NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Nashville is known for many things, music as an art form being one of them.
Belmont University launched a collective this week creating a community for all kinds of artists not just musicians.
It is called the Creative Arts Collective For Christian & Faith and was made possible by a $32 million grant from the Lily Endowment.
"The grant will fund a variety of programming that will create and curate new works of art across multiple media, including sacred and popular music, performing arts, digital animation, sculpture, architecture and more; nurture spiritual life through the use of arts; and cultivate and sustain a national collaborative network of artists, theologians and other leaders," Belmont University said in a release.
Rick Rekedal is the Executive Director of the collective. He believes there are two things we all have in common, searching for a sense of purpose and where do we belong. He said the work of art among us, helps answer both of those questions.
The collective is where art crosses with faith.
"At the core of our mission lies a profound desire: to inspire people to discover and live the beauty and wisdom of the Christian story and encounter God through the arts," the Collective's website said.
At its launch this week, three organizations were named as grantees: The Choir Room, Requiem For Colour and 100 Fold Studio.
"I think this grant partnership is really going to bring life to people like me who are artists who have great ideas and great inspiration, but always don't have the strategy or the funds to do what we're dreaming," Dwan Hill with The Choir Room said.
The Collective aims to build community for artists not just for those in traditional mediums like painting and singing, but things like architecture and animation.
It is based at Belmont, but has plans to go national.
In the coming weeks, there will be information on how artists can make a proposal to the collective and you can find more information about it on theirwebsite.
