KC Studio Monthly Arts Brief – December 2024

2024 Rocket Grant Awardees Announced

In September, Charlotte Street and the Spencer Museum of Art announced the recipients of the 2024 Rocket Grant awards. From a pool of 77 applicants, 10 were selected by jury, each receiving project-based grants of $6,000 from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts .

The awardees are:

Community Dabke, Fally Afani : The free Community Dabke lifts Palestinian voices collectively in a joyful dance event on the Lawrence Public Library ’s lawn.

Hip Hop in the Garden, Kadesh Flow: A series of all-ages accessible celebrations of empowerment centered on hip hop performance, supplemented by discussion and education.

It Was a Hell of a Mix-up, Brian Hawkins: A short animation of non-fiction stories sourced from oral history interviews recorded in Missouri French by sociolinguist Rosemary Hyde from 1977 to 1983.

I Need a Moment of Solitude, Aisha Sanaa : Explores artmaking as a stress reliever and provides alone time for parents who suffer from or wish to prevent mental and emotional burnout. Supervised artmaking for children provided. (Topeka, Kansas)

Glitter!Bunny, April Marie Mai and Hollie Blakeney: A card game that invites players into a vibrant world where communication happens beyond words. The game is specifically designed to be inclusive of autistic players and accessible to everyone, created by autistic artist April Marie Mai. There will be a public game-based event as part of this project.

1309, Mazzy Mann: An immersive two-act work for 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 Aguacate, Sofiana Olivera-Abalán: Presented to underserved Spanish-speaking communities, this play shows a story seldom told, a universal story of survival, humanizing migrants and harnessing the beginnings of empathy.

One Mic Stand TV, Alex Harris, River Mckenzie, One Mic Stand KC: An episodic program featuring artists, entrepreneurs and makers from the Kansas City area, giving an intimate look into creative processes, accessible on YouTube.

Bosque Beats, Alejandro Sabillón: As a “groundbreaking forest festival,” this project transforms a wooded area near Kansas City into an immersive experience for the senses, using advanced AI to transform trees and other flora into DJs.

Adaptive Re-Imaginings, Julia Vering: This documentary project aims to capture Vering’s performance work with older adults, people with dementia and residents of long-term care facilities engaged through humor, imagination and multisensory elements. For more information, visit charlottestreet.org. — Libby Hanssen

Kansas Arts Commission Grants to Area Organizations

In July, the Kansas Arts Commission announced grant awards to 108 recipients in 42 Kansas counties, for a total of $1,295,450. In the Kansas City area, 14 organizations were awarded funds totaling over $180,000.

JOHNSON COUNTY

Spinning Tree Theatre : $10,000

Johnson County Parks and Recreation District: $10,000

Arts in Prisons, Inc.: $19,284

InterUrban ArtHouse : $16,768

The Culture House, Inc.: $16,637

William Baker Choral Foundation : $16,332

KANSAS SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL BALLET INC : $16,215

Friends of the Opus 76 Quartet Foundation: $16,070

Volland Foundation, Inc.: $15,895

Heartland Song Network : $3,487

Midwest Chamber Ensemble : $3,924

WYANDOTTE COUNTY

POLICE ATHLETIC LEAGUE OF KCKS : $10,000

KC Bling All-Stars Foundation: $10,000

Allegro Choirs of Kansas City : $16,593

Kansas City Artists Coalition Relaunches Forum Magazine

The Kansas City Artists Coalition will re-launch Forum, a bi-monthly print publication “dedicated to the positive encouragement and critical study of the visual arts in the greater Kansas City region.”

KC Studio contributor Andrew Johnson has been hired as the new editor of Forum. He has an MFA from University of Missouri-Kansas City ’s Creative Writing program and a B.A. in communication from William Jewell College . He is the author of two books and is the recipient of a Charlotte Street studio residency, an ArtsKC - Regional Arts Council Inspiration grant, a Rocket Grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and a Vermont Studio Center residency. His essays and poems have appeared in many local and national publications.

The periodical was previously published from 1975 to 2001. The first new issue, available Dec. 1, 2024, will serve as a bridge between the magazine’s past and its future. Additionally, the archives will be digitized and made accessible to the public online.

KCAC members will have issues mailed to their homes, and the general public can find free copies distributed to area businesses, such as bookstores, coffee shops and galleries. For more information visit kansascityartistscoalition.org. — Libby Hanssen

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