Kansas City has a legacy of artistic and entrepreneurial innovation spanning more than 125 years. It is a mashup of new ideas and American creativity — an intersection of arts, culture, innovation and imagination. Welcome to Kansas City: America’s Creative Crossroads.
Engineering News-Record includes four KC area engineering firms among the top 50 largest in the U.S. in its 2013 top 500 list. Overland Park-based Black & Veatch remained the area’s largest engineering firm with $1.27 billion in revenues last year,… Read more »
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As a James Beard Award winning chef and an active member of the culinary community, Chef Gold regularly brings national attention to Kansas City. Her menu for the Crayola Cafe, a well-known children’s restaurant, was named the #1 Kids’ Menu in America by Restaurant Hospitality. Esquire named Debbie a “Chef to Watch” in 1997, and she received the prestigious James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef: Midwest” in 1999. She has appeared on several national broadcast networks including PBS, Food Network and Bravo.
What makes Kansas City a great place for creativity and innovation?
The diversity of culture. The willingness to collaborate amongst peers. People in Kansas City travel all over the world, work and learn, but want to live where they grew up. They bring that knowledge and talent back to Kansas City.
Who do you most admire in real-life?
The everyday person, who works hard, takes care of their family, tries to live with integrity and has a good time.
Jeff Harshbarger is a full-time jazz musician and prolific composer who has recorded and performed across the globe with artists like Bobby Watson, Allison Miller and Curtis Fuller. Jeff is currently touring with the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey with upcoming shows at The Abby Pub in Chicago, The Blue Note in New York City and the Rochester International Jazz Festival in Rochester, N.Y.
Why is KC a great environment for creativity and the arts?
The people here are extraordinary. The talent pool is as deep as anywhere I’ve ever been with an arts scene as vibrant as any city I’ve ever been to. People here want the arts to succeed, and that makes it a perfect place to practice your craft.
What is your favorite spot in Kansas City?
I really like Manifesto. It’s a tiny, dark joint that is relaxing and wonderful. I also really enjoy The Living Room Theatre. We’ve done some great work there.
Dr. Zhou is a Pulitzer Prize winning composer, internationally recognized for creating a unique body of music that brings together the aesthetic and musical elements of East and West. Deeply grounded in the entire spectrum of his Chinese heritage, he is a pioneer in transferring the idiomatic sounds and techniques of ancient Chinese musical traditions to modern Western instruments and ensembles. Dr. Zhou is currently visiting professor of composition at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance.
What makes KC a great environment for creativity and the arts?
The diversity of cultures we have here is so important. Kansas City has had a great multi-cultural tradition through history.
What is your favorite spot in Kansas City?
We enjoy the Nelson-Atkins Art Gallery. It’s kind of the front door to where I work at UMKC and is nice for long walks around the grounds.
Erin McGrane channels front woman “Ruby Falls” in KC’s modern Cabaret act, Alacartoona. Dubbed as one of the city’s most inspirational acts, this unique stage show includes Erin, Kyle Dahlquist, Sergio Moreno and Christian Hankel—all working together seamlessly, winning over each audience member with stories of love, life and tragedy. This quartet, coupled with mesmerizing lyrics and sultry dance routines, ensures the audience doesn’t just take in a show, but an entire experience.
What makes KC a great environment for creativity and the arts?
We’ve never had as many resources available for artists as we do right now. I travel and work in places like Chicago, and about half of the time I tell people, “You wouldn’t believe what’s going on in Kansas City.” There’s an exciting, collaborative spirit among artists here that makes us unique.
When and where are you happiest?
On stage. Singing and playing music. That’s our happy place.
Christopher Elbow’s Artisan Chocolates have been featured across the nation, from magazines like Oprah, Food & Wine, Fine Cooking and InStyle to syndicated TV programs like Food Network’s What Hot, What’s Cool. His confectionery creations are available online and at discriminating retailers like CocoaBella Chocolates in San Francisco, Biagio Fine Chocolates in Washington D.C. and Trotters To Go In Chicago.
What makes Kansas City a great place for creativity and innovation?
Kansas City has a really open and collaborative environment that not only promotes creativity, but entrepreneurial spirit as well. It is a city that wants you to succeed.
What is your favorite place in Kansas City?
The Crossroads Arts District. It has the spirit of a neighborhood that you might find in a city like New York City or San Francisco. I have watched it develop over the last 15 years and am proud to have my business in this neighborhood.
Established in 1984, Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey is the official second home of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, based in New York City. Tyrone Aiken is KCFAA’s executive director, a role he has played since 2005. He began as an instructor during the company’s AileyCamp in 1991, and graduated to artistic coordinator in 1995.
What is it about KC that inspires creativity in you?
Our location is very interesting. St. Louis is oriented toward Chicago or the east, and Denver is oriented toward the west. Dallas is considered more south. Kansas City is a bridge where lots of different things converge and make for an interesting palette.
When and where are you happiest?
In the dance studio. The studio is part church, part classroom – a place of peace and discovery. It’s an incredibly important place for me.
STRETCH is a sculptor, artist, visionary, restaurateur, entrepreneur and television personality. His works have been on display in private and corporate collections throughout the world. His restaurants Grinders and Grinders West are complemented by a live music venue known as CrossroadsKC at Grinders. STRETCH has participated and appeared in a variety of cable and network television programs including ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” “Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives” and “Guy’s Big Bite.” Most recently, he filmed a pilot for “Hungry Men at Work,” on the SPIKE channel, and traveled with the Guy Fieri Food Roadshow.
Why is KC a great environment for creativity and the arts?
The community has really supported the arts to help produce and keep creative folks here.
What is your favorite spot in Kansas City?
I like being in the Crossroads. It’s the center and the hub of the area with great people, great restaurants.
Mark Westervelt is a painter and native of Kansas City, Missouri. He specializes in large canvas pieces as well as small, intricate designs assembled using dried paint chips. As co-founder of The Left Bank, an alternative art gallery established in 1987, Westervelt helped put the Crossroads District on the map as a destination for all things arts and culture.
What makes KC a great environment for creativity and the arts?
There’s always been a strong arts community in KC, but now you have places like the Crossroads – which went from primarily a business district to now a vibrant arts area with artists living and working there.
Who do you most admire in real-life?
I’m amazed at Picasso… an amazing creative force. I looked up to him not so much from a personal life standpoint but as a creator of art.
Named the 2009 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year award winner in the Central Midwest Technology category, Augie Grasis is an established entrepreneur known for his savvy business approach and industry-changing ideas. Since founding Handmark in 2000, Augie has played an important role in defining the mobile content industry and changing the way people use their mobile phones. Today, Handmark is a leading developer and distributor of mobile applications and services.
What makes Kansas City a great place for creativity and innovation?
Kansas City offers a culture of art and innovation in an affordable quality of life. It DOESN’T have what many big cities have—traffic, pollution and crime, but rather offers a great place to do business and raise a family.
When and where are you happiest?
On my sailboat with my family in Weatherby Lake in a stiff breeze.
A native of Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies, Davyeon Ross founded Digital Sports Ventures, an interactive technology company with rights to Division I college sports video across seven major conferences. Now part of Digital Broadcasting Group (DBG), his company has opened new doors for publishers, advertisers and agencies seeking to engage sports fans in a targeted manner.
What makes Kansas City a great place for creativity and innovation?
Kansas City is fueled by the intersection of technology, innovative thought leaders and deliberate strategies to foster entrepreneurship. When combining these factors with Midwest values, Kansas City is truly differentiated both nationally and internationally.
When and where are you happiest?
I am happiest when I’m solving problems—whether on the golf course, in a heated brainstorm session with my team or in an enlightening conversation with a budding entrepreneur.
Chef Celina Tio has proudly called KC her home since joining The American Restaurant in 2001. Since then, Celina has been collecting accolades and making waves for KC throughout the national culinary scene. After being named Chef of the Year by Chef magazine in 2005 and James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef: Midwest in 2007, she made national television appearances on both “The Next Iron Chef” and “Top Chef Masters.” In 2009, Celina started her first proprietary restaurant, JULIAN, located in the historic Brookside neighborhood of Kansas City, Mo.
What makes KC a great environment for creativity and the arts?
Kansas City has the convenience and culture of a bigger city, but with incredibly nice people.
What is your favorite spot in Kansas City?
I would say my neighborhood. I love living in Roanoke/Midtown area. It’s a great eclectic mix of cultures and people.
Eric Rosen is a nationally recognized playwright, director and producer of the 47-year-old Kansas City Repertory Theatre. His KC Rep credits include the world premiere of “Venice,” named Best Musical of the Year in TIME magazine, and which is currently in development for a New York premiere in 2012.
What makes Kansas City a great place for creativity and the arts?
KC is in a state of renaissance — we are small enough that we all know each other, but big enough that we can attract the nation’s attention to theatre, music, dance, all kinds of performance and visual arts.
When and where are you happiest?
In the dark of the theatre, just as the lights are going out and a room full of people are huddled together to hear a story I created. It’s an unimaginable happiness.
Reilly Hoffman is a sculptor and graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute. Reilly’s work has been described as “painting with fire.” He explains, “I mold it, carve it, shape it, and take it from its extruded identity to a point where it is almost unrecognizable…” In addition to his own art practice, Reilly is the artist in residence at A. Zahner Company, an internationally recognized architectural metal company.
What makes KC a great environment for creativity and the arts?
It’s been a very supportive community. The city has supported me through thick and thin. In a way we’re kind of both investing in each other.
Who’s your favorite fictional hero?
Howard Roark from Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead.” It always makes architects mad when they say “who’s your favorite architect?” and I tell them it’s a fictional character.
As CEO of both established companies and start-up operations, Tracy Panko has a proven track record of success taking multiple companies through periods of growth and acquisition, and launching over $50 million in new products. She is a popular speaker on the subjects of business innovation, social media and technology.
What is it about KC that inspires creativity in you?
Being surrounded at work and in my community with passionate, talented and driven people with shared values provides an energetic and supportive environment, which is the critical component to creating.
Who do you most admire in real-life?
My parents. They raised me with the confidence to take risks and dream big, taught me to accept the people around me with an open and forgiving heart because their gifts are usually much greater than their faults and instilled the desire to never stop learning and exploring.
E. Spencer Schubert is sculptor who lives in Kansas City, Missouri and works in a studio in the Crossroads Arts District. Schubert has studied and sculpted the figure across the entirety of his art career. His work uses the figure to explore the strengths, weaknesses, tragedies, successes, and idiosyncrasies of people.
What makes Kansas City a great place for creativity and the arts?
It’s a big pond that is a small pond. Someone once told me that Kansas City is the biggest small town. Here, anyone you can think of who is big in the arts in Kansas City, I could pick up the phone and have a conversation with them – which is completely unique to Kansas City.
When and where are you happiest?
With my wife and daughter, on a Sunday morning, maybe at the dog park when everything is either taken care of or forgotten about.
Arlen Wickstrum is co-owner and creative director of Skyline Downtown Salon. He has been a Kansas City resident since 1993.
What makes Kansas City a great place for creativity and innovation? Kansas City is great because there seems to be something at every turn most days. The support for the arts has always been unusually strong so that is inspiring in and of its self. When the entire community is looking towards the future it keeps you on your toes. The easy answer…my friends!
What is your favorite place in Kansas City? My neighborhood! The Crossroads Art district has a collective band of outsiders feel. Great restaurants and shopping, both high and low, a farmer’s market, an astounding number of galleries… And my salon!
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Chet Duvenci is a tattoo artist and owner of The Mercy Seat, a tattoo shop located in the Crossroads Arts District. Often referred to as a “dermagraphic illustrator,” rather than just another run-of-the-mill tattooist, Chet specializes in large and extremely detailed pieces.
What makes KC a great environment for creativity and the arts?
All of the attention is on the coasts… so we’re kind of allowed to grow on our own without a lot of pressure. It’s cheaper, easy to find work, central to everything you might want to travel to.
Who do you most admire in real-life?
I really appreciate people who like to live free… a lot of the artists and musicians I know. Joe Strummer from the Clash. Bob Marley. Robert Williams the painter. People who understand that there are no limits.
Monica Delaorra is the associate editorial director at Hallmark Cards. She knows the satisfaction of dreaming up an idea and seeing it on the shelves soon after. As a contributor to Hallmark’s “Everyday” and “Sinceramente” Spanish-language lines, Delaorra gets to express her creativity each and every day on the job.
Who is your favorite hero from fiction?
Charlotte from “Charlotte’s Web.” Back to childhood but it’s one of those evergreen novels that, no matter what age you are, there’s always something to learn.
What is your favorite spot in Kansas City?
I love Union Station. It’s had its own renaissance but I think there’s something just so fantastic about its great history, the architecture, etc. When you walk in there it’s like taking a step back in time. You can just kind of feel all the stories as you walk through.
Peggy Noland is a fashion designer based out of Kansas City. Peggy is not afraid to use bright colors, wild textures and hard-to-miss patterns. She is best known for her bold styles, designing pieces for entertainers performing all over the world. In addition to designing, Peggy has given lectures on fashion and runs her own store in Kansas City.
What makes KC a great environment for creativity and the arts?
I do think more people are noticing Kansas City. It’s been a build-up of energy and individuals that are always constantly working and it’s like now people are smart enough to pay attention. There are a lot of us here who are getting noticed more now.
Who is your favorite hero from fiction?
Jem. She was like a rock star in cartoons.
Peregrine Honig found her way to Kansas City, Mo., at the age of 17 to attend the Kansas City Art Institute. Her career in art quickly gained speed and landed her the youngest artist to have work in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum of Art. Peregrine’s unique combination of sexuality and pop-culture makes her artwork distinctive and provocative.
What is your favorite spot in Kansas City?
I bring my visitors to The Noguchi Sculpture Park at The Nelson-Atkins Museum, then Arthur Bryant’s BBQ for burnt ends.
When and where are you happiest?
In my studio having a productive day- in my shop enjoying my life. My little dog Beignet is very entertaining.
As one of the largest architecture firms in the world, Populous houses a dozen offices located in eight different countries, with its headquarters residing in Kansas City, Mo. This globally recognized company has paved the way for design in sports facilities and convention centers.
What is your favorite spot in Kansas City?
TT: I love the Plaza. I lived there for seven years, and it feels like home. I love to go back and support the local businesses there. There are so many great pockets in Kansas City; it kind of depends on your mood. There’s a different great place to fit just about any mood you’re in.
WR: Anywhere outside on the perfect Kansas City spring or fall day, a ballgame, a park, sitting on the porch. We have those few days a year when the weather is beautiful, you can feel a little electricity in the air and you can’t help but be in a good mood.
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Teri Rogers is the owner and CEO of T2 Studios, a nationally recognized digital design and production center located in the heart of the Crossroads Arts District of Kansas City, Mo. Teri is the driving force behind T2′s myriad of creative services, providing inspiration and insight to her team of world-class digital storytellers.
What makes KC a great environment for creativity and the arts?
We’re fortunate to have a plethora of people who have an appreciation for the arts and the means to do it. It’s a place that just keeps getting better every year.
What is your favorite spot in Kansas City?
My favorite place is the Crossroads because it is so urban and eclectic, and it has a sense of community and, of course, the arts scene. It’s a place that really makes me happy.
Jim Leedy has been a dynamic force in the international art world and a catalyst for community development in Kansas City for more than four decades. As a Kansas City Arts Institute professor, he spent more than 40 years encouraging students to push boundaries. The accomplishments of the 81-year-old artist have both anticipated and responded to contemporary trends. Jim is considered the “Godfather of the Crossroads” and was a catalyst for the development of the art district. Jim’s work lives on today as a Kansas City legacy of uncompromising vision and remarkable tenacity.
What is it about KC that inspires creativity in you?
Kansas City supports our creative thinkers and artists by offering places for them to live, work and display their art in a thriving community.
What is your favorite spot in KC?
My studio and the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center.
Laura started dancing at the age of six. She trained at the North Carolina School of the Arts and has danced with the Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and Missouri Contemporary Ballet. In 2008, Laura moved to Kansas City and started working with Quixotic. Laura now dances for Quixotic full time and enjoys choreographing pieces that involve dancers interacting with visual projections.
What makes KC a great environment for creativity and innovation?
Kansas City has high standards for its artists, and we strive every day to meet and exceed those standards. It is a wonderful place to create because the people of this city are constantly showing us appreciation and support, and we couldn’t do what we do without it.
When and where are you happiest?
I am happiest up on stage, in full costume and makeup, where I can transform into a totally different person, blowing people’s minds… or at home on the couch cuddled up with my fiancé.
Ryan Maybee is a restaurateur with expertise in the fields of wine, spirits and mixology. His creative libations have received national acclaim being featured in top-tier publications including Wine Enthusiast, Food and Wine, The New Yorker, Vogue, GQ, Esquire, Vanity Fair and Bartender Magazine. In 2009, Ryan opened Manifesto, a small, speakeasy-like bar focusing on classically inspired cocktails using all fresh and homemade ingredients. In 2011, Ryan partnered with Chef Howard Hanna to open a restaurant, The Rieger Hotel Grill & Exchange, named one of Zagat’s Top Restaurants of 2012.
What is it about KC that inspires creativity in you?
There’s a lot of diversity in KC, a combination of all the personalities that call our city home, along with an endless optimism about the opportunities present.
Who do you most admire in real-life?
My grandfather and Mark Twain.
Visionary, artist and sculptor are just a few ways to describe Beth Nybeck, the talented metal sculptor artist creating incredible metal pieces for both public and private sectors around the nation. Graduating from the University of Northern Iowa in 2010, Beth has stayed busy creating her metal masterpieces for places like the John Wayne International Airport in Orange County, Calif.
What is your favorite spot in Kansas City?
Loose Park and the historic part of northeast Kansas City –those are my “wilderness” spots within the city. The River Market and Crossroads both offer a tremendous amount of culture, dining, art and great people.
When and where are you happiest?
When I’m alone. If I can find a slice of peace or get lost in my thoughts and my work. There’s a great deal of satisfaction in that.
Hampton Stevens is a freelance writer. His work has appeared in a range of national and international publications; including The Atlantic and ESPN the Magazine, and has been excerpted in TIME, Newsweek and the Wall Street Journal. A fifth generation Kansas Citian, he lives in midtown with his rednose pitbull, Ginger.
What makes Kansas City a great place for creativity and innovation?
This is a place where the arts matter. They always have, since the city’s earliest days. So there’s this long tradition of creativity — a passion for looking at things in new ways is part of the culture here. That energy infuses the whole city.
When and where are you happiest?
The moment of inspiration. It usually comes while sitting at my desk after many exhausting hours of doing nothing. The writing process itself, going from thought to expression is always a grind. But that instant when the synapses pop and a good idea hits… that’s always exciting.
Rachel Hack serves as a liaison between the many organizations and leaders in Kansas City with an interest in the ultra high-speed Google Fiber project and the rest of the Google Fiber team. She also oversees community affairs efforts in the community for Google.
What makes Kansas City a great place for creativity and innovation?
Kansas City’s open atmosphere makes it relatively easy to find people to bounce ideas off of, ask for advice, or work together with to make big things happen. Plus, the cost of living makes it feasible to take risks. With many interesting local projects and talented people being recognized around the world, the stars are aligning for an era of dynamic growth in my hometown.
Who’s your favorite fictional hero?
Princess Buttercup or Beatrix Kiddo: One fights for love, the other for revenge, each a bad-ass in her own right.
Inside the industrial-chic Skyline Salon is Kansas City stylist Nick Jenkins, a 25-year-old KC transplant who projects his own ebullient personality into each cut. Jenkins’ star is on the rise, with national editorial work in The Knot and other wedding magazines.
What makes Kansas City a great place for creativity and innovation? KC is a bit of a hidden treasure. People that transplant or visit are often pleasantly surprised at how diverse and up-and-coming it really is. With that said it’s the perfect incubator to grow, create and enjoy any medium of creativity you choose. KC has a city feel but still small enough you don’t feel rushed or behind the curve to accomplish or create something great.
Who do you most admire in real-life? I’ll keep it short and sweet. I admire the ones who inspire me, encourage me and give me unconditional love and support.
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Any list of accomplished, influential environmentalists and preservationists includes Bob Berkebile. Highly regarded by fellow professionals, Bob focuses on improving the quality of life in our society with the integrity and spirit of his firm’s work. Bob has been the recipient of the Heinz Award from the Heinz Family Foundation and is listed among the Top 5 U.S. Individual Role Models for green and sustainable design.
What is it about KC that inspires creativity in you?
I find a spirit present in the people and place of our “heartland region” that puts wind in the sails of my ideas and work.
When and where are you the happiest?
When I am discovering a new idea or helping bring a beautiful, regenerative design into being… and when I am enjoying a beautiful place (natural or built environment) with family or friends.
Mike is the co-founder and CEO of Leap2, a mobile application development company that is revolutionizing mobile search. Leap2 is the first application to combine search directly with the web and social media. Throughout his entrepreneurial career, Mike has co-founded four new ventures, raised more than $7 million of early-stage capital and authored or co-authored 10 patents.
What makes Kansas City a great place for creativity and innovation?
High Signal-to-Noise ratio. With velocity of technological change occurring so rapidly, there is a real value proposition to being away from all the “buzz.” KC provides you space to think about highly relevant problems and opportunities, while not getting too caught up in the latest trends.
When and where are you happiest?
During the ideation phase of creativity. For me, this quite often takes place in the middle of the night. Regardless, there’s always an element of euphoria that come with each new idea.
As a musician, composer and an acclaimed graphic and motion designer, Anthony has been dreaming up innovative ideas ever since he was young. One of those ideas, Quixotic Fusion, turned out to be one of the most exhilarating stage shows Kansas City—and the world— has ever seen. Founded by Magliano in 2005, Quixotic is a multi-dimensional entertainment company, fusing elements from aerial acrobatics, dance, fashion, film, music and visual effects to create a unique performance that is impossible to forget.
What makes KC a great environment for creativity and the arts?
I think more than ever we’re seeing more groups work together; a lot more variety and diversity in the arts in Kansas City.
When and where are you happiest?
On stage, after a performance. As a performer we create a unique energy between stage and audience and nothing is more rewarding that changing an emotion based on what you’re doing in a performance.
