Snow City Arts is honored to announce the recipients of the 2025 Katie Kurcz Memorial Fund Award, an annual initiative that celebrates the legacy of our beloved Auxiliary Board Member, Katie Kurcz. This fund supports the artistic and professional growth of our Teaching Artists and amplifies the creative impact they have on young people in hospital settings.
This year, we are proud to recognize Angelica Davila and Bree Gordon: two Teaching Artists whose proposals exemplify the spirit of this fund: innovation, accessibility, and joy through the arts.
✨ Angelica Davila: Visual Poetry for All
A Poetry Teaching Artist, Angelica Davila explores powerful intersections between visual art and creative writing in her work with students. With support from the Katie Kurcz Fund, Angelica attended the 2025 AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) Conference and Bookfair in Los Angeles to deepen her study of visual poetics. Her research will shape a new workshop series and a visual poetry activity zine, designed to help students, including those with developmental disabilities, see poetry not just as written word, but as a visual and expressive art form.
“I found poetry accessible when I realized that it can be a visual art form, which is a craft that I had already begun playing with in my fiction and non-fiction: how words on a page appear and how to give them form or break them apart to create white space,” Angelica shares.
Bree Gordon: The Snow City Ukulele Band Initiative (SCUBI)
Music Teaching Artist Bree Gordon is launching SCUBI: the Snow City Ukulele Band Initiative, a joyful project designed to extend musical experiences beyond the bedside. Through SCUBI, Bree will provide high-quality ukuleles to students who express a desire to keep playing after their workshops, gifting them not only an instrument, but an invitation into a broader musical community.
To accompany these instruments, Bree is producing a year’s worth of instructional videos and chord charts, which will live on a dedicated SCUBI YouTube page. Students will also be encouraged to personalize their instruments with visual art elements like paint, markers, and stickers.
“Often a ukulele workshop is going well and the student wants to continue; but they have no ukulele of their own,” Bree explains. “I want the immediate ability to gift them a high-quality instrument to continue learning music outside of Lurie.”
We are thrilled to support Angelica and Bree in these powerful and imaginative endeavors—projects that embody Katie Kurcz’s legacy of creative access, connection, and care.
Looking Back: 2024 Awardees Dan Kerr-Hobert & Jess Leonard
Last year’s recipients, Dan Kerr-Hobert and Jess Leonard, used their award to attend the 2024 Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD) Conference in Seattle. Both former Teaching Artists and members of our administrative team, Dan and Jess returned from the conference with new insights into accessible arts practices and strategies.
Their experience inspired enhancements to Snow City Arts’ internal practices, including a professional development session for our entire team and the purchase of a new mirrorless camera to better document and celebrate student artwork.
Dan and Jess attended sessions covering everything from tactile art experiences to access technologies for Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities, as well as budget-conscious strategies for accessibility.
“The conference was an extremely valuable experience,” Dan shared. “I came away with practical takeaways to help optimize accessibility in all of my work, both at Snow City Arts and as an independent theatre-maker.”
Their learning continues to inform our current strategic planning process and underscores our organizational commitment to inclusive and responsive arts education in hospitals.
This Work is Powered by You
The generosity of our donors, especially those who support the Katie Kurcz Memorial Fund, makes all of this possible. Your belief in the power of the arts empowers Teaching Artists like Angelica, Bree, Dan, and Jess to innovate, grow, and bring even more meaningful creative opportunities to children in hospitals.
Thank you for uplifting this work and for honoring Katie’s legacy in a way that continues to grow and inspire. Learn more about the fund here: https://snowcityarts.org/donate/katiekurczmemorialfund/
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