Outdoors Unscripted is pleased to announce the winners of the Showcasing Open Space through Accessible Adventure (SOSAA) grants competition!

Nine diverse artist-adventurers have been awarded grants of $1,500–$2,000 to explore the “open lands” of Douglas County and create an original work of art documenting their adventure. Through these projects, Douglas County’s natural landscape will become a venue for learning, connecting, and storytelling at sites that include Akin Prairie, the Kaw River, Clinton Lake, Burroughs Creek Trail, Baldwin Woods, and more.

Fisherfolk Cooperative of Northeast Kansas

Matt Falvey and Ruby Mackinnon-Love

Matt and Ruby will venture on fishing excursions at public access points throughout Douglas County and will create prints of each fish using natural inks inspired by the traditional Japanese Gyotaku method. No fish that is caught and printed will go to waste, emphasizing the responsibility of outdoor adventurers to only take what we can use. Fishing excursion members will also work together to identify fish species, and implement ways to capture invasive fish species while conserving native and non-invasive fish species through catch-and-release. Matt and Ruby will then be collaborating with community members to create a physical field guide containing scans of the Gyotaku-style prints and a brief summary of each excursion, which will be exhibited at our Outdoors Unscripted celebration later this year.

Landscape Journal: Connecting to the North American Prairie

Becky Harpstrite

Becky will be visiting four native prairies in Douglas County to observe, meditate and document these dynamic landscapes through the seasons. From these experiences, she will create an artistic journal that aims to bridge scientific understanding and personal experience as an access point to developing a deeper relationship with the land. The journal will combine educational content about the North American Tallgrass Prairie ecoregion with reflective writing prompts that showcase the intricate relationships within the prairie landscape and will feature original photography, along with suggested activities to help readers connect with nature.

Everybody was a tree

Shannon Stewart

This project is one branch of a larger multi-year and multi-locale collaboration between Shannon and fellow choreographer Tahni Holt (Portland, OR) that foregrounds interconnectedness and kinship with tree and people communities. ‘Everybody was a tree’ focuses on Baldwin Woods as a place for creative research generating accessible movement practices, writing, and small performances that can dovetail with the opening of public trails. Shannon hopes to work with the KU Biological Survey and Field Station and resident forest experts to reorient embodied relationship to place as the forest goes from a time of closed preservation to more open exploration.

Outdoor Nature Play and Playground

Richard Renner

This project will create a temporary natural adventure playground in an open space area in Douglas County, offering children and families a unique, nature-based play experience. Using locally sourced natural materials like logs, boulders, sand, and tree stumps, the playground will invite children to explore, climb, build, and imagine in a way that standard playgrounds rarely allow. This playground will be designed with input from local educators and environmental experts to encourage imaginative play, cooperation, and physical activity, all while fostering a connection to the natural world. Located in a safe, accessible area of Douglas County, the playground will be open for a limited period, allowing for community members of all ages to experience the space while also minimizing environmental impact.

This project emphasizes sustainable practices: after its temporary run, all materials will be repurposed or left to decompose naturally, ensuring a low ecological footprint. Through partnerships with local schools, libraries, and community organizations, Richard will organize guided play sessions and family-friendly events to encourage use. This natural adventure playground aims to promote outdoor play, inspire creativity, and strengthen community bonds while showcasing the beauty and resources of Douglas County’s landscapes.

Deep Time in Clinton Lake

Leslie VonHolten and Atticus VonHolten

Deep Time in Clinton Lake will be a creative exploration of the Wakarusa River Valley area, which today is primarily Clinton Lake and the surrounding state park. Part of the Flood Control Act of 1962, construction of the lake began in the early 1970s; Clinton Lake is one of 24 reservoirs in the state of Kansas. Before the reservoir was flooded, townships and agricultural communities existed at the site, including the towns of Belvoir, Bloomington, and Sigil. 

This project will explore the land and water of Clinton Lake State Park in tandem with research on the history of the Wakarusa River Valley area. Leslie will hike the 50 miles of trails surrounding the lake, kayak the waterways, swim, and if possible scuba dive to explore the space underneath. These adventures will inform two artistic pieces: (1) a creative nonfiction zine/chapbook, and (2) a short, 2-minute film with original score by Atticus.

Kaw River: Field Notes

Matthew Holktamp and John A. Gascon

This adventure continues the multi-phase exploration of the Kaw River: Field Notes project, combining the thrill of discovery with the artistry of preservation. The plan is to float the Mighty Kaw on a paddleboard, navigating its eddies, undercurrents, and submerged hazards, while documenting the river’s dynamic and ever-changing landscape. This journey includes exploring sandbars and collecting and curating found objects—a doll, a dish, a bone—each artifact representing the cyclical nature of the river and the interplay between human and natural histories. These items, both rare and ancient or modern and mundane, offer a lens through which Matt and John can explore themes of continuity and change.

Floating the Kaw on a paddleboard is an adventure in itself, demanding both skill and awareness of the river’s unpredictable rhythms. The act of discovery adds a deeply meditative layer, encouraging a profound connection to the environment. Using photography as a tool for storytelling, this project celebrates the river’s hidden treasures and the stories they carry. Each photograph and artifact collected will form part of a larger narrative, inviting viewers to appreciate the Kaw River not just as a physical place but as a keeper of memory and history.

Sparks on the Creek, A Firefly Walk and Community Celebration

Rachel Allai

Every May and June, fireflies light up the Burroughs Creek Trail at dusk near Rachel’s home, creating a silent symphony of lights! This year, Rachel proposes to celebrate this spectacle with an interactive firefly walk, followed by a community celebration. To promote the event, she will create signage along the bike trail to educate and publicize the firefly season, and will invite fellow artists and musicians to create artwork and music for the celebration. After the walk, Rachel and her family will write a song to commemorate the experience and will perform their song at the final event. Rachel hopes this project will help us see the creek as a living, breathing ecosystem and experience a childlike sense of wonder.

Fields of Vision

Yvonne Klinksick

There are three phases to Fields of Vision. Firstly, Yvonne will collaborate with her family to see how different ages and heights impact their view and experience of the same spaces. This will be done through photography with each person having control over their own images. Secondly, the community (all ages) will be invited to contribute to the project by using a Polaroid to create tangible views and postcard memories of nature in Douglas County. Finally, Yvonne will create a series of handcrafted lit papercut installations inspired by these landscapes. The illuminated scenes will act as a portal to offer an invitation towards outdoor spaces and nature as a conduit for wonder. By gathering views from a variety of ages, locations, and times, this project will show how individual, personal and yet universal our relationship with the outdoors is. 

Listening to Akin Prairie: An Interactive Adventure

Megan Kaminski

Megan’s adventure will consist of a series of public interactive poetic and contemplative prompts for personal ecological engagement with Akin Prairie (a remnant prairie located in Douglas County). Building on poems and a field study that she completed there last summer, as well as years of engagement there as a writer, artist, and teacher, she will create a virtual and accessible audio tour that invites participants into relation with the prairie and its inhabitants. The adventure will feature a set of poetic and contemplative interactions, situated in visitors’ embodied experiences in Akin prairie, that invites them to observe, explore, and develop reciprocal relationships of care with the land and beings who inhabit it.