By Aidan Bearden / Staff Writer

Passionate students wrote a grant to support theater production at MVC. The Voices of Arrow Rock Production is a class at MVC taught by Dr. Michael Kateman. The class produces a theater series called the Voices of Arrow Rock that tells stories of underrepresented historical figures of the Arrow Rock Historic District.

Recently, the Buckner Foundation awarded a grant written by the students of the class, Noel Nunn-Faron, Steven Tetteh, Ethan Quarchioni, and Patrick Hauschildt. According to Kateman, all of the funding for the Voices of Arrow Rock Production is from outside sources. Other grants have been provided by the Arrow Rock National Historic Landmark, the Missouri Arts Council, the Missouri Bicentennial, the Anti-Racism Pro-Reconciliation Justice Ministries, the Slater Christian Church, and Thrivent Financial. The class has also been funded by dozens of philanthropic supporters.

The Voices of Arrow Rock Production helps students at MVC express themselves artistically while also giving them production experience applicable after graduation. However, the class is more than a theater class. The class also incorporates topics such as history, business, communications, English, and non-profit management.

“You could be artistically inclined and want to learn how theater works,” said Kateman. “But you also might be business inclined, where you want to learn about marketing or financing, because we’re incorporating all of those aspects into the class as well.”

The Voices of Arrow Rock series is planned to continue until 2029. The class currently has four students enrolled, but according to Kateman, the class is steadily growing. So far, the students of the Voices of Arrow Rock Production class have had positive sentiments towards their time working on the series.

Nunn-Farron said this about being a stage manager for the series, “It was an incredible experience.” Nunn-Farron is set to be the series director next fall.