June 24, 2024 | Stories
Emily Christensen and Teri Mott are making waves with the SHOUT, a platform to inform Wichitans about local arts and entertainment events.
Members of the art community, the duo recognized a common challenge faced by arts organizations in disseminating event information and identified the need for a centralized channel.
“What we’ve heard over and over again is that arts organizations are desperate to get the word out and they’re not sure how,” said Christensen. “There’s not one central place that people go to find out what’s going on.”
Equipped with a grant from the Wichita Foundation’s Info Challenge*, the SHOUT seeks to fill this gap by providing a dedicated monthly calendar. Since launching their e-newsletter in April, they have over 600 subscribers and have highlighted more than 1,000 local art events in Wichita and surrounding communities.
Their inclusive approach ensures that both established venues and emerging artists have a platform to promote their work. Christensen emphasized the importance of highlighting events by creators with limited resources.
“Some of the coolest things are being put on by people who don’t have a marketing person, or a gigantic budget, and we want to make sure those are highlighted,” said Christensen.
Christensen and Mott actively engage with the Wichita Arts Community Forum, gathering valuable insights and suggestions from peers to enhance their platform. Brainstorming with other Tiny News Collective newsrooms has helped them to develop a strategy to streamline event coverage. They have published reviews and stories by 13 freelancers and photos by five local photographers.
“There are several organizations and people involved in the arts community we’re having conversations with who are giving us ideas and guidance about what people want, what has worked, and what hasn’t worked in the past,” says Mott.
To stay in the know on all the latest arts happenings in Wichita, subscribe to the SHOUT at www.shoutwichita.com.
*In December 2023, three local newsrooms were selected as recipients of the Info Challenge, a joint initiative between the Wichita Foundation (WF) and Tiny News Collective (TNC): Planeta Venus, the SHOUT and TMBP Media. Each newsroom received a $30,000 grant from Press Forward Wichita at WF and a two-year TNC membership, providing access to resources and connections with local news founders across the country.
