Teaching artist and aerospace engineer Roy Moye III and several community partners have been tapped by Wichita’s Arts Partners for a creative STEMusic project that will culminate with the creation of a bilingual musical album for kids. The intent of the project is to promote careers in science, technology, engineering, and math through music.

The project will include a youth summer camp where participants will help develop and record the album, design the cover artwork, and learn about the career opportunities in aviation in Wichita.

Funding for the project will come from a new City of Wichita Arts Thrive grant program. The grant is made possible through a $75,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Along with the Arts Partner, two other projects received funding from the grant.

Local artist Michael Davenport will curate an exhibition celebrating the diversity of LGBTQIA+ experiences in Kansas with his “Threads of Pride” project. The artist will work with middle and high school Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA) and Pride clubs across Kansas to create 3-foot-by-5-foot quilt panels reflecting their experiences. Inspired by the AIDS Memorial Quilt, these panels will offer a visual narrative of what it means to grow up LGBTQIA+ today. The panels will be displayed throughout the Wichita community during Pride month in June 2025.

Ballet Wichita will confront past social bias by engaging two choreographers, Mollie Sansone and Yusha-Marie Sorzano, to produce the ballet “Breaking Boundaries.” The ballet will be presented in a non-traditional performance location and will elevate Ballet Wichita’s commitment to equity and inclusion. The performance will be inspired by the Dockum Sit-In and Wichita’s aviation history while challenging the stereotypes of ballet and the art form’s history of body, gender, and racial bias.

Each of the recipient organizations will receive a $25,000 Arts Thrive grant.