Pastor Hannah's mission to bring first-class art to the community

A new 13-foot-tall stainless steel sculpture lives on the south side of Chicago. Pastor John F. Hannah of New Life Covenant Southeast commissioned renowned African artist Abiola Akintola to create the sculpture known as "Movement" that will live on the campus of New Life at 7621 South Greenwood Ave. Rolling out spoke to Pastor Hannah about what inspired the idea, what the sculpture means for the city and how art can heal.

What inspired the creation of the sculpture "Movement?"

So, I met this artist, Abiola, who's originally from Nigeria but now lives here. I met him years ago. And so, when we finally opened our building, I called him. I said, "Abihola, you have to come and see this building." He had always been telling me, "I want to do something for the church." So, when he came in here, he was like, "Wow, wow." He said, "This is big." And, we don't need to do it in the building but outside the building. So, from there, we started talking. I knew that I didn't just build a church. I built a theater to pull the arts back into our community. So, with that being said, it needed to be a piece showing moving bodies, dancers performing. And that's where we came up with the idea called the "Movement."

What spiritual message does the sculpture convey?

There's a scripture that says this, Ecclesiastes 7:8. It says, "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning." And sometimes your beginning can start out slow. You can hit bumps even in the middle. But the scripture says, "Better is the end of a thing." So, this Movement piece spiritually is to encourage you to make it to the end because your ending is better than your beginning.

How do you see "Movement" aligning with the city of Chicago's identity and culture?

In the heart of the city, they have a stainless steel bean. "Movement" is made of seven pieces. The base that it stands on is 4 feet tall. The tallest sculpture is 9 feet tall. There are seven pieces and they're made of stainless steel. You know what I told somebody, Eddy? I said, "The Bean is in trouble." The Bean, that's competition and it's going to be on the south side of Chicago in our community. You know, I grew up in Chicago. We used to have to leave our community to go look at something nice or to see first class. Not anymore. I want our kids to walk out the door, stand in their own community, and see equality.

In what ways do you believe art can foster healing or unity in our community?

If you really think about it, sometimes if anyone has been to see certain therapists, they'll have you sit down, they'll have you draw, they'll have you write, they'll have you paint. I know there's healing in dancing. I know there's healing in music. I'm a preacher, but I love to dance. Music brings me so much joy. Music makes you want to move your body. One of the things I'm going to do, my brother, is that by next summer, I have speakers in the ground around the "Movement" playing soft jazz. So, when people sit to look at it, it can calm their spirit. It is spiritual. And it will, it brings about peace of mind. It can calm your spirit down and make you settle so that you can think clearly.