MEET THE PEOPLE BEHIND ENGAGE ART
Who is doing this?
Engage Art is a calling for Bill and Linda Bantz. They are longtime arts appreciators and philanthropists. Linda has a strong background in music, and, as Bill says, she brought him along.
The Engage Art Story
Bill felt a strong calling from God to re-introduce artists to a wonderful source of inspiration—the Holy Scriptures. Bill and Linda feel that now is the time for this generation to contribute a contemporary take on the depiction of the grand story shared in Scripture.
For centuries, many of the very best artists were inspired to create magnificent works based on Scripture. God, of course, should always be given our very best. So, who are the current excellent artists? What new metaphors and means will they use to depict the timely and timeless story of the Spiritual Battle? How will their art impact contemporary audiences?
Tune in with Engage Art founder, Bill Bantz, as he shares his calling to create Engage Art, including the Engage Art Contest (2018-2022).
Tune in with Engage Art founder, Bill Bantz, as he discusses why the Spiritual Battle was the central theme for the Engage Art Contest (2018-2022).
Bill collaborated for a year with Teresa Cochran to outline how the contest could function to meet the goals God laid on his heart, follow best practices, and be an asset to artists. Teresa is a longtime public art, art education, arts integration, and public participation professional, and partner at Cochran Studio. She acted as Engage Art Contest and Content Director through 2023.
The Engage Art Contest was launched in 2018 and ran biennially through 2022 as a juried competition for original Visual Art and Video Art (Film, Music Video, and Performing Arts). The contest called to artists of all experience and skill levels to share their talents and insights on the Spiritual Battle described in Ephesians 6:10-20 and related verses.
Bill mentored a dedicated team from around the country to execute the vision, and he remains the guiding force. Our current artist support and Bible Cluster work is led by Engagement Manager Ranika Chaney (rchaney@engageart.org).
For our beta test in the Carolinas in 2018, the team was led by John Wells, aka “the Tonic” and founder of Cross Movement Records. Our 2020 contest was led by William J. Bantz and was open to North America. Our 2022 contest—open to the whole world!—was led by Fokke Kooistra, a Dutch productivity specialist and longtime ministry leader. Thanks also go team members not yet mentioned here: Will Feldman/Garlic Media (CMO), Kirsten Kreiling (Marketing Director), Kate Thomas (Content Manager), TJ Todd/Studio 490 (Social Media manager 2018), and Brandon Stubbs/Buess Media (Media director 2018 & 2020).
