With over 20 years serving God as an artist, Marlita Hill creates, teaches, writes, mentors, podcasts, and speaks to an international audience about the beautifully symbiotic relationship between faith and art. Her program, the Kingdom Artist Institute,™ helps artists build a career and practice that honors the spiritual, creative, and vocational parts of their experience as Christians building art careers in the marketplace.
With a focus on marketplace artists, her heart is to help them understand how they engage in, build, and represent the Kingdom in a creative life that
- doesn’t explicitly make art about faith;
- is not specifically created to be used for evangelism, doctrine, or leading people in worship; and
- is not isolated within a community of faith.
With humorous straight talk, Marlita encourages artists in organizations, colleges, and churches to live in the full, unfragmented expression of who God has made them to be. She works to show creatives and leadership how life in art (in any context) is a valid, God-honoring way to participate in Kingdom citizenship, building, and representation.
Hill prays her work liberates Kingdom artists to build an unapologetic creative practice and career life that freely, boldly, and honorably takes space in the secular context.
I want creatives to be free to do whatever they feel God drawing them to do-- however it looks, whatever it explores, wherever it exists, with whomever it involves. I want God's artists to be unapologetic about seizing the life in art He is leading them to build.
Book Marlita for Your Event
Marlita is available to speak in a variety of formats and timeframes, including virtual sessions.
- Guest / Session Speaker ($350)
- Keynote Speaker ($1500+)
- Intensive Session (2-3 hr Intensive within your conference ($1000+)
For more in-depth impartation, consider a customized KAI Retreat for your creative community. Read More about our retreats.
- Full Day ($1500+)
- KAI Weekend ($2250+)
***Host Organizations must additionally provide travel and lodging.
Marlita has been featured as a guest speaker, instructor, and panelist with many organizations including:
- Sputnik Faith and Art (UK)
- Christian Creative Network (UK)
- Intervarsity Arts Ministry
- Saddleback Visual Arts
- Vineyard Arts Boise
- Brehm Center
- Krux (South Africa)
- Breath and the Clay
- The Salvation Army
- Grove Center for the Arts and Media
- Belhaven University
- Zion Dance Project
She teaches, leads workshops, and facilitates discussions on various topics within four specific areas:
It Starts with Relationship.
What does it look like to be an artist in a loving relationship with God? Teachings in this area take a serious look at the artist’s relationship with God and its implications for how we build, navigate, and manage our art careers.
God in the Practical Stuff.
Building an art career in secular culture takes grit, bold moves, practicality, and engagement with, and within a culture whose principles and practices are often contrary to God’s. Teachings in this area explore the mindsets that empower artists to monitor themselves in spiritual liberty and maturity, and build their art careers without compromising their faith.
Space and Identity.
As artists of faith, we can experience anxiety around identity and how we show up in our career spaces. Do we show up as Christians or as artists? How do we see ourselves and our art in this experience? How do we think God sees us and our art? Teachings in this area help artists examine the beliefs, assumptions, and narratives that have caused conflict and discord between their faith and art, and empowers them to show up as whole people with all parts of themselves fully present, active and honored.
Where is the Love?: A framework for serving your artists and loving them well.
In order for the arts and creativity to fully thrive in your church, you need artists thriving there. How can you help your artists thrive? How can you support artists in the diversity of experience, artform, expectation, and journey in which they come? Using Chapman’s 5 Love Languages as a structure, this discussion helps churches understand ways to support and care for their artists within the capacities of their specific congregation and vision.
What Others Are Saying About KAI
Marlita Hill rocks! She is the one who God has called to speak to artists in Christ who are struggling to balance their life in Christ with their life in the arts. We artists are called to work inside and outside of the church without compromise and without division. She helps us to remember that no matter where we are called, we are to work with integrity, vision and purpose in order to manifest God’s greater vision of reconciliation.”
–Patrice G, artist and theologian
The insights I’ve gained from reading Defying Discord and participating in the Kingdom Artist Initiative workshop have revolutionized my creative life. Marlita was able to eloquently speak to my questions surrounding being artist of faith in the marketplace and has created beautifully intuitive and Scripture-based answers. By getting to the root of what I believe about God and His purposes for my art calling, I have also been able to attune myself better to His leading and actively invite the Holy Spirit into all my art pursuits. I cannot recommend KAI and Defying Discord highly enough for artists and creatives of faith — it will revitalize both your faith and art life.
–Christy Richardson, Actor/Singer/Voice Over Artist
Caution: do NOT take Marlita Hill’s workshop if you aren’t ready to be inspired, motivated and encouraged in your spiritual and art life. I thoroughly enjoyed this course which challenged me to see things from a different perspective. I’ve long struggled to feel that I could mesh both my spiritual life and my call to be a “secular” writer. It was with relief that I learned not only is it possible to survive, but thrive, in both of these arenas simultaneously. Marlita’s kind but straightforward manner helped me uncover new truths. Her deep dives into scripture helped to put things into perspective. Her energy was contagious. I highly recommend this excellent course to any other Christian who is struggling with a foot in the two seemingly opposite worlds of faith and art.
–Author J.P. Choquette