Redeeming Story Through the Arts
Faculty Story
For Professor Harty Blackert, storytelling has never been about performance alone. It has always been about purpose.
Long before stepping into the classroom at OKWU, Blackert first encountered the power of theatre in a small Christian school. A traveling drama ministry visited campus and transformed ordinary stages into spaces that stirred conviction, imagination, and faith. What began as a middle school introduction to theatre slowly became a calling.
Through biblical productions and summers spent traveling with a Christian theatre team, Blackert saw how stories could move people toward truth in ways sermons sometimes could not. Audiences laughed. Reflected. Worshiped. Listened differently.
“That experience shaped everything,” Blackert says. “The goal has always been the same. To use storytelling to bring people closer to the Lord.”
That conviction now shapes his work at OKWU as Instructor of Film and Photography and as a key voice behind the university’s new Bachelor of Arts in Theatre.
For the first time in university history, students can pursue a full theatre degree at OKWU. For Blackert, the addition is about more than expanding academic offerings. It reflects a larger belief that the arts belong within Christian formation, not outside of it.
“We’re not creating something new,” he says. “We’re reclaiming something that’s always belonged to the Kingdom.”
Historically, the Church commissioned artists, musicians, and storytellers to teach Scripture and help people encounter truth. Blackert believes that calling still matters today.
And he believes students are hungry for it.
In his classroom, storytelling is not treated as self-expression alone. Students are challenged to see creativity as stewardship. Their gifts are not simply tools for recognition or applause, but opportunities to serve, influence, and point people toward something greater than themselves.
“God has created each person uniquely,” Blackert says.
“Your gifts have purpose. The question isn’t whether you’re creative, it’s how you’ll use that creativity.”
That perspective resonates with students trying to discern both identity and calling. It also shapes the structure of the program itself.
Rather than pushing students toward one narrow definition of success, Blackert emphasizes the broad landscape of opportunities within the arts. Students explore filmmaking, production, photography, design, performance, writing, advertising, and collaborative storytelling. Some may pursue professional theatre or film. Others may serve in churches, nonprofits, schools, or launch creative ventures of their own.
The goal is formation. Students are taught to approach their craft with excellence, humility, and trust in God’s direction. Blackert often compares the creative process to farming. Artists prepare the ground, plant faithfully, and continue showing up. Growth comes later, often slowly, and not always visibly at first.
That mindset is already taking shape through student-written films, collaborative productions, and creative projects that invite students to tell meaningful stories together. All while cultivating technical skill.
He wants students to leave understanding why stories matter in the first place. Because for Blackert, the end goal has never been the stage, the screen, or even the degree itself.
It is the student who discovers clarity in their calling. The artist who creates with conviction. The storyteller who understands that truthful stories can point people toward hope, redemption, and ultimately Christ Himself.
And in classrooms and creative spaces across campus, that work is already beginning.
Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Coming Fall 2026
Pursue storytelling, performance, and production through a Christ-centered lens with hands-on experience in theatre and film. Learn more.