{"id":4054,"date":"2024-04-26T20:00:13","date_gmt":"2024-04-27T01:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/belovedgallery.org\/?p=4054"},"modified":"2025-03-10T17:26:09","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T22:26:09","slug":"iam-beloved-meet-april-cyrus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/belovedgallery.org\/es\/iam-beloved-meet-april-cyrus\/","title":{"rendered":"#iam_beloved: Meet April & Cyrus"},"content":{"rendered":"
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#iam_beloved<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"April\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Meet April & Cryus<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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April and her 11-year-old son, Cyrus, visited Bel\u00f3ved Gallery recently at the urging of a friend. Being an artistic family, they took their time walking through Akiane: The Early Years<\/em><\/a>, pointing out different details in Akiane\u2019s paintings and poems. Cyrus, who has been tap dancing since the age of six, very quietly worked out routines with his feet as he went from one painting to the next. It wasn\u2019t until the two returned to the Prodigy Wall – a wall in the exhibition covered with childhood photos of Akiane, as well as some of her quotes from around the age of ten – that Cyrus took an extra long pause.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cIs this about bullying?\u201d Cyrus pointed to one of the quotes – a question an adult had asked Akiane:<\/p>

\u201cYou call Jesus the \u2018Prince of Peace\u2019 yet in His name, so many people were massacred. How do you explain that?\u201d<\/p>

\"\"Cyrus read through Akiane\u2019s answer:<\/p>

\u201cJesus is peace, just like calm water. But anyone can drop a stone into water and make it muddy.\u201d<\/p>

After a few minutes of contemplation, he spoke up again, \u201cI think I understand. People cause pain like muddy water but the Holy Spirit is like water that can cleanse everyone.\u201d<\/p>

Later, Cyrus shared more about how Akiane\u2019s answer to the difficult question impacted him. \u201cIt made me think of when Jesus started flipping tables because people were making his church into a store. The point isn\u2019t that Jesus\u2019s pool becomes muddy, our pool does. I know people who have had bad things happen, but they never get clean.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWe both felt like Akiane\u2019s answers on the Prodigy Wall were deep.\u201d April went on to explain that as a creative writer, she felt especially drawn to Akiane\u2019s words and poems. \u201cHer quotes helped me understand her process. She could paint it, but she could also say it. I could almost see her writing things in a notebook as a child\u2026like her poem, ‘A Conversation with God,’ or her thoughts about the many questions she was asked. It was very meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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April and Cyrus aren\u2019t the only guests who have been drawn to Akiane\u2019s writing. Others will write her words down or sit and contemplate what she is saying in her deep musings or thoughtful poetry. Akiane was declared a binary child prodigy by experts, meaning she was a prodigy in two unique categories: realistic art and poetry. The combination of words and visuals is part of what makes Akiane\u2019s childhood work uniquely powerful.<\/p>

\"\"Before leaving the gallery, April and Cyrus visited the Prince of Peace Sanctuary again.<\/p>

\u201cIt gave me a feeling of being in heaven,\u201d Cyrus said about Akiane\u2019s portrait of Jesus.
Both marveled over the fact that Akiane had never read a bible or gone to church when she painted Prince of Peace.<\/p>

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\u201cWhen I was her age, I had already seen so many pictures of Jesus,\u201d April shared. \u201cBut Akiane humanizes Him. Up close, you can see every little hair follicle and the texture of his skin. Even his Jewishness rings out in the painting. The fact that she was able to capture so many layers at once makes me think God was truly present with her and this was supernatural.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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