Throughout her years of dedication to Snow City Arts, Katie Kurcz showed us how creativity and care go hand in hand to support children and youth. Snow City Arts Teaching Artists carry this spirit with them as they develop their own creative practices and brainstorm new, innovative workshops in visual arts, poetry, music, and more, to share with their students. We continue to celebrate Katie’s memory today through the Katie Kurcz Memorial Fund, which was established in 2019 to empower Snow City Arts Teaching Artists to pursue meaningful and ambitious projects that inspire students to learn, dream, and create freely.
2026 Kurcz Fund Awardee Walter Li is one of the many Teaching Artists at Snow City Arts who experienced firsthand the transformative power of arts education for children and youth in hospitals. Their two-part project exploring underground art through a zine library and screen printing workshops has been inviting students to participate in building a DIY ecosystem within Snow City Arts. With Walter’s guidance, students have been exploring self-published zines by local artists, finding the creative resources and inspiration to produce and contribute their own stories to the library. Orion, a student working with Walter, has been working on storyboards for an autobiographical zine, which helps students learn how to organize visual stories.
“Thank you to the Katie Kurcz Memorial Fund for their support of a DIY ecosystem within Snow City Arts, including a zine library and screen print designs. This past month, some of the first students have submitted their zines to be part of the library. One student made a zine detailing their childhood, and they shared that they are excited for their story to be out there for others to see. Another student is currently working on a collage zine for the library! In addition, we have begun reaching out to Chicago-based artists to be part of the zine library and screen print designs.”
– Walter Li, 2026 Katie Kurcz Memorial Fund
Awardee and Teaching Artist
Storyboard for 2nd Ward by Orion, age 15
Last year’s awardee, Bree Gordon, has also continued to expand the reach of the Kurcz Fund through her ongoing project, the Snow City Ukulele Band Initiative (SCUBI). Bree’s SCUBI workshops invite students to engage with music and visual arts, gifting more than 50 instruments so far for them to perform their own songs and decorate with personalized imagery.
“With a little studio magic, I can sample a quick riff they invent, and we can build an electronic song around it,” shares Bree. “No matter what style of music, kids and their families are thrilled when I can airdrop their original song they can play from their own phone.”
In addition to these music-making workshops, Bree has created an introductory zine for SCUBI with a ukulele chart for students to reference as they continue learning their instruments from home. Walter’s interest in zinemaking has inspired many of our Teaching Artists, including Bree, to explore the format as a creative and accessible tool for the type of cross-disciplinary learning that Snow City Arts aims to foster.
The Creative Art! by Anyla, age 6
Anne, these meaningful learning experiences would not be possible without the support of donors like you. Projects funded by the Katie Kurcz Memorial Fund carry on Katie’s legacy by inspiring Teaching Artists to bring their ambitious, creative learning programs to life. We hope you will make a contribution to the Katie Kurcz Memorial Fund to empower Teaching Artists like Walter and Bree to continue sharing their transformative ideas with students.
With your support, we can uplift Snow City Arts’ Teaching Artists and young students across Chicago seeking a creative outlet and community during their time in the hospital.
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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 Bree 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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