This week, we’ll watch Sonja’s interview with Pastor Earl, in which she shares her life and faith journey and discusses her “Street Stories” project—a series of portraits of the unhoused currently on display in Fellowship Hall. She will reflect on the project’s history, her painting process, and the stories behind the portraits. Following the interview, Pastor Earl will lead a discussion and share stories from the Open Door ministry.

Questions? Contact Pastor Earl at PastorEarl@uumc.org.

About Sonja Kever

Sonja A Kever is the artist of all of the portraits hanging in the Fellowship Hall. They are part of a collection of 32 that were part of her project called Street Stories which traveled to 4 different venues around the city to raise awareness and money for organizations providing services for the unhoused. Many were sold raising over $27,000, 100% of which was given to the hosting entities. The remaining portraits were donated to those same organizations for their permanent collections. Sonja was born in a small town in northwestern Iowa, attended the University of Kansas as an art major and graduated from the University of Missouri with a Bachelor of Science. She later achieved her Paralegal Certificate from then Southwest Texas State University. Her art education has been largely self-taught though she has studied with masters David Leffel, Sherrie McGraw, Stephanie Birdsall, Dominique Medici and many others. She has been married to Andy Kever for 44 years and has two daughters and two grandchildren.