The Zohrab Information Center is pleased to announce an exciting two-part Enrichment Evening on the Sacred Arts of the Armenian Church Past and Present next week, on July 21 and July 23. Both events will take place at 7 PM via Zoom. Father Garabed Kochakian, a long-serving priest of the Armenian Apostolic Church with a Masters in Art History who is himself an iconographer, is the presenter for this special summer programming. On Tuesday, July 21 at 7 PM, Fr. Garabed will offer a lecture and discussion, replete with visual slides, presenting the various forms of sacred art of the Armenian Church. These include, but are not limited to: fresco painting, icon production, manuscript illumination, and architecture. He will introduce us to these different sacred arts, talk about their development in Armenian history, and present some of the most important examples of each of these arts. Then, on Thursday, July 23 at 7 PM, he will offer a demonstration of the techniques, tools, and methods of the production of sacred arts, focusing on the writing of icons. Please don’t miss this exciting two-part summer programming!

To join us, please email zohrabcenter@armeniandiocese to receive the Zoom Meeting ID and Password. Please note that if you have attended previous Zohrab Information Center Zoom events that the meeting ID and password is different. You will need to receive the new Zoom meeting information. You will receive the Meeting ID and password by Tuesday morning. To receive this information, or if you have any other questions about this event, please do not hesitate to email zohrabcenter@armeniandiocese.org

Fr. Garabed Kochakian, ordained to the priesthood of the Armenian Apostolic Church in 1976, is originally from Massachusetts. He studied graphic art at the Vesper George School of Art and Boston Museum School of Art, majoring in graphic design, before earning a BA from Iona College in New Rochelle, a Masters of Divinity from St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary while studying at the St. Nersess Armenian Seminary, and later an MA in Art History from the University of Wisconsin. As a priest, he served in parishes in Worcester, MA, in Racine, WI, as the Chancellor of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, and most recently was the pastor of St. John’s Church in Southfield, MI for nearly 20 years. He has written books on Armenian sacred art and is himself an iconographer.