Building sculptures from ten to forty feet high, sculptor and entrepreneur Stretch has made a name for himself as an artist, vice-president of the Kansas City Artists Coalition, and restaurateur of Grinders—serving the food that made America great.

He has appeared on ABC’s “Extreme Makeover Home Edition” and Discovery Channel’s “Monster House.” We asked him a few questions about KC’s visual arts scene.

What makes Kansas City’s art scene unique?
The large proportion of artist-owned buildings. The security of knowing your building won’t be taken away once the area around it becomes gentrified allows artists more creative freedom and this shows in the work Kansas City artists produce.

What’s Kansas City’s best-kept art secret?
The evolution of the art scene here. Take First Fridays in the Crossroads Arts District, for example. We now get 10,000 people. I sell more here than anywhere else in the country. And the affordability of art in Kansas City encourages people to start their own collections.

What’s your artistic insider tip for someone visiting Kansas City?
Get a gallery guide, look for visiting artists, and enjoy the interaction of art in Kansas City. We get artists from all over the country looking to share their ideas on art and learn what Kansas City artists have to offer. That kind of collaboration breeds excitement.

What do you love best about Kansas City?
The ease of getting around and the food. I can get around town and around the country in a snap: whether it be flying to either coast in two and a half hours or going to the South or Chicago in no time at all. Also, people here support the arts with their pocketbook and their open-mindedness. Kansas City arts brought in more than $270 million last year.

If you only had three places to take a visitor in one night, where would you take them?
We’d hit The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and then go to the Toy & Miniature Museum before getting some barbecue at Woodyard Bar B Cue outside—where incidentally you can bring your dog. We’d end up looking at art in the Crossroads Arts District.