Jim Leedy, Kansas City artist and founder of Crossroads Arts District, dies at 91

Jim Leedy, known as the founder of the Crossroads Arts District and a towering figure in the Kansas City art world, died at the age of 91, according to a post by his family on the artist’s Facebook page.

“We are deeply saddened to share the news of our beloved Jim Leedy’s passing, early Sunday morning,” his family said. “We are comforted in knowing that Jim will continue to live on through his extravagant stories, genuine friendships and influential artwork he has created around the world.

“Thank you to all who have shared, and continue to share, your memories of Jim. It keeps our hearts full during this difficult time.”

Leedy, who served as a professor in the sculpture department at the Kansas City Art Institute for more than 40 years until he retired in 2008, was a painter, printmaker, sculptor, performance and mixed media artist. But it was clay that was his first medium and his favorite, according to a biography posted on the Arizona State University Art Museum’s website.

In 2014, Alice Thorson, who was an art critic for The Kansas City Star, called his paintings “brash and energetic.”

“With their brilliant colors and lunar surfaces, some call them cosmic,” Thorson wrote. “His ceramics — made of thrown, torn and twisted clay — broke new ground.”

Born Nov. 6, 1930, in McRoberts, Leedy grew up in rural parts of Montana, Ohio and Virginia. He once said his first memories were of crawling around into the middle of a dried pond and stacking chunks of sediment. He also recalled making toys from clay.

He served as a war photography for the U.S. Army in his 1951-1952 tour of duty during the Korea War. It was in Korea where he was first introduced to Asian ceramics and raku and how it was held in high esteem.

After the war, he settled in New York where he attended Columbia University and became part of the Impressionist group of artists that included Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline and Jackson Pollock, according to his biography.

Leedy studied Asian art history and in 1957 earned his bachelor of fine arts degree with honors from the Richmond Professional Institute, now Virginia Commonwealth University. He has an masters degree in fine arts from Southern Illinois University and a masters degree in art history from Michigan State University.

Leedy turned to teaching to support his family. It was while he taught at the University of Montana in Missoula where he worked with ceramic artists Rudy Autio and Peter Voulkos.

In 1966, Leedy moved to Kansas City and began teaching at the Kansas City Art Institute.

“I stayed for 43 years,” Leedy told The Star’s Thorson. “I was a hippie professor. I had long hair and the beard; I was into the folk music thing and that sort of stuff. It was a good time; it was a horrible time in some ways. I was always pushing for the underdog. It was an interesting time.”

Leedy helped transform the little known unaccredited college into a leading art school. While teaching part time in sculpture, Leedy built the school’s art history program.

Leedy had a gallery and studio for a few years in Westport in the 1970s until rent prices skyrocketed.

“My rent went from $300 a month to more than $5,000,” he recalled. “The lesson I learned was: Don’t rent. Buy.”

In the early 1980s, he purchased buildings in what is now known as the Crossroads Arts District and co-founded the the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center at 2012 Baltimore in 1985. He encouraged other artists to buy buildings and start galleries and small businesses.

This story was originally published December 27, 2021 at 8:52 AM.