Who We Are

Art As Mentorship was created in 2017 by Enrique Chi, the lead guitarist, and vocalist for the Kansas City band Making Movies. Born out of six years of collaboration between Making Movies and the Mattie Rhodes Center, they created a week-long music education camp for youth in an underserved community. Families would often ask, “well, what’s next?” after their child was inspired to learn an instrument from the week-long camp; Art As Mentorship aims to fill that gap. The program aims to focus on young songwriters, giving them not only opportunities to grow as creators, but also teaching valuable entrepreneurial skills that apply in the arts and beyond. The first fall session of the Rebel Song Academy launched in September of 2018 with 21 students!

Additionally, each year the band would host the Making Movies Carnaval, a family-friendly music festival that feels like a block party for the entire community. The Carnaval serves as a performance opportunity for students of the music program, as well as a fundraiser for the program. Stay tuned for the Fifth Annual Making Movies Carnaval coming in Summer/Fall of 2019!