection sermons
while quietly grieving the loss no one else knows they’re carrying.

Blessed are the ones who bring communion to others,
not remembering the last time someone blessed them with bread.

Blessed are you—
in your imperfection, your overwhelm, your quiet ache.

You are not failing.
You are not alone.
You are not unseen.

You are standing at the edge of something holy.

And so—before the week begins,
before you take up basin and towel,
before you preach the cross and sing the tomb open—

Come.

Not as leader. Not as shepherd.
But simply as you.

Breathe.
Be held.
Let this blessing carry you for once.

You do not have to resurrect the world.
Just remain. Just be. Just breathe.
The presence of the Holy One is already here.

You are not the tomb’s keeper.
You are not the dawn’s engine.
You are the one the Holy One would sit beside
in the garden—

before the palms, before the cross, before the sunrise—
just to say:

“You are enough.
Let me hold your hand awhile.”

Transcript

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Tara Lamont Eastman: [00:00:00] This is Tara Eastman coming to you live from the Wild Goose Festival 2026 Unbound, and I am recording here underneath the Art Center tent. And I met a new friend yesterday. We bonded over our colorful skirts- ... and purple hair.

I know y'all can't see us, but you'll just have to imagine. Um, But I'm so excited to be a part of... while, i'm here at the Goose working on a Visio Divina, tomorrow morning. But just the amazing space that we have here that has fabric art and visual art painting and multimedia.

There's just so much here. a meeting place and a place of oasis- ... for people to cultivate their creativity. And so I wanted to talk with Sarah about creativity and why that's [00:01:00] important to her- ... personally and in her work in the world. So hi, Sarah. Hi. So 

Sarah Skinner: glad to be here. 

Tara Lamont Eastman: I'm so glad that you are here at the HSP neighborhood.

So why don't you 

Sarah Skinner: just say a little bit about who you are- ... and why art is so important to you. Sure. So since we're at the Wild Goose Festival, I'll lead with introducing myself as Sarah. Sarah Skinner. I go by Lumen Solis which is both a pun on like light of the sun, but also loom like weaving.

So weaving with words- the Wild Goose Festival was the first place where I en-

 husband and co-creator, Chris Nelson, said, "It's the responsibility of artists to dream the future that we want, and to dream it to, so that we can be that future." Yeah. And so I often [00:02:00] find that the hope that we put into art moves other people in, into joy and hope. So leading with joy and hope is part of what's important 

Tara Lamont Eastman: to me with art.

Fantastic. Yeah. And so part of that if you could describe a little bit of what your installation is. 'Cause our folks unfortunately cannot see it. Yeah. But 

Sarah Skinner: tell us a little bit more about this, this art installation, and how it is a source of hope in the world. So what you're looking at or not looking at, if you're listening-

is the third iteration of a memorial wall. We call it the Witnessing Wall. And the first year it was really across geography, so in 2024-

protest art from artists outside of Gaza on the other. And we called that the Memorial Wall of Resistance to like empire systems- Yeah ... that are acting on us all. But looking at especially we have a friend in Monterey, California named Rolla Alaydi. Yeah. And her [00:03:00] family was still in Gaza when we met her, and they are still in Gaza.

And she was trying to evacuate her family when the latest escalation of the genocide started in '23. And she introduced us to her niece Amna, who was a college student, a graphic design student, and her school had been destroyed, but she wanted to continue learning.

She didn't wanna give up. And she started talking to my husband, Chris, about like tips for graphic design and illustration, and she said it kept her going- ... to do this art. And so I don't remember what Chris and I originally had submitted to do for The Goose, but we pivoted and we said we need to give Amna more of a platform. And so, um, we invited Amna to create art for The Goose. 

Tara Lamont Eastman: Wow. 

Sarah Skinner: But what ended up happening, and I think this is the story of the beauty of it, is there were children watching her. 

Tara Lamont Eastman: Yeah. 

Sarah Skinner: And so as she was drawing, the children started to draw too again.

And then she started to teach the children how to draw. So we started getting art not just from Amna, but [00:04:00] from all of the children in this community. And they said, "This is keeping us going, having this thing." And so the first year we built like just a big wooden wall, and as we were putting the children's art, it accidentally took the form of a heart.

Yeah. 

Tara Lamont Eastman: Yeah. 

Sarah Skinner: And it was this big silver heart shining in the lights of the of the studio art tent at night. And we sent that silver heart, a picture of it across the ocean- Oh ... to the people behind the wall, and they sent us pictures back of the children just like beaming and smiling. And, ... it rippled out to where this whole community now has a new generation of artists.

And- Wow ... on the other side of the wall was protest artists from um, some are from Norway, from Chile. We ended up meeting artists from around the world through this project and connecting to this broader art community and sharing art back and forth with each other. So that was also the growth of like beloved community of artists, I think.

Tara Lamont Eastman: Wow. Yeah. 

Sarah Skinner: And last year we had Through The [00:05:00] Door was the art installation, so we added a door to the resistance wall, and then we ritually opened it because it was closed shut with art. The art pickets that year closed the door. So when the art was pulled out to march, we marched through the Goose with, um... we had some people from Moral Monday and Black Lives Matter who marched with us, with our Palestinian protest pickets, and- 

Tara Lamont Eastman: Wow ... 

Sarah Skinner: opened the door. And when that happened, the children's art that was outside swung out into the world. 

And so we were sharing the art. Yeah. So 

Tara Lamont Eastman: yeah. So the art continues to ripple out- Continues

into the world. 

Sarah Skinner: Yes. 

Tara Lamont Eastman:I loved hearing the story of Amna. It reminds me of the power of art in community. 

Years ago I used to work in afterschool programs and do art with students in afterschool programs, and I would always be amazed, coming in with a particular idea as a teaching artist, and then just seeing the students just take off from that springboard and seeing that impact of [00:06:00] the art in the school and the community.

Yes. So how did you come to this kind of interactive expression of art? Because sometimes people have this idea that art is, like, all the way over here, sequestered away from the world in your little ivory tower or studio. So how did you come to this more communal understanding? 

Sarah Skinner: I think it was in part The interaction with the artists from outside.

Tiril Valeur is one a Norwegian artist that we ended up meeting through this project. My husband Chris met a new friend. He, can't remember his full name. Nacho is our Chilean friend. 

Tara Lamont Eastman: Yeah. 

Sarah Skinner: And the art was moving when, like all of the protest art was art that people actually carried into protests- Yeah

and that was being made for it. And so the idea of of movement, I think we really wanted the wall to come down. Yeah. Uh, The real wall between us and between people. 

Tara Lamont Eastman: Yeah. 

Sarah Skinner: Between our hearts. So I think this kind of interactive idea of having the art move felt [00:07:00] really appropriate- ... in that way.

And then I guess my artist lineage, so I've had the benefit of watching some really incredible artists here at The Goose, and then I work in programming at the Montreat Conference Center. Yes. And we have an incredible arts ministry, so I've seen, like to me, this art is actually liturgical.

Oh, yeah. When we open the door there's sort of a confession of sins on one side this year. We call that the denial wall. Yeah. Where there's questions that are awful questions that don't um, that other people that deny their humanity like um, why don't they just go back to their own country? so those kind of like confession of sins, and there's mirrors so you see yourself on that side of the wall.

So this year you look within, and that's the door. And then you go through you're invited to the table. Yeah. And like a liturgical worship service that you're invited to go through the door to the threshold and enter into the beloved community. And so- ... this year's wall is into [00:08:00] proximity.

So the neighbor's not far away, the neighbor's here. So we have our own art from some art- art community events on, on the wall this year too. 

Tara Lamont Eastman: That's awesome. 

Sarah Skinner: Yeah. 

Tara Lamont Eastman: Yeah. one of the things I love about creative practices, so many of them, is that it is a means for making stronger connections with others.

And I think that's something I had to like really wrestle with in regards to the artist separate away from. Um, There's time and space for that like contemplative process, but I found so much value in sharing art in community. one of the things that I had to learn, especially when I was working on murals in community, is that if you're having a bunch of like 25 people from all sorts of experience and all age groups helping on a big mural project, you may have like your general idea But at some point you're gonna have to let go.

You can't sit there and micromanage somebody with their paintbrush and expect them to really fully engage in it. You have to let go of that control to some- [00:09:00] Yeah ... some regard. So how do you wrestle with that? That apart from but also together? 

Sarah Skinner: Mm-hmm. So this year was a really good example- of letting go of control. My... chris Nelson, my husband, his father passed away three weekends ago. And so we had the funeral and all of those preparations were happening around when we were supposed to be finishing the art and working with the artists. And I think part of it is realizing this isn't about us.

This is about our community and our friends. And so being caught by the community, too, realizing that this is really hard work. The, the topic of this is heavy. We're talking about children who are suffering awful things. 

Tara Lamont Eastman: Yeah. 

Sarah Skinner: Unimaginable to us. And, um- As I am, am one person, I can't fix this problem.

A community of people have to fix this and make this change. So, But also being caught by community these past couple of weeks. 

Tara Lamont Eastman: Other people [00:10:00] have sent pictures. 

Sarah Skinner: Last night at The Goose, our friends were helping us write the questions on the wall. One of my friends added some of the flowers.

Yeah. And I think it's more beautiful for it. It's, Yeah ... it belongs to everyone. It's the ripple out effect where you, just one person who says, "You kept me going with this heart." Yeah. Like Amna. But then to have it ripple out into her community. 

Tara Lamont Eastman: One of the artists who helped us last year mentioned that they were just going through a really hard time, and that this project 

Sarah Skinner: kept them going too.

They're outside of the wall. They're in the US. But having the community of artists,

Tara Lamont Eastman: Yeah, I think it's really powerful. I think it's something that we need more of- ... in the world. And I'm very thankful to have met you in- ... line for lunch yesterday. And to have my community of artists be expanded- 

In such a beautiful way. 

Sarah Skinner: Yeah. Thank you. 

Tara Lamont Eastman: You're welcome. 

Sarah Skinner: If I might add one thing. Yeah. So my father-in-law who passed [00:11:00] was a fantastic woodworker, and the person we would often ask to help us with figuring out the design of the wall and how to do things. So it's a little less maybe elegant, but we figured it out, or Chris figured out.

But the last thing I wanted to... I didn't get to ask my father-in-law was, "How do you build wings?" So the wall, we wanted to have wings. Mm. Um, And what I realized is that he was a paramedic, and the kind of person who always shows up. 

Tara Lamont Eastman: Yeah. 

Sarah Skinner: And he was also a person who played Santa Claus for the Columbia, South Carolina metro area, like at community events.

And I realized his favorite movie was It's a Wonderful Life. 

Tara Lamont Eastman: Oh. 

Sarah Skinner: And so every time a 

Tara Lamont Eastman: bell rings, an angel 

Sarah Skinner: gets its wings. 

Tara Lamont Eastman: The angel gets its wings. 

Sarah Skinner: And I realized just living that kind of life, that's where the wings come from. 

Tara Lamont Eastman: Yeah. 

Sarah Skinner: Oh ... and so I think he's still there. 

Tara Lamont Eastman: He 

Sarah Skinner: is. I just wanted to add 

Tara Lamont Eastman: that.

Sarah Skinner: Yes. I like that a lot. Yeah. 

Tara Lamont Eastman: And so for folks who can't see it right now, there is a literal goose in the center of the tent built out of poly board and wood that [00:12:00] has full wings, and people are decorating it and adding all these beautiful bells- ... to the wings of the goose Wow.

Talk about a holy shenanigans. Yes, holy shenanigans. 

Sarah Skinner: That 

Tara Lamont Eastman: feels really good. Yeah, and that idea of holy shenanigans is where the sacred shows up- ... in our lives and takes our breath away or opens our- ... our minds to a new idea or um, calls us back into community even sometimes when we resist it.

Sarah Skinner: Yes. 

Tara Lamont Eastman: Yeah. But I'm just really thankful for this conversation. Is there any any last word of hope that you would like to share? I 

Sarah Skinner: think for the people from The Goose or in other art communities- Yeah ... I think it's to allow yourself to be the poet, the artist, the name you feel inside of yourself, and to go out into the world and make change, make art, be just joy, and to find your artist community.

Yeah. And really [00:13:00] beautiful things can happen. 

Tara Lamont Eastman: Thank you. Yeah. Thank you so much 

Sarah Skinner: for 

Tara Lamont Eastman: being part of our always sacred- ... never stuffy adventure that I love to call Holy Shenanigans. Blessings upon you. Blessings. Thank you, Tara. May you be well. May you be at peace, and know that you are always beloved. Thank you.