Seeing Minnesota Deeply: Culture of Encounter Ideas Festival
During the 2025 Culture of Encounter Ideas Festival at the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota, three students and four community members explored their beliefs, practices, and values in everyday life, as well as their shared needs and concerns, through the process of visual storytelling. They came from different backgrounds and walks of life. And everyone is at a different point on their spiritual and religious journey.
As you explore these photographs, think of them as invitations into a broader conversation about belief, belonging, and bridging divides.
This project was in collaboration with Minnesota Multifaith Network and the Jay Phillips Center for Interreligious Studies at the University of St. Thomas.
This can be seen as a taunt to wheelchair-bound people, whose access to what's above is cut off by a very intricate and beautiful system, legitimized by its mass appeal. It feels representative of how marginalization works. The cutting off of access to the floor above is made appealing to the viewer, inadvertently making them admire the marginalization of the disabled person. Fascism is beautified to manufacture its support, and even if the very nature of fascism is evident it will not matter to those who support it. — Ameera
This tree continues to thrive. Deeply rooted in St. Paul, I don’t know the owners of this house, but I am grateful that they have cut the fence around the tree. This space has been rooted in honor of creation—a reminder to care for the spaces and places around me. — Ashley
It often feels like the road ahead is uncertain, bleak, and full of traps. In these cases, we move cautiously and look at the big picture. And there is sometimes beauty in that big picture, because it's an expression of humanity. We zoom out and see that all the bleakness, uncertainty, and traps are just expressions of humanity.
It's fully human to dehumanize. And that's the scary part. — Ameera
This little pup is one stubborn girl. She is a daily reminder for me to step into my own power. As a dog-mom, who also longs to be a human-mom, she is an overflowing bundle of love. She fills our world and gives us hope for what can be. — Ashley
We build community by eating together and having yummy desserts! And what is the purpose of community if not to share in the experience of being human? We laugh, we eat and enjoy, we grieve, we rage, we hope, and we pray—all in community. I would rather go through hell with my people than enjoy heaven alone. And true enlightenment is understanding that all of humanity is my people. — Ameera
A rhubarb needs time, depth, and a deep freeze before it is ready. This plant was put into the ground after my Grandma Alice died. She lived her life with joy and welcome. She also loved rhubarb. When I harvest it, I think of her. She created a world that made me feel whole and I long to continue her legacy. — Ashley
On the first day of spring, Dairy Queen gives away free ice cream cones. It’s an important reminder to have fun and enjoy this wonderful life. Anyone can try and win a medal at the trauma Olympics, but I want to be a gold medalist at having fun and enjoying my time on this earth. — Jack
This is a picture of my grandpa and me at my sister’s wedding. I chose this picture because we should find mentors and stick very close to them. Some people don’t have the luxury of having family as mentors. But you can still find someone and call them and talk as much as you can. — Jack
If there is one thing my faith has informed me it is to enter into places and spaces with peace. Rooted in that peace is a love greater than I can imagine. If I can share an ounce of this peace with others, my vision for the future, it is also a reminder to extend this same love and peace to myself. — Ashley
How does a person become a part of a group?
How does the group become a part of a community?
How does the community become a part of the whole?
And how does the whole bless the world?
— Kyle
Having fun with my friends at the Mall of America and taking a picture with a ninja turtle. This picture shows the humility that we young people have and that we need to spread more to make sure people are having fun in this world. — Jack
Can conversations over food—blessed by gratitude—in the form of a faithful prayer—change the way we see the world—through a transformed experience of the person sitting across from us? What if we were to lead with gratitude—in order to have faith in each other—so that our conversations can mirror the abundant harvest in our midst—as an antidote to the illusion of manufactured scarcity—that is so often both the cause and symptom of faithless division? — Kyle
Like this glowing mass of frozen ice, holding in your emotions can look calm and collected on the outside— but underneath, there’s pressure building, layers forming, and feelings hardening. Eventually, what’s been buried too long starts to drip, crack, and spill over no matter how bright the colors you hide it behind. — Sarah
Integrated mystical art: finding commonalities in practice with a living practice, finding peace in diversity, opposing spiritual leaders, and dreaming that we all need to find our peaceful way forward. — Ron
During our time participating in the photovoice sessions, we discussed the theme of belonging. I chose this photo of the living room of my college house because the house is passed down from previous tenants to guys they’d like to carry the ways of the house on. The house is rugged and accommodating, but it’s been used to host gatherings for friends and classmates forever. My older friends told me they wanted me and my friends living there because we “fit,” and that’s when I felt I really belonged. — Rutger
The photo of a church against a vibrant sunset symbolizes the beauty of faith, where the warm colors of the sky seem to reflect the light that belief can bring into one’s life. The church stands as a reminder of the strength and peace faith offers, its silhouette grounding the viewer in the eternal pursuit of something greater. Yet, for some, the image may evoke a feeling of longing, as the sunset represents a beauty that feels just beyond reach. In both the certainty and the struggle, there is beauty in the search for faith, a reminder that the journey itself holds value. — Marleigh
In terms of everyday ritual and practice, I spend a lot of time at the St. Thomas Library, not because I need to, but the design and attention to detail of the building, and the campus overall, helps me practice gratitude, something I involve in nightly prayer. Having a beautiful sky in addition to beautiful buildings makes it so easy to be grateful. — Rutger
Saving my ass
I am now done with chemo /
How noble it is to be a sicko /
After six chemos /
Left me with sparkly eyes /
How grateful it is to be alive /
To the VA workers who knew and a few who did not /
know their jive /
The shields and masks were up to the task /
For all the workers who risk their lives /
To save my ass
— Ron
The image of jellyfish flowing gracefully through deep blue waters evokes a sense of craving for the gentle flow of life, moving with purpose despite the surrounding darkness. Their serene movements remind us that even in the most turbulent of times there is always a calm within the storm. The peaceful rhythm of the jellyfish reflects the hope that, no matter how overwhelming life may feel, tranquility can still be found in the midst of chaos. — Marleigh
Life can feel like this rugged, endless landscape harsh, jagged, and stretching on with no clear path. But even in the toughest terrain, the sky reminds us there’s still light, still space to breathe, and still beauty in the struggle. — Marleigh
This photo exemplifies that there is another etheric energy that cannot always be seen but exists. — Ron
One way I learned to give and belong more to my community was through volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. I wasn’t thrilled about going, but as the sessions moved forward, it was so fun meeting volunteers I had not previously met, and they taught me so many valuable lessons about home repair and construction that I can take with me for the rest of my life. — Rutger
We already share the same earth, the same land, the same water, the same air, and undeniably the same home. Surely, our liberation is mutual, and only I can be free when so too is the person next to me. What steps can I take daily to ensure my path toward thriving is a collective one rooted in both individuality and community? — Kyle
