Early Investment: FAME is Building Fort Wayne’s Music Industry from the Elementary Schools
Words by Avery Martin; Photos by Lydia Norton and provided by FAME
At the Foundation for Art and Music in Education (FAME)’s annual festival, third graders take the stage with music that is entirely composed and brought to life by them. “They write music based on the cultural theme, and then it’s performed at the festival,” says FAME Board President Andie Mosley. “That’s a real experience.”
Rather than relying on parents to seek out arts opportunities on their own, FAME builds its programs directly into schools, making music education accessible to every student. “We're in direct contact with the teachers,” Mosley says. “We are bringing the students to our programming through the schools rather than just an extracurricular that your parents sign you up for.”
Besides the FAME summer camp program, participation in the Fort Wayne FAME Festival is free to students. With resources like Teachers Closet, teachers can borrow instruments and art supplies at no cost.
A January 2025 report from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) suggests that access to arts education is closely tied to income, and without programs like this, many students are left out.
The report shows that getting exposure to art early on makes a difference: kids who spend time in the arts tend to feel more connected at school, more comfortable working with others, and demonstrate a more curious approach to learning.
Sometimes, that early exposure carries students into the professional arena. “One of our founders, Dorothy [Kittaka], was at the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and one of the musicians came up to her and said, ‘I participated in FAME my entire childhood, and it made me realize that I wanted to be a professional musician.’ That’s why we do this,” Mosley says.
But the growth of FAME is constrained by limited resources. “We’re making it work with a small budget,” Mosley says. “Funding is always our barrier.”
FAME runs entirely on a mix of grants, school fees, and individual donors, with much of the work powered by volunteers. Financial support is crucial for the organization to expand its programming.
Josh Flores, FAME design and marketing manager, says the impact is visible in students almost immediately.
“It introduces kids to the idea that their artwork can be seen by the general public,” Flores says. “When they see thousands of people looking at it, they get more confident in themselves.”
Flores has focused on visibility as one way to help grow the reach of FAME. “Before, we didn’t really have social media,” he says. “Now, we’re trying to get more eyes on what we’re doing.”
That visibility is ultimately meant to support long-term talent retention in Fort Wayne’s arts community.
Each year, the festival is built around a global cultural theme. Teachers receive materials, students work across music and visual art, and artists with cultural expertise help guide the learning. It all concludes with a public festival downtown where students display the art and perform the music they made.
The organization hires working artists for classroom and festival programming, creating a relationship between professional musicians and students just beginning to learn.
When those students and families come downtown for the festival, the impact extends beyond education. “People come in for events [like the festival], and they’re not just spending money on the performance,” Mosley says. “They’re going to restaurants, staying in hotels. It helps the whole community grow.”
It’s not the most visible part of the music economy, but it’s a piece that builds a strong foundation. “We want to make sure that creativity is something kids see as possible,” Mosley says.
For FAME, that possibility starts in the classroom.
