About Renew the Arts

We believe the beauty of the Gospel will transform the world when Christian communities support artists in their God-given callings.

Our vision is to see Christian communities partnered with artists to enrich lives, shape homes, and love their neighbors.

So, our mission is cultivating Christian communities by inspiring arts partnership and supporting artists.

We accomplish our mission by operating Porchlight, a nationwide art + hospitality network, producing the Renew the Arts Podcast and written guidance, and facilitating ongoing financial partnership with artists.

Our History

Renew the Arts officially became a public charity of its own in 2018, but it formerly existed as an unofficial branch of the Nehemiah Foundation for Cultural Renewal — which still serves as an educational organization and think-tank concerning the intersection of contemporary culture, the arts, and Christian faith.

The Nehemiah Foundation was inspired by Micah Stout, a singer-songwriter who found an overwhelming lack of support in his church and local community all throughout his life until his untimely death to cancer in 2010. Finding that his experience — feeling alienated while having a message to share and talents to use — was not unique, his brother-in-law Michael Minkoff, Jr. founded the Nehemiah Foundation with his father in the hopes of providing a support network for artists like Micah, as well as educating churches and patrons on the importance of art in the practice of Christian faith.

In 2020, we launched Porchlight: an art+hospitality network in partnership with UTR Media. Porchlight is a collective of people in cities and neighborhoods across the country caring for culture in their local context. Individuals and families are  equipped through Porchlight to host artists, neighbors, friends, and strangers in the name of Jesus’ and hospitality.

Legacy Renew the Arts Projects

We’re amazed by the creativity of our artists. Take a look around for yourself.

View Projects

Start Here

If you provide your email address, we can get to know one another!

No, it's not a trap. We promise not to bombard your email inbox. In fact, most people complain we don't send enough emails! But here's what you can expect:

  1. In the following week or so you'll get a few messages. These are individually designed to catch you up on all the great things we're doing!
  2. Once you're caught up, you can expect (on average) one email a month, keeping you updated on the progress we're making toward our mission to liberate Christian creativity.
  3. And once you have a handle on our work, we can try to get you plugged in. Maybe you're an artist who wants to get more involved. Maybe you want to keep tabs on our projects. Whatever has drawn you to our work, this is the best way to get plugged in.

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