Fully Human
A Juried Exhibition
Picasso once said, “I have spent all my life learning to paint like a child.” He seemed to be pointing us to his desire to go backwards, into the “cloud of unknowing,” into mystery. Here, polished performance and trained technique are stripped away to reveal the inspired vitality that comes out of a person truly free and alive to our Maker and creation around us. This is a person so fully human, no quest is needed to prove it. It is simply lived.
The empire and its cultural norms would have us believe that we need more to be our best as humans—more efficiency, more product consumption, more resources, more influence, more time… But what if we stripped away “the more” and allowed what waters us down to bubble up and burn off as vapor? What essential human qualities remain through this process of distillation? What truly makes a human rich with vitality? And how do we show our whole self to one another?
Artists were invited to explore this theme in two-dimensional artworks for Fully Human, a show presented by Vita Poetica and Seekers Church Art Gallery in Washington, DC, from Oct. 4 to Nov. 15, 2026. Twenty-four works are on display, with a range of media including painting, photography, and collage.
Vita Poetica would like to thank the jurors for the Fully Human exhibition: Ben Kolesar, Sandra Miller, and Lisa Shirk.
Ben Kolesar grew up in Massachusetts and studied studio art at Williams College. Since moving to Washington, DC, he has worked on a variety of art and design projects, including a large poster containing the full text of the King James Bible. He attends St. Brendan’s in the City on Capitol Hill.
Sandra Miller aspired to be an artist and writer as far back as she can remember, and explored practices. A sense of deepest fulfillment came from hand papermaking, which demands full mind/body/heart engagement. Commitment to the challenges of this practice informs and undergirds her life of faith. Sandra is curator of the Seekers gallery, a Steward of Seekers Church, a co-founder of Sacred Conversation on Race & Diversity, and a peace and justice advocate especially involved in supporting incarcerated artists as a spiritual practice.
Lisa Shirk is an artist, entrepreneur, and guide based in Washington, DC. She’s interested in unmasking purpose and beauty within a creative framework, exploring the deeper life of our shared human family. It is her joy to create invitations to the work of loving God, neighbor, and self, through the creative arts and prophetic hospitality. Lisa is the founding director of the Community Monastery and serves on the board of the arts and faith collective, Vita Poetica. Learn more about her at www.lisashirk.com.
Installation view of the Fully Human exhibition at Seekers Church Art Gallery, Washington, DC, with Winston Harris’s Special Forces, a hand-colored monoprint with digital transfer collage.
