About Us
Renaissance was founded in 1988 by Mr. Bob Rowe.
Bob began a singing career in the 1970’s, singing in clubs and coffee houses, in Chicago, New York, and other cities.
As a young artist, Bob was inspired and mentored by Judy Collins, Joan Baez, and Peter, Paul and Mary.
During his travels Bob found time to perform for "special" groups and audiences, such as the developmentally disabled, visually impaired, and the elderly.
He began to realize that this is where his heart was leading him.
In 1988 Bob formed this non-profit to allow expansion of the work. Further, he created a business plan to make this non-profit sustainable.
He engaged some of the area’s finest artists, artisans and performers, handpicked because of their ability to reach the special and unique audience we serve.
Since then, over 30 years ago, Renaissance delivered over 3,000 performances, engaging over 100 local artists at over 50 senior and veterans’ facilities.
Today this continues to be our one and only endeavor.
Bob and Renaissance are recognized nationally for this work, having received numerous awards including the 2015 Kalamazoo Community Medal of Arts.
Meanwhile he continues with a vibrant individual career.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Rowe_(musician) for more information.
Our primary goals are:
- To promote the general mental and physical health of residents of care facilities, group homes, and senior
facilities through arts and entertainment "concerts" and presentations - To engage local artists and teach them how to reach these audiences
- Bringing live art to overlooked audiences
- Contributing to the wellness of our audiences
- Serving diverse audiences with a diverse set of artists
- Helping artists evolve their art
- Fulfilling our organizational goals
Community impact:
This work overcomes artificial and real barriers to that often exist for our audiences.
- Our audiences include seniors in wheelchairs and even in beds that are rolled into the performance area
- All facilities where we perform are accessible to people with limited mobility
- Often family members attend our performances as well – no admission fee is charged
- As noted before, both our audiences and artists are diverse groups
- Our performances bring healthful benefits to our audiences