About Outdoors Unscripted
Outdoors Unscripted is a 501c3 nonprofit organization and community-driven initiative that brings together artists, adventurers, and neighbors to deepen our shared relationship with the outdoors through storytelling, creative expression, and collective experience. Guided by a new board in 2026, we are renewing our commitment to serving as a bridge that connects diverse voices, disciplines, and communities in celebration of the health and wellbeing of people, land, and animals living together on this shared landscape.
Through artist-adventurer grants, public events, and collaborative gatherings, Outdoors Unscripted creates opportunities for people to encounter the outdoors in ways that foster belonging, curiosity, and care. We believe the arts have a unique ability to help us see the land, and each other, more fully, strengthening the cultural and ecological fabric of our region.
Outdoors Unscripted traces its roots to the 38 North Festival, founded in 2018 as an annual storytelling event highlighting outdoor adventures in Kansas. After a pause during the Covid-19 pandemic, new leadership emerged to carry forward its spirit while expanding its vision. Today, Outdoors Unscripted continues this legacy while evolving into a year-round platform that supports creative exploration, community connection, and the stewardship of the places we call home.
Board of Directors:
Andie Perdue, Chair (she/her)
Associate Executive Director, Botanical Belonging
Andie is a fifth generation Kansan and passionate prairie promoter working to restore native habitats in Douglas County.
Emily Ryan, Vice Chair (she/her)
Director, The Commons at the University of Kansas
Happiest when my hands are dirty and I can feel a breeze on my skin, I’m enthusiastic for the ways in which Outdoors Unscripted can bring new awareness and appreciation to all the special features of this place.
Sofía Galarza Liu, Secretary (she/her/ella)
Head of Collection Management, Spencer Museum of Art
Three things I’m passionate about are art, nature, and being outdoors. I want people in our community to have sublime experiences outdoors.
Matt Falvey, Treasurer (he/him)
Exhibition Technician, Spencer Museum of Art
I am an artist and outdoors person that is interested in storytelling and placemaking, focusing on projects that create connections within the community.
Mercedes Lucero (she/they)
Poet & Senior Writer, Hallmark Cards, Inc.
As a writer, I’m forever pushing the boundaries of what words can do. For the past decade, I have been involved in community organizing across disciplines, including through Black Lawrence.
Yvonne Klinksick (she/her)
Artist, Luckypenny Art
Last year as a SOSAA grantee, I was able to see how meaningful and creative these projects can be. I am excited to join the board of Outdoors Unscripted to continue supporting artists and community members engaging with nature. Art in community is powerful!
Maggie Unverzagt Goddard (she/her)
Assistant Professor of Museum Studies, University of Kansas
Newer to Kansas, Maggie is excited to foster meaningful connections with our environment through informal learning.
Erika Ochoa (she/her)
Youth Programming Coordinator, Community Organizer & Mom
My joy is being in nature with friends and family. My passion is creating opportunities for children to experience and explore the natural world around us through wild edible foods, hiking and play.
Francis Mackinnon-Love (they/them)
Communications Coordinator, KU Center on Disabilities
Francis is an interdisciplinary artist whose work transforms oral histories and queer networks of care into decorative and functional objects through an ethnographic, research-driven practice.
Rachel Allai (she/her)
Musician & Wildlife Biologist
Rachel is a musician, nature educator, and community advocate whose decades of violin and fiddle performance, ecological education, and outreach work reflect her deep commitment to connecting people with each other and the natural world.
Emily Peterson (she/her)
Restaurateur
We live in a beautiful environment, full of rich resources – natural, agricultural, cultural and otherwise – and I’m excited to help people connect with our special place.