KC is a Midwestern Haven for the Arts

With a flourishing visual arts scene and a vibrant performing arts community, Kansas City might be best described as a bustling Midwestern cultural center.

Internationally known museums, dynamic gallery districts, outstanding performances and well-regarded performing and visual artists create a colorful palette that attract locals and visitors alike.

Visual Arts

Kansas City and the visual arts truly go hand in hand. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is a prime example. Its esteemed collection is an encyclopedia of art, from 5,000-year-old Egyptian pottery to the latest contemporary sculpture. The museum has one of the best Chinese collections in the world and will unveil new galleries for its impressive American Indian collection in 2009.

The Nelson is also home to a strong European painting collection and the newly acquired Hallmark Photographic Collection, one of the most comprehensive American photography collections around. Last summer, its new Steven Holl-designed Bloch Building opened to international praise.

Kansas City joined the shortlist of American cities offering two major contemporary art museums when the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art opened in Overland Park, Kan., last fall. It joins the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, which is located near the Nelson-Atkins and houses works of Georgia O’Keeffe, Jasper Johns, Willem de Kooning and Robert Mapplethorpe, among many others.

For collectors, Kansas City is home to one of the most concentrated gallery districts in the country. Crossroads Arts District is home to more than 60 art galleries and eclectic shops. Vacant warehouses in the up-and-coming district have been replaced with artist studios, trendy shops and innovative restaurants. The First Friday of each month is a particular treat, when galleries stay open until 9 p.m. to debut their new shows.   

Theater & Musicals

You’ll find that the stages are rarely dark here. With more than 65 performing arts organizations, productions can be found nightly.

Theater is well represented in Kansas City. The Kansas City Repertory Theatre  is the city’s premiere professional company with performances at Spencer Theatre on the UMKC campus or at its new downtown Copaken Stage. Midtown’s Unicorn Theatre offers contemporary and thought-provoking off-Broadway-style productions. Or, catch what’s playing on the H&R Block City Stage in Union Station.

Crown Center is home to three stages: American Heartland Theater for Broadway-style comedies, dramas and musicals; Coterie Theater, which Time magazine called one of the top five children's theaters in the nation; and the new Off-Center Theatre, which showcases edgy and innovative productions by some of the area's finest theatre troupes.

Broadway’s best touring musicals are presented by Broadway across America at the Music Hall. While, the Quality Hill Playhouse presents professional musicals and cabaret revues in an intimate downtown location. Dinner theater delights audiences at the New Theatre Restaurant in Overland Park, Kan.

Summer brings outdoor theater to Southmoreland Park with the annual Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, which this year presents Othello, June 19-July 8. Or, enjoy Broadway's hottest musicals performed under the stars on Starlight Theatre's grand outdoor stage in Swope Park.

Classical Performance & Concerts

Dance enjoys a solid following in Kansas City. The highly regarded company of the Kansas City Ballet performs at the Lyric Theatre and Music Hall, as well as at annual free concerts in the park. Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey brings the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to the area every other year.

Classical performance is well-represented in Kansas City. The 80-person Kansas City Symphony performs more than 100 concerts annually including masterworks, classical, star-studded pops and family concerts. The Lyric Opera of Kansas City is one of the nation's premier regional opera companies. It produces an eclectic repertoire, and offers one production of an American or contemporary opera most seasons.

You’ll also find some of the world’s finest chamber musicians during the Friends of Chamber Music performances. The Harriman-Jewell Series presents acclaimed performers from the world of music, dance and theater. The UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance has been the source of more than 10,000 concerts, recitals and master classes in Kansas City during its history.

As in the days of old, you can still listen and fall in love with live jazz in the 18th & Vine Historic Jazz District. Both the Blue Room and the renovated Gem Theater offer an array of local and national talent. And don’t miss the shows Downtown at the beautiful Folly Theater or Music Hall. In late 2009, the new Kauffman Center for Performing Arts will offer one of the finest performance venues in the world.