The Desert in Prayer: An Evening of Art and On Saturday, October 24, 2026, Empire Scottsdale, located on Bishop Lane, hosted an exhibition of paintings by His Grace Bishop Maxim (Vasiljević) of Los Angeles and Western America, entitled “The Desert in Prayer: Faces and Places of the American Southwest.”

The cultural event was organized by the SerbFest Organizing Committee as a prelude to its main annual festival in November. Hosting the exhibition and welcoming guests and art lovers were the Very Reverend Protopresbyter-Stavrophor Dragomir Tuba, rector of Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church in Phoenix, and Deacon Dušan Đorđev.

The exhibition brings together the spiritual imagination of the Christian East and the vast landscapes of Arizona. Drawing on Byzantine iconography, the teaching of Father Stamatis Skliris, and the chromatic freedom of Expressionism, Bishop Maxim uses vivid turquoise, emerald, crimson, and violet tones to transform the harsh desert landscape into a place of prayer and inward encounter. Through landscapes, portraits, and sacred imagery—including “Sonoran Dawn,” “Sedona Cathedral at Sunset,” “Daughter of the Arizona Desert,” and “Arizona: Christ in the Desert of Our Time”—saguaro cacti, red rocks, and human faces become witnesses to a silence in which creation becomes prayer. Alongside Bishop Maxim’s individual works, the exhibition also featured paintings created in collaboration with Radmila Vasiljević and Father Stamatis Skliris.

The visual art was complemented by a musical program that brought traditional melodies into dialogue with contemporary artistic expression. Danica Terzić (violin), Radmila Stojanović-Kiriluk (piano), Nenad Savić (guitar), and Jana Minov (voice) performed works by distinguished composers Petar Konjović, Dušan Bogdanović, Dejan Despić, and Konstantin Babić. Bringing together painting, music, and spirituality, the evening offered an authentic expression of cultural heritage and contemporary creativity in the heart of Arizona.

Pustinja u molitvi: Umetničko i duhovno veče u Skotsdejlu kroz slike vladike Maksima

U subotu, 24. oktobra 2026. godine, u izložbenom prostoru Empire Scottsdale (u ulici Bishop Lane), održana je izložba slika Njegovog Preosveštenstva vladike losanđeleskog i zapadnoameričkog Maksima (Vasiljevića) pod nazivom „Pustinja u molitvi: Lica i mesta američkog Jugozapada“ (The Desert in Prayer: Faces and Places of the American Southwest).

Ovaj kulturni događaj organizovao je Organizacioni odbor SerbFesta kao uvertiru u centralni godišnji festival u novembru. U ulozi domaćina izložbe, prisutne goste i ljubitelje umetnosti dočekali su starešina Crkve Svetog Save u Finiksu – protojerej-stavrofor Dragomir Tuba i đakon Dušan Đorđev.

Postavka donosi jedinstven spoj duhovne imaginacije hrišćanskog Istoka i prostranstava Arizone. Oslanjajući se na vizantijsku ikonografiju, učenje oca Stamatisa Sklirisa i hromatsku slobodu ekspresionizma, vladika Maksim kroz živopisne tirkizne, smaragdne, grimizne i ljubičaste tonove preobražava surovi pustinjski pejzaž u prostor molitve i unutrašnjeg susreta. Kroz pejzaže, portrete i sakralne motive – poput dela „Sonoran Dawn“, „Sedona Cathedral at Sunset“, „Daughter of the Arizona Desert“ i „Arizona: Christ in the Desert of Our Time“ – kaktusi saguaro, crvene stene i ljudska lica postaju svedoci tišine u kojoj stvaranje postaje molitva. Pored samostalnih radova vladike Maksima, izložba je obuhvatila i dela nastala u saradnji sa Radmilom Vasiljević i ocem Stamatisom Sklirisom.

Slikarski deo večeri upotpunjen je muzičkim programom koji je povezao tradicionalni melos i savremeni umetnički izraz. Nastupili su Danica Terzić (violina), Radmila Stojanović-Kiriluk (klavir), Nenad Savić (gitara) i Jana Minov (vokal), izvodeći dela istaknutih kompozitora Petra Konjovića, Dušana Bogdanovića, Dejana Despića i Konstantina Babića. Spojem slike, zvuka i duhovnosti, ovo veče je na autentičan način predstavilo kulturno nasleđe i savremeno stvaralaštvo u srcu Arizone.