Wyandotte & Leavenworth
Posted on Tue, Mar. 25, 2008 10:15 PM
Art scene picks up pace in downtown KCK
By KERRI FIVECOAT-CAMPBELL
Special to The Star
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There’s been a movement under way in Kansas City, Kan., that until now has gone mostly unnoticed in much of the community. That movement is walking — from gallery to gallery — in the downtown area. Organizers hope “The Follow the Dotte Art Walks” will make arts and culture a cornerstone for revitalizing the urban core. “We view the arts as a catalyst for downtown revitalization,” said Chris Carucci, executive director of Downtown Shareholders of Kansas City, Kan. “The arts bring urban pioneers to the area.” Much as it did for the Crossroads district in Kansas City, Carucci and others are hoping that the galleries, largely owned by home-grown Wyandotte County artists, will attract other business to downtown and make the area more attractive to residents who are drawn to trendy urban areas. Rob Richardson, director of planning for the Unified Government, said the downtown master plan concentrates on creating a downtown area that is “an interesting place that people want to be.” He said part of the plan, encompassing the old Gateway Plaza development, envisions a mixed-use development pattern that includes the arts.
This is the fourth year for the art walk, which began with three to four galleries, including galleries in public buildings such as the main branch of the Kansas City, Kan., Public Library. |
 These vestments made by Conchita Reyes were part of an exhibit this month at Imago Dei studio.
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The “second Friday” event officially kicked off March 14, which included seven showings as a part of the official walk. All of the galleries are in the downtown area, primarily concentrated around Minnesota Avenue between Sixth and Seventh streets. There was also a shuttle van provided to transport visitors between galleries.
Carucci said the Downtown Shareholders have been assisting artists with developing their business plans so they can show and sell their art.
“There are a lot of artists in Wyandotte County,” said Carucci. “Many of them create from their homes, and they could benefit from having studio space.”
To that end, Carucci’s organization also has been involved with negotiating space with owners of vacant and boarded-up buildings in the downtown area so artists can use the space.
“One thing artists need is free space,” Carucci said. “We try to connect the artists with property owners and put a showing in the buildings.”
Carucci said the arrangement is good for both parties as artists get to show their work, while landlords get to show property that is still available for rent. “It also takes out the blacked out windows from street-level space downtown,” said Carucci.
Lori Triplett, executive director of Imago Dei Friends of Christianity and the Arts, which recently opened a performing, visual and literary arts center at 730 Armstrong Ave., said they chose the downtown area largely because of what they viewed as a rise of the arts in the surrounding area.
“We looked at several spaces and spoke with four other arts organizations looking at locating there,” said Triplett.
Imago Dei currently has an arts center, gallery, community space for artists, resource center and a performing arts center. By the end of the summer, they will have a theater. Imago Dei also provides art classes and education to students in the Kansas City, Kan., School District.
When the publishers of the Kansas City Kansan left their building in the downtown area a few years ago, one of the main goals was to prevent the historic building on the corner of North Eighth from becoming another vacant structure. City Vision Ministries, which purchased the building, first investigated converting it to loft space.
Not just downtown
When Jori Hebert, a 2004 graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute, decided to open a gallery last summer, she chose a building off the beaten path of both the Crossroads area and the emerging downtown arts district in Kansas City, Kan.
Her studio at 516 Kansas Ave. in the Armourdale area, offers space for six artists and a gallery. Although she is a part of the Follow the Dotte Art Walk, participants must drive to her gallery from the downtown area, or start the walk there and drive downtown.
“I do feel off the beaten path, but I feel really good about the area I’m in and art in general in Kansas City, Kan.,” said Hebert. “I think Kansas Avenue around Seventh Street will be a pretty popular place — it might take a few years, but it seems very promising.”
Hebert also points out there have been at least three galleries and artists studios that have also opened in the Fairfax District in recent years.
Carol Kariotis, executive director for Kaw Valley Arts & Humanities, said Wyandotte County is the perfect place for artists to locate.
“Wyandotte County has a lot of artists, and we also have a lot of people who don’t ever cross that bridge and go to art events in Missouri or to the Nelson,” said Kariotis. “We also have a lot of culture, ethnicity and diversity that is so rich — and I think we have a great niche with that in the arts population.”
Check out the Art Walk
The Follow the Dotte Art Walk is from 5–8 p.m. each second Friday from March through October. There are different galleries that participate in the walk each month, with a variety of showings. Fat Matt’s Vortex, 411 N. Sixth St., also provides live music on art walk evenings. The art walk in October will include an art/music and food festival. For more information on the next art walk, call Chris Carruci at 913-371-0705 or email him at chris@downtownkck.org.
These are the locations that will be participating in the next art walk April 11:
•YWCA 6th Street Gallery, 1017 N. Sixth St.
•City Hall Lofts, 805 N. Sixth St.
•KCK Main Library, 625 Minnesota Ave.
•Kaw Valley Arts Gallery, 756 Armstrong Ave.
•Hangers on the Hill, 613 N. Sixth
•Imago Dei, 730 Armstrong Ave.
•Tomasic & Rehorn, 419 N. Sixth St.
•Townhouse Gallery, 1021 N. Seventh St.
•S2 Studios, 754 Armstrong Ave.
