Reimagining the Good Life with Amy Julia Becker Culture Care, not Culture War with Makoto Fujimura
S9 E9 — Our culture feels like a battlefield, but perspectives and actions change when we see it as a garden we’ve forgotten how to tend. Artist and author Makoto Fujimura shares with Amy Julia Becker how art, wonder, and imagination can restore our capacity to love, hope, and tend culture with care. Together they explore his book Art Is: A Journey into the Light, slow art, spiritual imagination, and a gentler way to live faithfully in a fractured world.
00:00 Introduction to Makoto Fujimura and the Process of Art
07:08 Stewardship Responsibility for Imagination and Creativity
13:34 The Importance of Slow Art and Observation
19:19 Engaging with Darkness in Art
22:15 The Role of Artists within the Darkness of Society
29:07 Giving Away Beauty: The Heart of Art
34:07 Imagination, Faith, and Love
42:58 Culture Care: Changing the Metaphor
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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Art Is: A Journey into the Light, Art and Faith: A Theology of Making, and Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for Our Common Life by Makoto Fujimura
- Embers International
- Amy Julia’s episode with Justin Giboney: “How the Civil Rights Generation Can Lead Us Out of the Culture War” with Justin Giboney
- Amy Julia’s Take the Next Step podcast - new episodes beginning February 4, 2026
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WATCH this conversation on YouTube: Amy Julia Becker on YouTube
SUBSCRIBE to Amy Julia's Substack: amyjuliabecker.substack.com
JOIN the conversation on Instagram: @amyjuliabecker
LISTEN to more episodes: amyjuliabecker.com/shows/
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ABOUT OUR GUEST:
Makoto Fujimura is a leading contemporary artist whose process driven, refractive “slow art” has been described by David Brooks of New York Times as “a small rebellion against the quickening of time”. In addition to his work as an artist, Mako is an author whose latest work is entitled Art Is: A Journey into the Light. From 2003 to 2009, he served as a Presidential appointee to the National Council on the Arts. He is a celebrated speaker and advocate for the arts and has received five Honorary Doctor of Arts degrees.
https://www.instagram.com/iamfujimura/
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