COMMUNITY DABKE
Fally Afani Ruzik
The free Community Dabke lifts up Palestinian voices collectively in a joyful dance event to take place at the Lawrence Public Library’s lawn. This program will include a presentation on Palestinian culture, learning movement of the dabke circle dance, and a shared meal.
HIP HOP IN THE GARDEN
Kadesh Flow
“Hip Hop in the Garden” is a series of all-ages accessible celebrations of empowerment that center hip-hop performance and will be supplemented by discussion and education. These events will occur in community garden spaces, allowing the artistic power of the performances to exist in conjunction with food equity and nutrition security efforts in Kansas City.
IT WAS A HELL OF A MIX-UP
Brian Hawkins
“It Was a Hell of a Mix-up” is a short animation that will weave together non-fiction stories gleaned from hundreds of oral history interviews recorded in Missouri French by sociolinguist Rosemary Hyde from 1977 to 1983. This animation project will help people to reconnect with important parts of their heritage and enable us to proudly share these valuable stories with the world.
I NEED A MOMENT OF SOLITUDE
Aisha Imani Sanaa
“I Need A Moment of Solitude: Parents Exploring and Cultivating Wellness” aims to explore art-making as a stress reliever and provide alone time for parents who suffer from or wish to prevent mental and emotional burnout. Taking place at the Hillcrest Community Center in Topeka, KS, these sessions provide an opportunity for parents to practice self-care while their children spend time in a supervised artmaking space.
GLITTER!BUNNY
April Marie Mai and Hollie Blakeney
Glitter!Bunny is a card game that invites players into a vibrant world where communication happens beyond words. Created by Autistic artist April Marie Mai, this game is specifically designed to be inclusive of Autistic players and accessible to everyone. As part of this project, a public game-based event will be held at Strang Park in Overland Park, KS and will be designed for the Autistic community.
1309
Mazzy Mann
1309 is a theatrical production by Kansas City-based performance artist and playwright Mazzy Mann. An immersive two-act work of stage, sound, and multimedia elements, 1309 is an autobiographical portal into the home of an average Midwestern family grappling with the pressures of suburban working-class society.
EL ARBOL DE AGUADATE
Sofiana Olivera-Abalán
El Arbol de Aguadate / The Avocado Tree is a play that will be presented to underserved Spanish-speaking communities in the Kansas City and Lawrence and Topeka areas. The plan is four performances, two in each location. In this play, the audience sees and hears a story that is seldom told, a universal story of survival. The play humanizes migrants and harnesses the beginnings of empathy.
ONE MIC STAND TV
Alex Harris, River Mckenzie, One Mic Stand KC
One Mic Stand TV is an episodic program featuring various artists, entrepreneurs and makers from the Kansas City area, and will be accessible on YouTube. Viewers will be presented with an intimate look into the creative processes of painting, cooking, filmmaking, audio engineering, and other topics via 30-minute episodes.
BOSQUE BEATS
Alejandro Sabillón
Bosque Beats is a groundbreaking forest festival where trees and other flora take center stage as DJs, reimagining our relationship with nature. By employing advanced AI, Bosque Beats transforms a wooded area near Kansas City into an immersive experience for the senses. This project is a testament to the interconnectedness of living species and a celebration of the intelligence that pulses within even the most unassuming corners of our world.
ADAPTIVE RE-IMAGININGS
Julia Vering
Adaptive Re-Imaginings documents artist Julia Vering’s creative performance work with older adults, people with dementia and residents of long-term care facilities. The documentary project aims to capture Vering’s novel way of engaging a diverse population of long-term care residents and facilities through humor, imagination, and multisensory elements.