About Us
What Is Kalos?
Incorporated in January 2023, the Kalos Foundation is a Pennsylvania nonprofit corporation committed to funding and producing high-quality artistic endeavors by devoted Christian artists.
Our name, Kalos, comes from the Greek word meaning good—the same word used to characterize God’s regard for creation recorded in the ancient Greek translation of Genesis 1. The word (καλÏŒν) describes what is not merely useful or sufficient, but what is truly beautiful and worthy. The human desire for what is beautiful has both its source and end in our Creator, whose image we bear.
Our Purpose
We seek to foster and support new works of art and music that might otherwise lack the means or attention they need to play their important part in a robust practice of the faith.
Art, music, and literature are indispensable expressions of our love for God and His creation, but their pursuit is often hindered by various cultural and economic restraints. Therefore, we work on behalf of donors to nurture the artistic voice of the church, connecting and curating a community of Christian artists around the world.
The Problem:
Why is there a need for Kalos?
Our Culture
The world of the arts is actively hostile to followers of Jesus Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ has long been regarded as foolishness (1 Cor. 1:18). However, the world of the arts, broadly construed, seems especially intent on dismissing or caricaturing the Christian message. Moreover, artists who refuse to endorse the political or social ideologies du jour are frequently ignored, silenced, or shamed—regardless of their artistic merit. Kalos presents an alternative.
Our Churches
Individual churches often ignore or marginalize those among them who are called to create art, neither understanding nor effectively integrating their vocations. Since our prevailing culture also prioritizes comfort and efficiency, those notions tend to bleed into our church communities as well. Good art challenges both. Too often church services appeal to the appetites or the intellect, but fail to reach the heart. Skillful artistry unites Beauty and Truth in a way that induces the Good. By keeping qualified artists at arm’s length, churches have undermined their capacity to elevate and educate their own communities. Kalos seeks to do better.
Our Standards
In an attempt to stay relevant (in America especially), “Christian” industries have resorted to derivative and sentimental versions of nearly every popular genre of art, literature, film, and music. Frequently productions are shallow and thinly disguised imitations larded with emotive elements and a meager spirituality. Deficient in genuine artistic merit, they frequently underwhelm audiences both within and outside the church. Also, by prioritizing a rhetorical agenda, such efforts subvert the value of creating beauty to the utilitarian aim of selling a formulaic message. Kalos requires higher standards.
A Different Approach:
Curate the artist, not the art
Our artists must show a deep commitment to the orthodox tenets of the Christian faith as well as excellence within their specific disciplines. With those criteria in place, Kalos offers both means and latitude for artists to work according to their own visions. We then connect these works to the broader church through specific promotional and educational avenues (events, publications, websites, etc.). Nevertheless, the long-term commercial or economic “success” of our projects is subordinate to our mission simply to produce and to promote good art for the glory of God.
Our Leadership
Founding Board Members:
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Other Members
Don Petrille
Board Member
Don Petrille brings over 25 years of legal experience to The Kalos Foundation, having counseled various businesses and nonprofits on varying issues such as formation, entity structure, employment policies and financing. Don has advised churches and charities on their by-laws and charitable compliance, consulting also on leadership succession. Previously, Don served as the Bucks County, Pennsylvania Register of Wills, and in this capacity, he served on various committees throughout Pennsylvania which updated court rules and policies. Don served as President of the Pennsylvania State Association of Elected County Officials and President of the Registers of Wills and Clerks of the Orphans’ Court Association. He is married and is a father to two teenagers. He serves his community as a coach for the Pennridge High School Mock Trial Team, developing leadership curricula for high school students and coaching softball.
Jeremy Tullius
Board Member
Tullius is a literature instructor at Liberty Common High School, a rigorous, classically-oriented charter school in Fort Collins, Colorado. Over the past two decades, he has taught classes in British and classical literature, AP English Literature, Rhetoric, Composition, Logic, and Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Tullius emphasizes the overlap between imaginative literature and philosophy, having degrees in both, and believes poetry and fiction to be uniquely capable of orienting humans toward the divine. He is an Orthodox Christian and an active member of his parish, often teaching Sunday School and singing in the choir.
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