Read Mako’s article in June 2025.
Makoto Fujimura is a leading contemporary artist and author whose work has been featured in galleries and museums around the world, including The Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, The Huntington Library in California, the Tikotin Museum in Israel, Belvedere Museum in Vienna, C3M North Bund Art Museum in Shanghai, and Pola Museum in Japan.
His process-driven, refractive “slow art” has been described by David Brooks of the New York Times as “a small rebellion against the quickening of time.” Fujimura is the author of 4 books: Art+Faith: A Theology of Making, Silence and Beauty, Refractions, and Culture Care. He is also the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2023 Kuyper Prize for Excellence in Reformed Theology and Public Life and the American Academy of Religion’s 2014 Religion and the Arts award. From 2003 to 2009, he served as a Presidential appointee to the National Council on the Arts. He is also a celebrated speaker and advocate for the arts.
Fujimura considers Fredrick Buechner to be a "north star" guide to integrating his creative imagination with faith. As an author-pastor, Buechner’s characteristic lyric prosody combined with theological acumen uniquely frames our longings and challenges, and his words help us walk through the "Ground Zero" of trauma and devastation surrounding us.
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