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26 Big Ideas

The Twenty-Six Big Ideas will help Kansas City grow to become even more of a thriving center for artists and arts professionals. In the list below, the ideas have been organized into six categories, based on an analytical framework that was established and documented in Investing in Creativity: A Study of the Support Structure for U.S. Artists (Urban Institute, 2003). Download the full plan.

Validation/Recognition: To Recognize and Award Artistic Excellence

  • Increase fellowships, grants and awards for local artists.
  • Expand programs bringing visiting curators and critics to Kansas City
  • Increase support for and cultivation of critical writing in Kansas City.
  • Develop efforts aimed at local artists by the major Kansas City art organizations.

Demand/Market: To Cultivate Growing Interest

  • Cultivate more local and national press for all aspects of the art scene.
  • Increase participation of Kansas City artists and galleries at national and international art expos.
  • Expand exchange programs to send Kansas City artists out and import non-Kansas City artists to town.
  • Increase traveling exhibitions of Kansas City artists’ work to other cities.
  • Create collecting programs targeting architects and designers who regularly buy or recommend artwork for clients or providing “backroom” tours of local galleries.
  • Host a national exhibition, such as a biennial or alternative contemporary art expo in Kansas City similar to the “Stray Show” or “Scope”.

Material Support: To Sustain Artistic Activity

  • Increase general grants for projects or sudden opportunities for local artists.
  • Create tax incentives and abatements that benefit artists and arts-related businesses.
  • Provide cooperative health insurance, retirement programs, credit union and additional financial services for artists and staff of small arts not-profits.
  • Expand projects between businesses and individual artists that benefit each, such as allowing artists to use specialized fabrication facilities or technological resources.
  • Enhance public art programs and opportunities.
  • Develop more artists’ space, including incubators, studios and art complexes.

Professional Training: To Increase Career Development Opportunities

  • Support the creation of a studio arts MFA program in Kansas City.
  • Create a non-profit residency program similar to Bemis in Omaha.
  • Create programs to mentor art students while in school, providing access to working artists and arts professionals in the community.

Community: To Expand the Scope and Reach of our Endeavors

  • Host more cultural conferences in Kansas City, such as the College Art Association Conference, the International Sculpture Conference or American Federation for the Arts Conference.
  • Develop an outreach program about Kansas City’s art community for hotel concierges and the Convention and Visitors Association.
  • Encourage partnerships with visual artists and artists of other disciplines.
  • Promote diversity in the arts community.

Information: To Provide More Information for Artists and their Supporters

  • Create a comprehensive gallery guide for visitors and local community.
  • Create an information clearinghouse on the arts in Kansas City.
  • Create position of Visual Arts Coordinator at the metro level for Public Relations, Marketing and Advocacy.