Illuminate Conference

Recording artist, songwriter, producer, filmmaker, publisher and award-winning author of “The Wingfeather Saga,” Andrew Peterson is also founder and president of The Rabbit Room, which has published thirty books to date and fosters community and spiritual formation through music, story and art. Known for songs like “Be Kind To Yourself,” "Is He Worthy,” “The Silence Of God” and more, Peterson has received three Dove Award nominations.

Jason Emmanuel Petty, better known by his stage name Propaganda, is a Christian rapper, spoken word artist, and poet armed with a bold message. His ideas stem from where he sits at the intersection. He sees how cultures cross and inspire one another, and can see the oneness of us all. Propaganda will cause you to nod your head, but more importantly he will stretch your mind and heart.

Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt, PhD, is associate professor of art and art history at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. She enjoys writing for general audiences on the intersection of art history, politics, and pop culture. In 2023, Baker Academic published Weichbrodt’s book “Redeeming Vision: A Christian Guide to Looking at and Learning from Art.”

Douglas McKelvey moved to Nashville in 1991 to participate in the early work of Art House Foundation, an organization dedicated to a shared exploration of faith and the arts. In the decades since, he has worked as an author, song lyricist, scriptwriter, and video director. “Every Moment Holy,” McKelvey’s collection of liturgies, has sold over 300,000 copies across two volumes and five editions.

Karen Swallow Prior, PhD, is the author of “On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books” (2018); “Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More—Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist” (2014); and “Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me” (2012). Her writing has appeared at Christianity Today, New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Gospel Coalition, and other places.

Rev. Beckmann is an adjunct professor of Humanities at Lee University and founder of the C.S. Lewis Society of Chattanooga. He is also former director of the Christian Study Center at the Kilns, the home of C.S. Lewis. Beckmann is the author of "Life with the Professor: The True Story Behind the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe."

Mary McCampbell, PhD, is an author, professor, and speaker. In 2022, Fortress Press published her book “Imagining Our Neighbors as Ourselves: How Art Shapes Empathy.” You can find McCampbell’s writing in publications such as Image Journal, The Other Journal, Relevant Magazine, Christ and Pop Culture, and The Curator.

Gennevieve Brown-Kibble, DMA, joined the faculty of Southern Adventist University’s School of Music as director of choral studies in 2005. She teaches applied voice, choral conducting, and music history. Under her direction, choirs have performed in Australia, Canada, Finland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States.

Ned Bustard is a graphic designer, children’s book illustrator, author, and printmaker. A sample of the books he has worked on includes “Saint Nicholas the Giftgiver,” “Every Moment Holy,” “The Light Princess,” and “The Lost Tales of Sir Galahad.” Bustard is creative director of Square Halo Books, curator of the Square Halo Gallery in Lancaster, PA, and serves on the board of the Association of Scholars of Christianity in the History of Art.

Charlie Newton received his MFA from Old Dominion University and Norfolk State University before also studying abroad in Cortona, Italy. In 2012, Newton and his wife founded SPLASH, a free art school for urban youth in Chattanooga that serves approximately 150 children between the ages of 4-15. “I desperately want to use art to plant seeds of positivity and hope in their lives.”

Southern Adventist University professor Giselle Hasel, MFA, enjoys exploring philosophical and religious movements in the history of art. Prior to teaching, she worked as an illustrator at the W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem and Horn Archaeological Museum. Her archaeology and art history illustrations have been published in numerous reference works, including a volume by Harvard University Press.

Lee University professor Alan Wyatt, MM, is conductor of the school’s Jazz Ensemble and teaches course such as Applied Saxophone, Commercial Music Theory, and History and Improvisation. He also serves as the Area Coordinator for the Music Business degree program. Wyatt maintains his high level of performance through engagements with the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, among others.