A-KEEP is a proud recipient of the Challenge America grant from

The National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) has approved A-KEEP for a grant in the amount of $10,000.00. A-KEEP is one of 168 organizations awarded the Challenge America grant to provide Korean culture by working with the Arts.  The Challenge America grant program has extended the NEA’s reach by promoting equal access to the arts in communities across the country. Thanks to funding from the NEA, the Alabama State Council on the Arts (ASCA), and the Alabama Commission on Higher Education, A-KEEP fulfills its mission to provide multicultural diversity education programs to students and professionals of both Alabama and Korea. 

Open Auditions for a Community Theater Performance: 

The Fairy and The Lumberjack – Tragic Love, Korean-style 

A-KEEP invites our community to open auditions for amateur and/or volunteer actors and actresses, dancers, stagehands and support staff to participate in the 7th annual Bridging Unity in Diversity (BUD) performance of The Fairy and the Lumberjack. Auditions, open to all ages, will be held on Tuesday, February 22nd at 6 pm at the Vaughn Park Church Family Center. Auditioning actors, actresses, and dancers will participate by reading from a provided script, learn and perform a short movement piece, and Korean speaking skills are not required to audition. Please register on Eventbrite - Challenge America Auditions

The Fairy and The Lumberjack is a play based on one of the most popular of all Korean folktales. The story is adapted from both Korean and Alabamian culture to bring a new perspective to a well-known tale while drawing upon local folklore and traditions. This community-based theater production will challenge Alabamians to become bridges of cultures between local migrant Korean and Alabamians communities under the direction of a local professional director and playwright, Dr. Angela Dickson and a Korean professional dance instructor. 

By Tiki Armstrong