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Join us in Edinburgh for the annual Morphe Arts conference at Leith School of Art in Edinburgh with talks, seminars, workshops, live music, and food. A chance to meet and hear from other artists from across the country, and from a range of artistic disciplines.

Tickets are now on sale with the release of 30 early bird tickets at £30 each. Book now using the buttons on this page.

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The theme is "Gifted" and speakers Dan Siedell (art historian/curator/theologian), Jem and Jonny Mellor (interdisciplinary artist, founder Sputnik Faith and Arts Network) and Elizabeth Kwant (artist) will be helping us think through how our artistic gifting can motivate us personally, artistically and practically, how to balance it with motherhood and how it can help us affect culture and communities around us.

What does it mean to be gifted? We might think of gifting in an artistic sense: to be granted an ability to make something well, divinely inspired or bestowed. We might also think of gifting as a generous act or benevolent endeavour: the gift of art to our friends, neighbours, society or even the world. Gifting can be discussed in theological terms, as a fruit of the Spirit or granted for a specific task. It may relate to ideas of calling, care, kindness, prosperity and even burden. What if we are gifted in art but impoverished in other resources such as time, money or health? How does the gift of family, children, church and other pursuits relate to our priority of art? These are some of the questions amongst others we hope to discuss at the Interface.

Daniel A. Siedell is an art historian, curator, and theologian. He is a Visiting Researcher and Curator of the Center for Theology, Ecology, and Culture at Teologiska högskolan Stockholm

He holds an M.A. from Stony Brook University and a Ph.D. from The University of Iowa in modern and contemporary art, theory, and criticism and is completing a doctoral dissertation in theology, entitled “Exhibiting God: The Curatorial as Theological Method” under the supervision of Catherine Keller at Drew Theological School (USA).

Previously he served as Senior Fellow, Modern Art History, Theory & Criticism at The King’s College in New York City (2013-23), Assistant Professor of Modern & Contemporary Art History, Theory & Criticism at the University of Nebraska-Omaha (2007-2011), and Chief Curator of the Sheldon Museum of Art (1996-2007) where he collaborated with numerous artists on exhibition and book projects.

His books include Weldon Kees and the Arts at Midcentury (Nebraska, 2004); Martínez Celaya: Early Work (Whale & Star, 2005); God in the Gallery (Baker Academic, 2008); Who’s Afraid of Modern Art? Modern Art & Theology in Conversation (Cascade, 2015); and Enrique Martínez Celaya: Work and Documents, 1990-2015 (Radius Books, 2016).

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