Northeast Kansas Arts Foundation Fund

Goal: $5,000.00

Specific Need

Support the future of the arts during STEP Foundation Match Day!

For the past five summers, NEKArts Foundation has welcomed children from our community to our annual Kids' Camp, where they discover their creativity, build confidence, and experience the joy of the fine arts. Each summer, our camp focuses on a different area of the arts, giving children the opportunity to explore new creative outlets. Over the years, we've featured theater, music, and, for the past two summers, visual arts.

Thanks to the incredible generosity of our supporters, donations from STEP Foundation Match Day have fully funded our Kids' Camp supplies for the past two years. Those gifts have provided the materials our young artists need to learn, create, and express themselves in a fun and encouraging environment.

Your donation this year will help us continue offering Kids' Camp, support our children's productions, and expand future youth arts programming. Every gift helps provide the supplies, resources, and opportunities that make these experiences possible for local children.

With the added impact of the STEP Foundation Match Day matching program, your generosity goes even further. Together, we can continue inspiring creativity, encouraging self-expression, and ensuring that the arts remain accessible to the next generation.

Thank you for believing in our mission and investing in the future of our community's young artists.

Mission

Our mission is to build a Fine and Performing Arts Center in Nemaha County to foster enrichment, appreciation, and involvement with the arts within our community.

Profile

Our Story

In 2015, a community production of Steel Magnolias did more than entertain—it sparked a dream.

The excitement surrounding that production inspired local residents to ask a simple question: What if Northeast Kansas had an organization dedicated to bringing the arts to everyone? That conversation quickly grew into action. Following an enthusiastic countywide community meeting, the Northeast Kansas Arts Foundation (NEKArts Foundation) was officially established in the fall of 2015.

Since then, our mission has remained the same: to ensure that people of all ages can experience the transformative power of the arts without having to leave the communities they call home.

Big Art for Small Towns

At NEKArts Foundation, we believe that every community deserves access to inspiring arts experiences. Living in a rural area should never mean missing out on opportunities to create, perform, learn, and be inspired.

The arts have the power to ignite imagination, build confidence, strengthen communities, and bring people together across generations. Whether it's a child discovering a passion for painting, a first-time actor stepping onto the stage, or neighbors gathering to celebrate local talent, we believe those moments matter. They create lasting memories, inspire future artists, and strengthen the heart of our communities.

That belief is what drives everything we do.

What We're Doing Today

Each year, we work to make the arts more accessible through programs and events that encourage creativity and community, including:

  • Our annual Children's Summer Camp, where each year explores a different area of the fine arts—from theater and music to visual arts

  • Children's concerts and theatrical performances

  • Community theater productions

  • Visual art exhibits

  • Community talent shows

  • Support for local artists and performers

  • Fine arts scholarships

  • Partnerships that strengthen arts education in our area schools

Every program is made possible by volunteers, community partners, and supporters who believe that investing in the arts is investing in people.

Looking Toward the Future

Our vision extends far beyond today.

We dream of a Northeast Kansas where the arts continue to flourish—where children grow up believing their creativity matters, where local artists have opportunities to share their talents, and where every generation has access to meaningful cultural experiences.

Our goals include expanding:

  • Theatrical and musical performances

  • Children's fine and performing arts classes

  • Artist-led workshops

  • Public art projects, including murals and sculptures

  • Community art shows and festivals

  • Arts enrichment opportunities for adults ages 65+

  • Partnerships with schools, businesses, and community organizations

  • A permanent home for the arts where creativity can thrive year-round

Every performance, every class, every exhibit, and every child who discovers a new passion brings us one step closer to that vision.

When you support NEKArts Foundation, you're doing more than funding programs. You're helping a child discover confidence, giving an artist a place to shine, preserving the arts in rural communities, and proving that extraordinary things can happen in small towns.

Because great communities deserve great art.

Big Art for Small Towns.

Photos & Videos

Second year of camp we did theater and the campers made props, costumes, and sets during the week.
Second year of camp we did theater and the campers made props, costumes, and sets during the week.
Art can be found everywhere...even at snack time. Year #2
Art can be found everywhere...even at snack time. Year #2
Second year of camp we put on a show for friends and family on the last day of camp.
Second year of camp we put on a show for friends and family on the last day of camp.
Year 3 also made us think about tempo and speeds of music through flashlights dancing.
Year 3 also made us think about tempo and speeds of music through flashlights dancing.
Summer number 3 we covered music and movement. Scarves show a great way to move to music.
Summer number 3 we covered music and movement. Scarves show a great way to move to music.
We are lucky to have some talented board members who step up to teach at camp each year.
We are lucky to have some talented board members who step up to teach at camp each year.
Summer #3 also had bucket drumming to popular music.
Summer #3 also had bucket drumming to popular music.
Art is for everyone. We are excited that every summer we have boys & girls from all over Nemaha Co.
Art is for everyone. We are excited that every summer we have boys & girls from all over Nemaha Co.
Our first camp had art, theater, and music. We learned a song & choreography from The Sound of Music
Our first camp had art, theater, and music. We learned a song & choreography from The Sound of Music
Year 1 looked a little different, but each year our camp has grown and adapted to fit our needs.
Year 1 looked a little different, but each year our camp has grown and adapted to fit our needs.
Year #4 we focus on Art and made paper houseplants thinking 3 dimensionally.
Year #4 we focus on Art and made paper houseplants thinking 3 dimensionally.
Camp is fun and children learn new things every day.
Camp is fun and children learn new things every day.
Every year our camp has sold out and we have a waitlist.
Every year our camp has sold out and we have a waitlist.
FOCUS MODE is pretty common among campers when working on projects.
FOCUS MODE is pretty common among campers when working on projects.
This year we had a jam packed schedule making multiple projects every day.
This year we had a jam packed schedule making multiple projects every day.
Thanks to donations from Match Day we have been able to provide diverse supplies for camp.
Thanks to donations from Match Day we have been able to provide diverse supplies for camp.
Match Day 2025 helped us purchase performance lighting that we have used for local band and theater.
Match Day 2025 helped us purchase performance lighting that we have used for local band and theater.

Contact

P.O. Box 113
Seneca, KS 66538
Phone: (785) 294-2686

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