Fun idea?

I just saw these on an architect friend's Facebook page today. He's into design, rather naturally.

 

Wouldn't it be great if we organized a great number of people across the metropolitan area, at least, to buy one of these and then pitch them around our new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts one night?

I'm thinking maybe for some fundraiser or something.

I'd photograph it like crazy.

Thanks, Sven.

One last reminder for today's open house at the Kauffman

Here's your chance, then:

Holiday Open House    

Happy Holidays!

The Kauffman Center wishes you and your family a warm and festive holiday season. Since many Kansas Citians have guests in town we are offering a great opportunity to bring your friends and family to see the Center.

Join us for a free holiday open house today, Wednesday, December 26th from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

• Both performance venues will be available for the public to view.
• Tour Ambassadors will be on hand to answer your questions.
• The Kauffman Center Gift Shop and Box Office will be open until 4:00 pm.
• Street parking can often be found and the Arts District garage is also available.
• No reservations are necessary.

Link: http://www.kauffmancenter.org/

Countdown to July 20

I can hardly wait.

Link: http://www.kcsymphony.org/ContentCtl/ViewAct/TodaysNews/115

Yet more great things at the Kauffman Center

This is one of the biggest things I hoped for when the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts was announced. That is, I was hoping children in the area would be exposed to both the facility itself as well as the music--of all types--that could and would emanate. This is fantastic. The picture here is of children in the lobby of the Center, going to listen to performances today. This was posted on the Center's Facebook page with a little information: "Exciting day at the Kauffman Center with three completely booked school matinees!" I think there's no better way to inspire at least some children with trips like these that expose them to both soaring, amazing architecture and some of the best music civilization has to offer, no matter what they hear. This is how we, as a society, can hopefully plant seeds of beauty and, again, inspiration, for growth in the next generations. More kudos and thanks to the Kauffman Center and Kauffman family and all who make this happen. You, as a matter of fact, can help make it happen, too by making a a $100 contribution and bring a busload of school children to experience an amazing performance in this awe-inspiring space. To do so, go here: https://​tickets.kauffmancenter.org/dev/​contribute.aspx?don=19&fieldAmt

To see Kansas City's own Joyce DiDonato

It's one thing to hear of Ms. DiDonato's different successes--singing at the Met in New York, for instance--and another to see or hear that she's won a Grammy. I think it's quite another to be able to see here, if even only on a YouTube video, an actual performance and her talent. Great stuff. She performs in March at the Kauffman Center, too, in case you care to see her. Get tickets here: http://www.kauffmancenter.org/

More great--and now timely--things from the Kauffman Center

Hot on the heels of last evening's Grammy Awards, The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts has, rather conveniently, announced The GRAMMY Museum To Launch Music Education Initiative In Kansas City Scheduled to debut as a pilot program in Kansas City, Mo. in June 2012, The GRAMMY Museum’s Music Revolution Project will offer talented youth the opportunity to engage in musical discourse and performance with other peers from across the country, spurring innovative ideas within the realm of American music. As I said, yet more great things for and from the Kauffman Center and the city, area and even region. Link: http://www.kauffmancenter.org/2012/02/13/the-grammy-museum-to-launch-music-education-initiative-in-kansas-city/?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=GrammyAnnouncement&sourceNumber=11156

Yo Yo Ma on our own Kauffman Center: How cool is that?

Welcome to town, Mr. Takei!

George Takei, the actor mostly known for playing Mr. Sulu on the "Star Trek" television show is in town to appear with the Kansas City Symphony this weekend at the Kauffman Center. I understand both shows are sold out. They are having a "Sci-Fi Spectacular with George Takei" and playing things from "Star Trek", "Star Wars", "2001: A Space Odyssey" and more. For those going, I'm sure it will be great fun. They warn on the Symphony page that there will be lasers used during the performance. What a hoot. Link: http://tickets.kcsymphony.org/single/psDetail.aspx?psn=2724

Want to keep up with the arts in KC?

If you don't already know about it, you need to go to and register at this site: http://kcmetropolis.org/. Music, theater, movies, dance--it's all here. AS they describe themselves: Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts. Enjoy.

Great Kansas City Arts news!

Great news, indeed! Kansas City's (actually, Prairie Village's) own Joyce DiDonato and the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts are going to be in a documentary on PBS. The working title is HOMECOMING: THE KANSAS CITY SYMPHONY PRESENTS JOYCE DIDONATO Their write-up on it: "Architect Moshe Safdie’s extraordinary new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts provides the stunning backdrop for a 60-minute performance-documentary profiling the young, Grammy Award-winning musicians of the Kansas City Symphony, their vibrant artistic director and conductor Michael Stern, and the radiant, internationally celebrated mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato. A concert wrapped by documentary narratives, this Arts Festival special tracks Ms. DiDonato’s nostalgic return to her hometown, and her thrilling Kauffman Center debut, after a triumphant appearance with Placido Domingo at The Metropolitan Opera in New York. Together, Joyce DiDonato, Maestro Stern and the Kansas City Symphony create a musical program as grand and ambitious as the Kauffman Center itself. Produced by Kansas City Public Television (KCPT) in association with veteran PBS music producers James Arntz & John Paulson." Further proof to all the naysayers that building the Kauffman Center was somehow a bad idea. And thank you, thank you, thank you, to the Kauffman family, Julia and her parents, for this and the many gifts they've given Kansas City. As I've said before, we're eternally grateful. Links: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogsburger/53231413-53/arts-pbs-art-festival.html.csp; http://www.pbs.org/about/news/archive/2012/arts-summer-festival/

KC on Budget Travel Magazine's "Top Budget Travel Destinations for 2012"

Yes, we are. It seems the zeitgeist right now, mostly due to our new Kauffman Center for the Arts, is all about getting to Kansas City. What the magazine has to say: "Thanks to arts-centric developments both large-scale and grassroots, this Midwestern city is fast becoming a hotbed of high culture. In September, the $326 million Moshe Safdie–designed Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts opened to host the Kansas City Ballet, the Lyric Opera, and the Kansas City Symphony, along with one-off performances of all stripes. The center's arrival has only helped to bolster the already-vibrant Crossroads Arts District—a funky enclave of 70-plus galleries in renovated warehouses, interspersed with boutiques and restaurants—that surrounds it. Thankfully, Kansas City's prices haven't caught up to its highbrow reputation. Both hotels and rental cars are cheaper than they were in 2010, with rooms going for about $137 per night (a 3 percent drop) and cars averaging $55 per day." We couldn't agree more. (Except actually, didn't the Kauffman Center cost $413m?) Link: http://www.budgettravel.com/feature/top-budget-travel-destinations-for-2012,8005/?page=4

Des Moines and Lincoln (NE) on "Healthiest Cities" List

Yes, you saw it right. Des Moines, Iowa and Lincoln, Nebraska got some more ammunition for the Convention and Visitors Bureau in the last 24 hours. Parents Magazine rated 150 cities in the nation and decided Des Moines is 6th healthiest: It's easy to live in this Midwestern town, which happens to be the home of Meredith Corporation, publisher of Parents. You can drive from the 'burbs to downtown in less than 20 minutes -- even during rush hour. The city also offers free yoga classes at some public parks, daily recess for all elementary-school students, 40 miles of fitness trails, and enclosed downtown skywalks so families can keep active even in bad weather. Lincoln came in at 10: It's gone green. Through its "Cleaner Greener" program, Lincoln installed 13 hybrid buses, maintained 130,000 neighborhood trees, and is close to having a park within a half mile of every house in the city. That's on top of the excellent air and water quality; Lincoln didn't exceed the ozone or particle pollution levels on any day in 2010. And families can feel safe while being outdoors on the city's 128 miles of trails. The crime rate is low and the average commute in town is 17 minutes, so you have more time to spend with the kids. Even with our new Kauffman Arts Center, I just don't think we'll hit the top 10 next year, either. At least, not with that pesky more-than-100-persons-killed ranking we have this year. Last notes: San Francisco was number one, Kansas City didn't even make it in the top 35 though Overland Park--of all places--made it in at 26. Finally, St. Louis was number 11, though. St. Louis? A "healthiest city"? That shocks me. So it goes. Link: http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/the-10-healthiest-cities-for-families-2583271.html

From LA and their Times paper to KC

How cool is that? The LA Times now did an article on our Kauffman Center: "Today, Kansas City's known more for its tailgating and its barbecue. But perhaps it will now be known for something more — the $413-million Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, a much-celebrated set of massive, steel-jacketed clamshells that resemble a pair of sonic booms whose motion has been arrested and encased in cement." Thanks again, Kauffmans! Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-kansas-city-20111126,0,872770.story

The New York Times, Kansas City and our new Center for the Performing Arts

Kansas City and our new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts are once again highlighted, this time in The New York Times yesterday, Sunday. It feels so good. Thank you, Ewing, Muriel and Julie Kauffman. We are forever in your debt. Actually, we already were. Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/arts/music/kauffman-center-for-the-performing-arts-in-kansas-city-mo.html?_r=1&src=tp&smid=fb-share

Great video recapping opening night at the Kauffman

I saw this, this evening, on, of all places, a friend's Facebook page. He wrote he saw it, luckily and coincidentally, on KCPT/PBS this evening. It was too great to not share. While great to see, period, it's especially good on the full screen on your computer, too. I might mention, also, that those really were live people on top of the Center. It was our own local performance group "Quixotic". I thought they might just be projections of people.

The Kauffman Center: I can hardly get enough of it

Don't the curved balconies rather suggest the exterior of the Guggeheim Museum in New York?

The Denver Post on our Kauffman Center

If you haven't seen it, the Denver Post newspaper did a story on our new Kauffman Center (link below). Just one of the things they had to say: "Holy cow, it makes us look cheap in Denver. While the Colorado Symphony Orchestra is scrambling just to stay alive, and has so far failed to raise $30 million in matching funds to make Boettcher Concert Hall a better place to hear music...the folks in K.C. were able to go ahead with a gleaming new concert hall to the tune of $413 million. Suck on that, all you naysayers. For the rest of us, let's just enjoy. Link: http://blogs.denverpost.com/artmosphere/2011/10/03/architecture-kansas-citys-new-kauffman-center-gives-denver-something-to-envy/2410/#disqus_thread

Pretend, for a moment, you're Julie Kauffman today

NOW what do you do? (I mean, besides sleep late this morning).

Attention for Kansas City and thanks to the Kauffmans

Yes, indeed, just as I said, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts and its opening is getting Kansas City great national attention. Yeehaw. Very cool. It's great to have this venue and jewel for the city but the added, national attention, if even temporary is just one more great, great thing to come out of this. Considering the Kansas City Royals, the Kauffman Foundation, all the work its done, all the other ancillary things the Kauffmans have done for Kansas City and now this, I'll always be forever grateful to them--all three, Ewing, Muriel and Julie--for bringing Major League Baseball, education opportunities and now the arts, all, to the area. Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/us/kauffman-center-for-the-performing-arts-set-to-open-in-kansas-city.html?_r=4&scp=1&sq=kauffman&st=cse

AMC's offices: more corporate blackmail

Right, so here we go again, some more. AMC Theaters is moving its offices, as we know now, to Leawood. Yeehaw. And who can blame them? Kansas offered them in the range of 40 million dollars to bring their jobs over the state line. This wasn't so much blackmail, as nearly as I can tell, as it was Kansas throwing money at a company. They're broke, Kansas is, as most states are, and slashing school budgets and all kinds of agencies but they came up with $40 million for this. I ask again, when are we going to stop playing suckers to corporations so they can milk us for tax breaks? Apparently never. We're just not very bright. The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is just this weekend, opening, of course, and AMC is moving out soon. I'm sure AMC tried to keep the offices downtown, as they said and I understand it's got to be tough, at least, to turn away $40 million in tax incentives but as I've said before, we have to stop letting these companies keep exploiting us, just so they can get ever-better tax deals. We'll keep shifting companies back and forth across the state line and then around the various cities in the area. It's stupid. Link to original post: http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2011/09/14/amc-entertainment-will-move-hq-to-ks.html?ana=RSS&s=article_search&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bizj_kansascity+%28Kansas+City+Business+Journal%29