The Queer Narratives Festival
No Divide KC- Stacy Busch, co-founder and executive director, No Divide KC
- Waleska Barroeta, marketing manager, No Divide KC
Project Description
The Queer Narratives Festival is an annual performing and visual arts festival highlighting the Kansas City LGBTQ+ community. By prioritizing the LGBTQ+ community, it offers a safe space for artists and audiences to express themselves fully. The Queer Narratives Festival is one of its kind in presenting the highest quality of LGBTQ+ artists while showcasing art forms that are not often invited in traditional art spaces. It provides a platform for all types of performers and visual artists including drag, comedy, music, poetry, theater arts, multidisciplinary artists and more. Oftentimes, queer artists are not invited into “professional” arts spaces because their art practice is not considered to be a serious form. Alternatively, too often queer artists are expected to show work that is steeped in tragedy or that is explicitly gendered. At the Queer Narratives Festival, artists are free to tell their own stories and express the full range of their artistic practice.
Partner Details
Stacy Busch
co-founder and executive director, No Divide KC
Bio
co-founder and executive director, is a queer composer and performer who utilizes her voice with electronics to build unique sound worlds. Her work is a meeting point between art pop, avant-classical and singer-songwriter. Stacy’s work has been performed nationally and internationally. She has received grants from ArtsKC, ArtSounds, Charlotte Street Foundation and the UMKC Women’s Council. Stacy is a 2020 Charlotte Street Foundation Generative Artist Fellow. She founded No Divide KC to use the arts to create safe spaces, where all are welcome even when they are not at their best.
Waleska Barroeta
marketing manager, No Divide KC
Bio
marketing manager, is a Venezuelan poet, multidisciplinary artist, teacher, and cultural promoter. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Hispanic Language and Literature at the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, and won a Honorable Mention for her thesis, “Archetypal and mythical-symbolic structure in Doña Bárbara from Rómulo Gallegos.” Since 2015, Waleska has performed spoken word in Mexico, Venezuela, and the USA, with notable appearances at events like the 2nd Annual Kansas City Queer Narratives Festival, Show Me Kansas City Pride 2021, and Folk Festival KC 2023.
