Studio
A year-long online cohort for artists across Canada — spiritual formation, a theology of making, and a room where the work gets shown.
Why we exist
Most artists in the Canadian Church are loved for what they produce and rarely pastored for who they are. They get invited to serve — a set, a song, a poster — and much more rarely invited to be formed. Their church is glad of the work and has no idea what to ask them about it. And the questions that actually keep artists up don’t come up in an ordinary small group:
Is this worth pursuing a career in? What do I do with the envy I feel when someone else’s work is received? How do I keep making when nobody has asked me to? How do I hold a calling that pays irregularly and costs constantly?
They are also scattered. There is no city in the country with enough Christian artists in one place to gather a serious cohort locally. So we stopped treat that as a problem and built for it: a room that meets online every month, ateliers of four or five that meet more often than that, and four days a year in one building where the work gets shown.
Our Vision
Artists across Canada who are formed in Christ, serious about their craft, and no longer making alone.
Our Mission
To pastor artists as artists — gathering makers from across the country into a year of spiritual formation, a theology of making, and community honest enough to show unfinished work in.
Studio
What this cohort program looks like
15-20 artists, chosen by application, invitation, and conversation.
Nine gatherings of two hours, once a month, online.
An atelier (focused group) that meets again mid-month.
Two months with nothing scheduled at all — December & July — because a program that teaches rest while running eleven straight months isn’t telling the truth.
Four days together, in person, at the end of the year, where the year’s work is shown and each artist is commissioned by name.
A 1-year intensive discipleship program for artists.
Studio Structure
How we serve Canadian artists
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The first people in Scripture said to be filled with the Spirit of God are craftsmen, and the filling is for skill — artistry, design, the working of metal and stone and wood and cloth… We build a year on the conviction that your craft is not just the delivery vehicle for the spiritual thing; it is the spiritual thing.
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Every month has something to do, not only something to think about — the examen, a sabbath actually taken, a lament written, a week of looking at one object. Teaching is a quarter of our time, on purpose. This cohort is all about engaging in the gifts that God has entrusted to us as artists.
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Every artist is placed in an atelier of 3-4 who journey together the whole year, with a coach ready to walk with you in your artistic calling and destiny. Twelve months with the same few people is what makes honesty possible and vulnerability less daunting.
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Conferences are good at inspiration and bad at formation. Studio runs twelve months, because becoming a different kind of maker takes longer than a weekend and nobody’s character changes on a schedule. We are intentional about doing life together, at all walks of life.
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Most artists have an audience and no witnesses. An audience consumes; a witness knows what it cost, remembers the early drafts, and can tell you the truth. Every month, one artists shows real work to the room, and we close by praying and prophesying over them by name.
Meet the team
Jess Sanchez
DIRECTOR • TEACHING & SPIRITUAL FORMATIONJess is an award-winning filmmaker, musician, and creative visionary passionate about telling redemptive stories through art. As the founder of Renaissance Canada, Jess is committed to equipping and inspiring artists across the country to create from a place of truth, hope, and faith. Whether through songwriting, filmmaking, or mentoring, she desires to see the arts transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. She’s passionate about teaching, leading, and resourcing the local church in areas surrounding the intersection of faith and the arts, as well as coaching and mentoring artists. She holds a Bachelor of Theology, which has helped refine her passion for the intersection of theology and the arts. She is also currently doing a Master of Arts in Theological Studies at Briercrest Seminary.
Karina Clarence
CO-DIRECTOR • PROPHETIC MINISTRYKarina is the co-director and carries its prophetic ministry — the work of listening for and speaking what God is saying over each artist and over their work. She serves the cohort through the year and has a particular role at the retreat, where every artist is commissioned by name. Learn more about Karina here.