Yellowstone Fellows

Carol Mealer

2020 – 2021 Arts Fellow

Carol Mealer is currently pursuing her Master of Arts degree at the Montana State University School of Art. A long-time Bozeman resident, Mealer received her Bachelor of Arts in Art History with a Museum Studies Minor from MSU in Spring 2019. She has extensive volunteer experience in the arts community, including serving on the board of the Bozeman Symphony Orchestra (with four years as president), as Museum Liaison to the Community for the Museum of the Rockies, and as a board member with the Dorland Mountain Arts Colony in California.

Mealer’s master’s research is on a tomb in the Vatican necropolis, near the site of the discovery of St. Peter’s bones. Located 115 feet below the altar of St. Peter’s basilica, the tomb has mosaics that depict biblical themes, as well as an adaptation of the Roman sun god, Sol Invictus (“Unconquered Sun”), which appears to have a modification to the radiating crown that implies a cross. That, coupled with the surrounding Christian mosaics, implies that this is an image of Christ, possibly the earliest known depiction in a mosaic, dating from no later than about 320CE. The Yellowstone Fellowship is enabling Mealer’s research in this area to proceed.

Mealer presented a 5-part lecture on Early Christian Art in the Roman Empire as part of YTI’s 2019 Summer Session.

Shannon Parrott

2019 – 2020 Faith Fellow

A native of Vancouver, British Columbia, Shannon has a Master of Arts in Theological Studies and a Master of Theology from Regent College and is currently studying for a Doctor of Philosophy in Theology at the University of Oxford under the supervision of Professor Hindy Najman and Dr. Katherine Southwood. Parrott is a student at Wycliffe Hall, but is attached to Oriel College through her connection to the Centre for the Study of the Bible in the Humanities.

Parrott’s research areas are shame, transformation, identity formation and religious experience, as they relate to her broader ministry interests of healing from shame, prayer, transformation through the cross of the Christ, and the development of the self in relation to God. The Yellowstone Fellowship award enables Parrott to continue her studies in these areas, and she’ll be teaching at YTI in the summer of 2020.

Joanna Gill

2019 – 2020 Arts Fellow

An award-winning composer from Perth, Scotland, Gill currently lives in London where she is a composer, professional violinist, vocalist and church staff member.

Gill’s musical scores have been performed across the United Kingdom in a variety of venues, including St. Martin-in-the-Felds, the Barbican, Hampton Court Palace, and the Royal Albert Hall, as well as with the London Symphony Orchestra. Gill regularly performs with the London Symphony Chorus under Simon Halsey and was delighted when they premiered her Christmas carol, “Look to the Stable” with members of the London Symphony Orchestra.

Her focus is on telling stories and showcasing characters and emotions through her musical composition. Today, she serves at Holy Trinity Brompton Queen’s Gate and oversees its classical music program. Gill will visit Bozeman in 2021, where she’ll premiere the music she is composing for YTI.

Dayna Van Dyke

2018 – 2019 Adventure Fellow

Dayna was born in Bozeman, Montana, and grew up on the family farm near Manhattan, Montana. She is now dancing as a post graduate student at the Alberta Ballet School in Calgary, Alberta, as she pursues a professional ballet career. She was selected as a YTI Adventure Fellow for the 2018-2019 academic year.

Her great-grandfather Neal Van Dyke founded a dairy in 1949, and her family lives on the homestead he built decades ago. In addition to helping her parents and three siblings with farm chores and attending local schools, she developed a love for dance at an early age and decided to focus on ballet when she was 12. In 2018, Van Dyke graduated from Manhattan High School. She was an active volunteer in her school and church and performed with the Montana Ballet Company.

Van Dyke wants to dance with a professional company and is working to further her technique and build her dance resume. She recently danced in a production of Romeo and Juliet with the Calgary Opera in the first paid performance of her career. She says she is blessed to do the things she’s doing and believes dance is a special language by which she can share feelings and ideas that can never be communicated through words. During her fellowship studies at YTI, she also inspired younger dancers in the dance classes she conducted.