photo by: University of Kansas

A still from Lawrence filmmaker Lourdes Kalusha-Aguirre's documentary "Forward, Together."

Two Lawrence-based artists are among this year’s Rocket Grants recipients, a re-granting program launched by Charlotte Street, a Kansas City-based nonprofit, and the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas. They will each receive $6,000 for producing public art projects in the Lawrence and Kansas City areas.

Filmmakers Lourdes Kalusha-Aguirre and Sean Kenealy are among this year’s 10 recipients. This year’s projects — which are funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts — involve a variety of workshops focused on accessibility, film screening events and initiatives, performance-based celebrations of queer resilience and outdoor exhibitions in unconventional spaces, according to a KU press release.

Kalusha-Aguirre, a filmmaker, photographer and 2020 graduate of KU’s Film and Media Studies department, is making a documentary exploring the connections between Lawrence and El Salvador through interviews and archival footage. She plans to hold screenings and discussions of the film, “Forward, Together,” at venues in Lawrence and Kansas City.

Kenealy, an actor, writer and director, will offer free workshops for low-budget filmmaking using phones hosted by local filmmakers, writers and artists, through his “Pocket Cinema Project.” The project culminates in a free public film festival featuring a selection of participant films, according to the release.

“Artists of our region continue to expand definitions for art, explore new places where it thrives, and invite many communities to participate,” said Saralyn Reece Hardy, director of the Spencer Museum. “This year’s Rocket Grants recipients offer a broader view of our communities through surprising, somber and sometimes zany projects of note.”

This year’s recipients were selected from a pool of 84 applicants and reviewed by four jurors that are chosen each year. To qualify, artists must reside within an 80-mile radius of the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Rocket Grants was founded in 2009 and encourages applicants to produce work that is unconventional, inventive and “under-the-radar.”

The public is invited to celebrate this year’s recipients at a no-cost awards ceremony from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Sept. 24, at Charlotte Street in Kansas City.

A full list of this year’s recipients is available at www.rocketgrants.org/rocket-grants-projects/projects-2026-2027.