Lipscomb University announced an innovative partnership that will offer students seeking careers in entertainment and music a unique immersive learning experience at its 2021 IMAGINE event “The Soul of America Today” featuring former Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham tonight.
Lipscomb University President L. Randolph Lowry announced the launch of an innovative new immersive learning initiative for students with a partnership between Lipscomb’s George Shinn College of Entertainment & the Arts and Nashville’s Bart Millard, lead singer of the band MercyMe, called Imagine House. Millard is the leader and primary songwriter for MercyMe. He wrote the band’s signature song “I Can Only Imagine,” which was the first digital single in Christian music history to be certified 4x platinum, after losing his father to cancer. MercyMe has received numerous accolades nominations GRAMMY®, American Music Awards, a Billboard Music Award and numerous GMA Dove Awards and KLOVE Fan Awards.
Imagine House is the only initiative of its kind in the country that provides students with diverse artistic interests with innovative education, real-world entertainment experiences and a nationwide mentorship network. It will officially launch this fall.
“Imagine House will be a place that intentionally brings filmmakers, musicians, designers and animators into creative collaborations that enhance their ability to tell compelling stories while inspiring them to more deeply connect their art to their faith,” said Mike Fernandez, dean of Lipscomb’s George Shinn College of Entertainment & the Arts. “Imagine House is where you can dream about your future, ignite the wonder of your faith, apprentice with successful pioneers who paved the way before you, and collaborate with other multifaceted artists to create what’s ahead.”
Millard approached Lipscomb with his vision for Imagine House. After considering several other universities to partner with, he chose Lipscomb to help bring his idea to life because of Lipscomb’s established College of Entertainment & the Arts, the caliber of CEA’s faculty, and the institution’s location in Nashville and satellite campus in Austin, Texas.
“I love the creative energy and innovation coming out of Lipscomb University and its College of Arts and Entertainment,” Millard said. “While music is my first love, I am excited to educate the next generation to impact the world with great storytelling across many artistic mediums.”
Fernandez said Imagine House’s projects include:
● ImagineEdu. A pathway to offer online degrees, convenient for those already working in the industry; undergraduate and graduate certificates; a two-year fast-track to industry; additional graduate programs and on-demand video training, among other programs. ● Imagine House Studios. This will be a functional content production studio that will build and promote a legacy house band, called Longview, that will tour the country representing the university on the national stage, and will also create content for the market, including a new animated series called Dead Sea Squirrels and a sports documentary series called Set Apart: The Music City Mustangs. ● Imagine Nation Network. Imagine House will serve as a network of industry experts and educators who will provide scholarships, mentorships and internships to students from high school to college.
In addition to Millard and Fernandez, Imagine House’s leadership team also includes:
● Brown Bannister, music industry veteran and GRAMMY®-winning producer, director of Lipscomb’s School of Music. Bannister will focus on building the house band and leading the Imagine Nation network. ● Steve Taylor, co-founder of Lipscomb’s CEA Studios and director of its School of Music Theater And Cinematographic arts. Award-winning filmmaker, artist, producer and songwriter nominations Grammy, Billboard, Telly, Addy and Dove alumni, Taylor will lead Imagine House Studios and provide expertise in all aspects of Imagine House’s development.
The announcement was made at IMAGINE 2021 on Tuesday, April 27, when Lipscomb University offered an evening of renewed hope, revitalized confidence and energized faith in the enduring principles that drive our nation forward through an examination of “The Soul of America Today,” based on Meacham’s best-selling book, The Soul of America. IMAGINE is designed to engage the Nashville community in important conversations by bringing together prominent leaders in the city to participate in a dialogue on topics of local and national importance.
In addition to the Imagine House announcement, the event featured a conversation on “The Soul of America Today” with Meacham, who published his latest book, His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope, in August, and Haslam, whose book Faithful Presence: The Promise and the Peril of Faith in the Public Square, comes out in May. Entertainment included MercyMe performing her hit song, “I Can Only Imagine” and Odessa Settles, an American folk/singer and multi-genre artist in the fields of vocal and instrumental music, theater, modeling, spoken word, recording projects and short films.
Lipscomb’s George Shinn College of Entertainment & the Arts offers undergraduate degrees in film production, fashion merchandising, fashion design, entertainment design, music composition, contemporary musicvocal performance, piano, instrumental performance, teaching, music, acting, directing, musical theatre, theatre ministry, theatre education, studio art, graphic design, art therapy, visual arts administration, visual arts education, and animation, among other areas of study. It is home to CEA Studios, a one-of-a-kind creative production house and creative incubator for students and faculty that includes film, music recording, animation, and graphic design studios. Graduate programs include a Master of Arts in Film and Creative Media, a Master of Fine Arts in Film and Creative Media with writer and director tracks, and a Master of Fine Arts/Master of Business Administration. For more information, visit www.lipscomb.edu/cea.
The post office MercyMe’s Bart Millard Partners with Lipscomb University, Imagine House first appeared on TCB.
Author: Jessie Clarks
Link to the source of the publication
( —)