Wichita gives arts grants; Griot African storytellers disqualified

Wichita doled out about $406,000 to help support arts in the community on Tuesday, but an African-American storytelling group was absent from the list of recipients.

The City Council approved grants to 20 local arts organizations, ranging from $59,751 for Music Theatre Wichita to $500 for the American Guild of Organists.

But the Wichita Griots Storytelling Institute, a group that performs traditional African stories, was listed as “disqualified.”

The Griots got $4,054 last year and requested $10,000 for the coming year.

John D’Angelo, manager of arts and cultural services for the city, said the selection committee rejected the Griots’ application because the group apparently wanted the money for a national Griot convention it is planning to host next year.

The city funding is earmarked for operating expenses, equipment or training, not special events, D’Angelo said. He said he’s working with the organization to find other eligible funding for the conference.

Jean Pouncil-Burton, executive director of the Griots, said the group was disappointed by the disqualification.

She said the National Association of Black Storytellers convention, scheduled for Wichita in November 2017, is expected to attract 300 to 400 storytellers from across the country and generate an estimated $200,000 for the local economy.

Griots practice a traditional African form of storytelling combining recitation, drumming, song, dance, visual art and sign language. The Wichita Griots have been part of the city’s cultural landscape for 18 years.

The money the Griots requested wasn’t just for the convention, but also to fund regular activities like a fall festival of scary stories, Kwanza presentations and the group’s recently concluded summer cultural arts camp, which attracted 68 children to learn the art of African storytelling.

Pouncil-Burton said she was told a second reason the application was rejected was that it was submitted in the wrong typeface. They used Times New Roman and the committee wanted Arial, she said.

“It was a font issue,” she said. “You’ve got to do it A, B, C.

“It’s a lot of work to fill out the forms. We did the work but we made that mistake, and we’ll have to pay for it.”

The group does have an ally on the City Council.

Council member Lavonta Williams said she attended the cultural arts camp graduation last week and was impressed by the performances she saw there.

“I realize that there was some miscommunication or something happened with their grant,” Williams said.

But, she added, she really wants to see the city provide some support for the Griots’ convention.

“I think it’s going to be something that’s important to our city, to understand the importance of telling stories in order to tell history,” she said. “So I want to make sure that we are opening ourselves up to allow any assistance that we can with Wichita Griots.”

About 90 percent of the overall arts funding will go to large nonprofit organizations that have multiyear agreements for city help with ongoing operating costs, D’Angelo said.

Behind Music Theatre, the Wichita Symphony Society got the second-biggest grant, at $56,233.

Rounding out the top five were Exploration Place, $49,029; Tallgrass Film Association, $32,957, and Arts Partners, $29,480.

This story was originally published July 19, 2016 at 12:01 PM with the headline "Wichita gives arts grants; Griot African storytellers disqualified."