No Longer a Narrative of Scarcity, but of Abundance
Arts Fellowship Orlando 2022 alum Rebecca Fox says, “The ripple effects of this experience, through my life now and through all of the conversations I have, there’s no way to even measure that. Just thank you for everything, for getting behind us, catching the vision, and seeking beauty with us. It’s just getting started.”
Rebecca Fox had been immersed in creative circles for years and had never heard of a fellowship for Christian artists. It was a type of belonging she craved. As soon as she heard about Arts Fellowship Orlando, made possible through the Heart of the City Foundation, she applied, eager to be a part of it. Now she’s completed the program, feels enriched by the mentorship and opportunities, and is reimagining what it means for her to be a Christian writer.
Ever since she was little, words have been her passion. She started writing when she was only four years old, and started pursuing it as a profession by the time she was fourteen. She says, “I’m very fortunate to have parents who were not only strong believers and instilled that in me, but who also uplifted beauty. Those were the two languages in the house growing up.”
After Rebecca finished her undergraduate studies at Wheaton College, she went on to pursue her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing at the University of Central Florida, where she hoped “to grow on the trajectory of words and stories.” Finally, she was writing full-time, surrounded by other writers, with a year-long visiting lecturer opportunity awaiting her upon graduation.
Yet she felt a kind of loneliness. She was the only believer in her cohort at UCF, in which art and faith were splintered. And in church, it felt rare to be amongst fellow artists. She says, “It was almost startling to realize these two things aren’t just naturally drawn together—you are the lone believer or the lone artist.”
At the time, she was attending First Presbyterian Church of Orlando and had become good friends with Alexa Rossi and Tanner Fox. Tanner asked her, “Hey, have you ever heard of writers gathering to talk about writing and their faith?” She responded, “No, never, but I want to be a part of it.” Then about a year later, Tanner and Alexa came to her, excitedly telling her that they’d heard about this six-month fellowship for artists that was going to debut out of FPCO—Arts Fellowship Orlando. She remembers thinking, Whatever it is, I’m applying.
AFO was exactly what Rebecca had been longing for—a melting pot of artistic disciplines with faith at the center. Even greater, her mentors within the fellowship invited her and the other four artists to truly expand themselves—to not only pour themselves into their art, but to also meditate on what they would receive through the program and how they would “go deep.” It was a unique, blessed time in which she and the other fellows were able to sharpen each other as artists, as believers.
One of her mentors while in the program shared an idea with her that transformed the way she thinks about her calling as a Christian writer—simply being present. Rebecca recalls, “He said that the Christian artist needs to be there. When you go do your art, just by being a person of God, being a person of the Holy Spirit, you’re going to be interacting with people, and just by being around them, that’s your mission as an artist. It’s just doing the artist’s life in an honoring and faithful way every day.”
Lizzy Brannan (left) and Rebecca (right) at the 2022 Arts Fellowship Orlando Showcase in June, thrilled to finally share the creative pieces they’d cultivated over their 6-month fellowship through AFO with the church and city.
One of her favorite opportunities to “be there” that she received through AFO was leading a creative workshop alongside fellow alum Lizzy Brannan with FPCO’s youth group. She says, “I took a group of the kids who wanted to write poetry and Lizzy took a group to learn about song-writing, using creativity to interact with Scripture. That was so, so cool. I loved being welcomed in and given the opportunity to give back to my brothers and sisters in Christ.”
Upon finishing the fellowship, Rebecca had received acceptance into two PhD programs in creative writing. Before AFO, she would have accepted in a heartbeat. But now, her understanding of what it meant for her to be an artist had evolved. She wondered what would grow her now in the ways she felt called to grow, in the ways she felt called to serve. She asked herself, How can I carry the spirit of AFO into other places? She realized that, for her, it was no longer through a PhD.
Now Rebecca has joined the team of Samaritan Village as their Development Manager, writing and sharing the stories of sex-trafficking survivors’ struggles and victories. Through AFO, she was also able to attend a conference last March in Philadelphia, where she met many literary and arts journal editors. She is looking forward to having two works published in 2023, one of which is titled “The Coach’s Daughter’s Playbook” and will be featured in The Under Review.
Through the generosity of our Heart of the City Foundation donors, and under the empathetic and empowering mentorship of AFO, she is embracing the incredible journey she is on, and witnessing the fruition of what is a radical narrative in much of the art world.
Rebecca shares, “In the art world, every single conversation is one of scarcity. It was depleting my joy. That’s one of the dark underbellies of the creative life. And then to suddenly come across people—and not just any people, but the church—who would say, ‘We believe this is so important, that God has called you to this, that you will edify the body of Christ. We’re going to change the narrative. Abundance. Rejoicing.’
“All I can say is thank you. It is a little taste of the Kingdom. And to have community who make it possible for me to write, to share, to be connected to my fellow artists. That reaps dividends that honestly we’ll never know.”
