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Don Rutledge: The legacy of a man During the10 years Don spent at the Home Mission Board and the 15 years he was at the Foreign and International Mission boards, his vision did much to influence the look the their publications. Home Missions Magazine, MissionsUSA and theCommission became internationally recognized in both religious and secular arenas for their use of photography and the visual impact of their storytelling. Though he retired in 1996, he was still doing photography for the Black Star photo agency and the IMB up until two years ago when a stroke forced him to quit taking assignments. While he was never an editor, leadership is more a function of influence than title. And evidence of Don’s influence is seen; not just in the publications he served, but the lives he has touched. I was reminded of this again this weekend at the gallery opening. There is a whole cadre of photographers that Don has nurtured and encouraged through the years. No one knows how many, but four of us showed up at the opening; for three of us, it was the first time we met. People sought him out, and he sought them. I remember studying his work long before I met him. I was struggling with my calling, how I was going to express it and where that was going to be. I would look at his work and think: That’s what I want to do. Later, when he saw some of my work, he wrote me a note telling me that he liked it. I soon learned he is one of the most approachable men and giving me I have ever met. I once sent him a project I was working on to critique and he sent it on to the director of photography at National Geographic. That’s just Don. I finally got to work with Don the last year he was at the IMB. I watched when beginning photographers would come to see him and note the time he would spend with them. To be honest, some didn’t evidence much promise and I would wonder at the time he gave them. But later, some of them would come back with some rather elegant work. The thing I strive to carry away from Don is to never step on someone’s dream. There are far too many people willing to do that for us, and you never know what or who someone will become. His son, Mark, who is an IMB missionary in Haiti, tells about going to conferences with Don where internationally known photographers would approach him. They were men and women who had published well-received books, won prestigious awards, and they were worried whether or not they had it in them do something like that again. Don would talk with them and encourage them. He later told Mark there are a lot of ups and downs in this business and we need to encourage on another. How true. Strolling among Don’s images, the signature of his lifetime, I thought about his legacy. It would be fitting enough if he were remembered for them alone. But his legacy extends far beyond them. There is that cadre of photographers, writers, designers and editors he has nurtured, mentored, invested himself in, who like him embrace the Great Commission and will carry his influence long after he is gone. And that is a fitting legacy indeed. -30- |
 L-R Peggy Rutledge, daughter in law of Don Rutledge, views the exhibit of photographs at the Great Commission Gallery, First Baptist Church, Temple, Texas, with his granddaughters, Abigail and Shannon. Behind them is Lillie Rogers, retired International Mission Board missionary to Singapore. -- BP photograph by Bill Bangham |
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Texas church opens gallery for Christian artists TEMPLE, Texas (BP) —Warm walls, wood floor and generous lighting set the stage for simply framed photographs spaced precisely about the room. People, plates of finger food in hand, circle the exhibit while a string ensemble and keyboard play beneath the murmur of quiet conversation. It could be a Saturday night gallery opening in the art district of many American cities. But this isn’t New York or San Francisco — Birmingham, Richmond, Houston or Dallas —this is Temple, Texas. And the gallery isn’t in an art district, but in downtown Temple’s First Baptist Church. Still, it is an opening in the truest sense, with all the scramble of a new enterprise featuring the lifework of an internationally known artist — the floors were finished this week, the lights installed yesterday. But there the resemblance once again ends. Called The Great Commission Gallery, this is a new ministry for First Baptist, and the first exhibit in this new facility for their Fellowship of Christian Artists. The exhibit features the photography of Don Rutledge, whose work documented Southern Baptist mission efforts across the globe for 30 years. The idea for the gallery began last year while member Linda Schuchmann was reading Rick Warren’s book, Purpose Driven Life. Schuchmann is a painter, but had become deeply involved in other ministries around the church and it had been years since she applied paint to canvas “That book helped me to realize the gift of art God had given me had to be used,” she said. So Schuchmann began painting again. It was at the beginning of this year, just after the Christmas season, and she began working with an idea for expressing joy. She chose her colors — “Beautiful colors,” she said — and in abstract expression, began spreading them on canvas, swirling and mixing them. When she finished, there in midst of an expression of joy she suddenly saw the flames of Pentecost. It tied feelings for the birth of Christ with the beginning of the spread of his gospel throughout the world. “I had not intended to paint flames of fire,” she said. “They were just there. I thought: I’ve got to share this with someone.” A discussion with Doug Young, minister of education and administration at the church, led to setting up a small display of the painting along with several other pieces of Schuchmann’s art in his office. When she returned to collect them, Schuchmann got unequivocal affirmation from member after member of the staff. “Go for it, they said. Find a way to share this work.” What began as a desire to share her work quickly evolved. Schuchmann began seeking a way to help other Christian artists share theirs. In March, the first meeting of Fellowship of Christian Artists was held at the church. There are now 25-30 artists involved. They meet monthly and include graphic designers, photographers, a ceramist, and painters who work in oils, pastels and watercolors. They chose as their mission statement: Drawing all people to Christ. They usually meet in homes. At each meeting, an artist gives his or her testimony and makes a presentation of their work. Students from Mary Hardin Baylor University and Temple College attend. “We have little children attend too,” says Schuchmann. “We’re encouraging them in their development as artists.” Early on, the fellowship began talking about holding an exhibit. And early on they settled on Don Rutledge’s photography. The group contacted the International Mission Board, who agreed to furnish the prints. “We had to have Don,” said Nan Dickson, a fine art photographer. “The work is beautiful, it’s missions related. It was a no-brainer.” “In a sense we had to have an exhibit before we had a gallery,” said Schuchmann. “The gallery wasn’t a gallery,” continued Dickson, “it was just a room.” That room — the future gallery space — was created when renovations opened a new passage connecting the sanctuary with one of the educational buildings. The room appeared to be of little functional value. It was dark. The carpet was stained and dingy. The walls needed painting. With an open entrance at each end, it was essentially a large, open hallway. When it was offered to the fellowship for exhibit space, “We were content to use it as is,” said Dickson. But the church offered to paint it and replace the carpet. “We were thrilled, said Schuchmann. “The closer the exhibit came, the more church member became involved, “ she continued. When the old carpet was removed, the wood flooring was discovered. The church agreed to refinish it, install a new ceiling and add track lighting. Signage was donated. The result is a first class gallery space. It is the weekend Temple Baptist kicks off it’s Lottie Moon Christmas Offering promotion for International Missions. The opening night crowd includes church members, people from the community, students from the local college and university, photographers and friends of Rutledge, and missionaries he photographed both overseas and in the United States during his 15 years with the Foreign and International Mission boards, and his 10 years with the Home Mission Board. He and his wife, Lucy, were scheduled to attend, but could not at the last minute for health reasons. But his son Mark and daughter-in-law, Peggy — IMB missionaries to Haiti — and granddaughters Shannon and Abigail were there. They wander among more than 20 prints. The work is exceptional. It includes images from Rutledge’s missions coverage across the globe — South America, Asia, Africa, Europe, inner city America, rural Alabama and Alaska — as well as several prints produced for John Howard Griffin’s 1950s groundbreaking and controversial book on civil rights, Black like Me. “It all came together,” said Dickson, “the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering Promotion, Mark and Peggy being stateside. It all came together.” -30- |
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