Tallgrass Artist Residency

2:00–3:30pm
The School for Rural Culture and Creativity
Matfield Green, KS

Join Tallgrass artist-in-residence, Andrea Walls, for a hands-on paper quiltmaking workshop which invites participants to engage with pre-curated images drawn from local history and regional importance relevant to the Tallgrass Prairie. Together, participants will transform multimedia materials into a shared act of art and meaning-making. Using printed images, textures, and paper collage techniques, the group will create a patchwork quilt that reflects joy, resilience, and land stewardship, highlighting collective work and responsibility as a bridge to sustainable futures. Rooted in the legacy of traditional quiltmaking as both art form and communal language, this workshop emphasizes process over perfection and participation over product.

**Please note that Highway K-177 is closed for construction between Council Grove & Strong City. Check detour routes and travel times.

Andrea Walls is a “Philadelphia Cultural Treasure.” Her work as founder and creative director of the Museum of Black Joy has lead her to thrive in a multidisciplinary art practice which includes but is not limited to photography, digital art, film, poetry and collage-making. She draws inspiration from the artists and writers of The Harlem Renaissance and Black Arts Movement and from the landscapes and people she encounters as she makes joy-journeys through the United States and beyond. Among her many collaborations with both grassroots and established organizations, she enjoys sharing knowledge in intergenerational spaces, facilitating “Seeding Joy Workshops” locally and abroad. She hopes you are flourishing and finding joy in the small, everyday things.

2:00–3:30pm
Matfield Community Church
Matfield Green, KS

Join Tallgrass artist-in-residence, Maryam Ghasempour Siahgaldeh for an artist talk and cyanotype workshop in Matfield Green, Kansas. Maryam will share about her photographic journey that explores themes of migration, memory, displacement, and the search for belonging. Through documentary photography, personal archives, and experimental processes, her work reflects on how images can preserve stories, connect generations, and create bridges between the past and present. Following the talk, participants will have the opportunity to engage in a cyanotype workshop, where they will explore the relationship between photography, memory, and material transformation using this historic photographic process.

**Please note that Highway K-177 is closed for construction between Council Grove & Strong City. Check detour routes and travel times.

Maryam (Nilu) Ghasempour Siahgaldeh (b. 1994) is an Iranian artist and researcher working with documentary and conceptual photography. She is currently an MFA candidate in Photography at Kansas State University. Before moving to the United States, her work focused on northern Iran, where she documented intimate moments from everyday life, with particular attention to older women and men living under the Islamic regime, as well as broader social justice issues, including women’s rights and child labor.

1:30–3:00pm
The School for Rural Culture & Creativity
Matfield Green, KS

Join Tallgrass artist-in-residence, Anthony Procopio Ross, for a generative story-sharing and poetry-writing workshop built around conversation, exchange, and opening ourselves to the stories of others. Through a loose “speed dating” style format, participants will interview one another and then write into those encounters using borrowed languages, unexpected or familiar narratives, and small surprises that surface between them.

This program will take place at the School for Rural Culture & Creativity at the corner of Bocook & Rogler in Matfield Green, KS.

**Please note that Highway K-177 is closed for construction between Council Grove & Strong City. Check detour routes and travel times.

Anthony Procopio Ross is an artist based in Kansas City, Missouri, where he works with youth at a local nonprofit and teaches night classes. His poems and visual art have been published or are forthcoming in I-70 Review, MemeZine Lit, The Inflectionist Review, Wild Roof Journal, Outskirts Lit, Bear Review, The McNeese Review, Laurel Review, and others. Awarded a 2025–27 residency at the Charlotte Street Foundation, he can often be found talking with fellow residents in the communal and gallery spaces. Across his work, he looks at what happens off to the side of dominant discourses, interfacing with people, traditions, and ideas that quietly shape our shared, everyday life.

7:00–8:30pm
Tallgrass Film Center
Wichita, KS

“Taking Flight: The 8th Wonder of the World” is a feature documentary and live film score created by BelCanto Duo that explores on of the most extraordinary wildlife migrations in the world: the annual gathering of the Sandhill Crane along Nebraska’s Platte River. Join us for a screening of the film along with live music by Bel Canto Duo, followed by a discussion focused on the NeuroArts-informed design of the film and its measurable impact on lowering stress, along with the ecological themes in then work.

The Tallgrass Film Association’s cinema is located inside the Lux building on 120 E 1st St. in downtown Wichita, KS. Tickets available at tallgrassfilmcenter.eventive.org.

Bel Canto Duo is oboist and English hornist Darci Gamerl and cellist, composer, and looping artist David Downing. Based in Omaha, the duo creates original music, live film scores, and interdisciplinary performances grounded in NeuroArts research, immersive storytelling, and impactful engagement. Their work has been recognized through a Chesterwood Artist in Residence award, OEAA Outstanding New Artist Award, as well as American Prize finalist honors in both performance and composition, and commissions from the National Willa Cather Center, and Gallery 1516.

10:00–11:30am
Dyck Arboretum of the Plains
Hesston, KS

Tallgrass artist-in-residence, Xiao Faria da Cunha, will facilitate a generative writing workshop featuring the Japanese Tanka style of poetry. Writers of all ages are welcome for this program that will invite participants to reflect on their favorite prairie memories in the beautiful setting of the Dyck Arboretum’s Prairie Discovery Lab. Participants are encouraged to bring their favorite writing materials.

The Dyck Arboretum of the Plains is located at 177 W Hickory St in Hesston, KS. From the entrance, follow signs to the Prairie Discovery Lab building on the south end of the arboretum campus.

Xiao Faria daCunha is a practicing artist, independent curator, and art journalist based in Kansas City, MO. She is a self-taught artist with a minor in Studio Art and a B.A. in English Creative Writing. Xiao creates works on paper integrating traditional techniques inherited from her Chinese background including knotting, embroidery, carving, and calligraphy, as well as modern techniques such as collagraph, mixed media collaging, typesetting, and new media. Her practice embraces new ideas and conversations but is always well-fertilized by her heritage.

2:00–3:30pm
Bill McBride Studio
Matfield Green, KS

Join us for an enriching afternoon of writing & discussion with artist Alex DeRoin. We’ll be exploring the notion of the US (and Matfield Green) as a “land of milk and honey”, as well as Alex’s unique methodology of “Landadaism”. Participants should bring with them a journal or preferred writing materials, as well as materials for cutting & collaging text (i.e. old magazines, newspapers, etc). 

This program will take place at Bill McBride’s studio, which is a private residence just north of Matfield Station (658 KS Highway 177, Matfield Green, KS).

**Please note that Highway K-177 is closed for construction between Council Grove & Strong City. Check detour routes and travel times.

From Alex:

“LAN𐓈𐒰͘.𐓈𐒰ISM is the Death Doula to a dying system built off dispossession. That “Yes Ands—“ the European Dada movement’s views on “paradise” and “capitalism”. By focusing through a lens of profound self preservation. Which erodes the borders of “us” and “them” to build kin, not Kingdoms. LAN𐓈𐒰͘𐓈𐒰 treats the colonial concepts of paradise as a hollow illusion. While the latter is seen as a destructive dehumanizing force, that is to be decomposed for new growth.

The foreign empire known as the United State’s aka “The Land of Milk and Honey”. Was and still is a refuge for anyone who has a new vision. While simultaneously operating at devastating costs to indigenous peoples across turtle island. This empire was built on a the duality of promising a new vision for some. While systematically dispossessing indigenous populations from their cultures to fulfill that vision. This is why diversity, equity, and inclusion feels like an attack for those who benefit from its erasure the most. Because this type of set up, super imposes “radicalism” onto people who needs diversity to survive.

So this piece is a reminder to all of us. That this is an ongoing spiritual journey, of asking how do we show up for ourselves. So that we show up for one another?—

These systems connect us all, and only acts of radical cross-pollination to usher in DEI. Can truly provide the practical support to the end-of-life process of capitalism. Dying is the longest action verb, and we can all take this time. To help ease the transition from our dying systems, empires, and worldviews to whatever comes next.”

Alex DeRoin is a Two Spirit artist and poet of Osage, Otoe, Pawnee, Blackfeet, and Ioway descent, born into the Hominy District of the Osage Reservation. As a community builder and activist, Alex champions the intersectional struggles of marginalized communities, notably through their work with the Tulsa Two Spirit Society and several other organizations. They are the pioneer of Lan𐓈𐒰𐓈𐒰 (Landadaism), a small art movement blending Neo-Dada aesthetics with Landback principles. Their practice challenges dominant narratives on colonialism, society, and gender, aiming to inspire a new generation toward collective liberation. That has been shown in spaces like the Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska.

6:00–7:30pm
Art Center Cinema
Salina, KS

Join us for a double feature and talk back at the Salina Art Center Cinema with Tallgrass artist-in-residence Aisha Amin and Kansas-based filmmaker Kelly Stanphill. Both filmmakers have received honors for their short films “Derby” (Aisha Amin) and “12: Hours” (Kelly Stanphill) that approach difficult topics of addiction and grief in family relationships. 

Tickets are $8 and can be purchased online at: https://www.salinaartcenter.org/cinema

Aisha Amin is a filmmaker based in New York City. A graduate of Columbia University’s MFA Screenwriting program, she works across narrative, experimental, and documentary forms to explore themes of motherhood, generational memory, and the immigrant experience.

Her short films have screened and won awards at Academy Qualifying festivals like Palm Springs ShortFest, Slamdance, New Hampshire Film Festival, River Run and BAM, and have been recognized as Vimeo Staff Picks. Her screenplays have been supported by the Black List, Women in Film, Cine Qua Non Lab, the NYFA Artist Fellowship, and The Gotham’s Series Creator Fellowship. She was selected for The Shed’s Open Call in 2021, where her sound and video installation was exhibited, and has worked as an archival producer and editor on several documentaries. She is currently working on her debut feature film.

2:00–3:30pm
Matfield Community Church
Matfield Green, KS

DJ Jon Sabillón uses a unique process of sourcing beats from the bioelectricity of plants, but believes that anyone can be a DJ with a little facilitation! Join us at Matfield Community Church on Sunday May 3 at 2pm for a program that’s part artist talk, demonstration, workshop and….dance party?

**Please note that Highway K-177 is closed for construction between Council Grove & Strong City. Check detour routes and travel times.

Alejandro Jon Sabillón is a multidisciplinary artist and creative entrepreneur from Honduras exploring the wonders and mysteries at the frontiers of the musical unknown, including the cultures and music of animal and digital minds. 

He founded the world’s first record label for non-humans and has developed novel ways to compose music with flora, fauna, fossils, and the forces of nature. His work is influenced by the art and wisdom of indigenous Central America, pre-Columbian futurism aesthetics and priorities, and various contemplative world traditions. 

A Berklee College of Music graduate and showcase artist, Alejandro has performed 1,000+ shows in a dozen countries around the world as a DJ. His distinctions include being the first DJ to be included on an official state artist roster in the United States, the first DJ to receive an award from the Andy Warhol Foundation, and the first DJ to receive an ambassadorship from the United Nations.

10:00–11:30am
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
Strong City, KS

Join science journalist Kristin Hugo for a presentation and walk at the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Strong City. Kristin will discuss a current body of work featuring bone-hunting, and will share tips for finding, cleaning and caring for animal bones harvested in the field as well as the legal and ethical factors of this work (i.e. it is illegal to harvest bones or any other organic matter from national parks without express permission!)

This event is free and will take place in the conference room by the Visitors Center of the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Strong City, KS.

**Please note that Highway K-177 is closed for construction between Council Grove and the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. Check detour routes and travel times.

Kristin Hugo is a science journalist focusing on biology, nature, animals, and bones. Her upcoming book, “Carcass: On the Afterlives of Animal Bodies,” is slated to be published by MIT Press. 

After earning a BA in Journalism from California State University, Northridge, and an MS in Science Journalism from Boston University, Kristin moved around the East and West Coasts of the US to pursue science writing positions at National Geographic, PBS Newshour, Newsweek, and Bay Nature Magazine. Now she lives in Kemmerer, Wyoming, where she focuses on various media projects, including a photo book about animal remains. 

Kristin has received an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Book Grant and is an alum of the Poynter-Koch Media Fellowship, the Wyoming Innovation Partnership Creative Economy Workshop, the Wyoming Arts Council Creative Writing Fellowship in Nonfiction, and the Jentel Artist Residency. You can see her writing, social media pages, and contact info at KristinHugo.com.

3:00–4:30pm
Matfield Community Church
Matfield Green, KS

Join Huascar Medina in Matfield Green to learn more about the form and history of the Cento: a poem composed entirely of lines taken from other poems or texts to honor a poet or writer, explore ideas, and form new narratives. 

This event is free and will take place in the Matfield Community Church in Matfield Green, KS. 

**Please note that Highway K-177 is closed for construction between Council Grove and the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. Check detour routes and travel times.

Huascar Medina served as the Poet Laureate of Kansas from 2019 to 2022 and became an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow, in 2022. Huascar Medina has authored three books of poetry: Protest As Love Poem (Meadowlark Press, 2026) Un Mango Grows in Kansas (Spartan Press, 2020) and How to Hang the Moon (Spartan Press, 2019). His forthcoming collection of essays, The Prairie Fool (Plainspoken Press, 2027), is a lyrical meditation on politics, class, and culture.

Huascar was born in Killeen, TX, and has lived artfully in Kansas for over two decades. As a second-generation immigrant living in the Heartland, Huascar considers himself a New American exploring the boundaries between identity and location, focusing on cultural empathy, social cohesion, class structures, first-generation trauma, mental health, and internalized diasporic longing and belonging.