Ants on a Log

After a decade of growing their work, Ants on a Log is in need of greater digital storage to archive their growing body of music and video work. As their summer tours expand – this July alone includes over 26 performances across the Northeast – they need a reliable system to archive raw footage, audio, and promotional materials from shows, including two new performances: a family-friendly Pride musical and a literacy collaboration with a drag queen. With limited space on their personal devices and concerns about relying solely on cloud storage, especially given the increasing censorship of LGBTQ+ content, using hard drives will allow them to safely back up their work and record on the go.

The WOO grant will support Ants on a Log with archival costs to preserve their work and will cover expenses for external hard drives.

Ants on a Log will coordinate and host a variety show for queer youth, their families, and allies, celebrating queer joy, self expression, and community. Before the show, Ants on a Log will facilitate a group songwriting session for youth to connect, explore their creativity, and collaborate on writing an original song that they will perform together at the show. The variety show will be held at Abington Library, in partnership with the library’s programs for LGBTQ+ youth and allies. Ants on a Log will use their skills as music therapists to create a safe space for youth and facilitate songwriting that focuses on the joys and strengths of being queer, while also navigating challenges and negative feelings that may arise.

Ants on a Log has been invited by the Resource Exchange to create a family event that includes a concert, pop-up maker space, and book reading by author/illustrator Jeanette Bradley. This opportunity will allow Ants on a Log to connect with a community organization to celebrate their new album, "Make it Myself," which inspires kids to face challenges with joy and justice.

This event will be a platform to promote Ants on a Log’s new music, reach new audiences, seed future collaborations, and enhance their connection to an organization that shares their values of anti-consumerism and sustainability. This grant will support performance, administrative, and coordination fees.

Ants on a Log was invited to list their musical "Curious: Think Outside the Pipeline!" on Songs for Teaching, a website that provides music and musicals to teachers, music and theater directors, and other educators. “Curious” is the story of a young girl and her genderqueer sibling who organize their community to fight for clean air. Listing this eco-feminist musical would enable schools, camps, and other youth-centered orgs to license and perform the show in their communities

This grant will support Ants on a Log in recording backing tracks and producing a script to ensure that students and teachers are able to sing along and thus produce the musical as a part of their music and theater curriculum.

Ants on a Log will record the soundtrack to their musical, Curious, Think Outside the Pipeline. The musical is about a girl named Clio and her younger sibling, Taylor (whose gender is never named), as they organize their community to fight big business oil. With strands of feminism woven throughout, the siblings research renewable energy solutions to convince the public to fight with them. Making the album will involve adapting the songs and dialogue for audio presentation, rehearsing, recording in a professional studio, mixing and mastering, packaging into an album, and adapting the discussion guide.

Ants on a Log (Anya Rose and Julie Lipson) will create a musical interactive science show for elementary school-aged children and their families. The performance will provide a creative platform to view science through a feminist and environmental justice lens, and ultimately leave the audience questioning and observing the world around them. Anya and Julie envision a world where performances inspire kids to connect with a passion that fuels them to change the world.