How a Kansas City mall is aiming to fill ‘art desert’ in this part of the metro
Visitors who walk through the halls of Ward Parkway Mall have noticed empty storefronts being turned into displays showcasing local artwork.
But it’s just the start for the mall. It’s also placing hints for an upcoming art event in what mall manager Fred Spille said is a continuation of turning the mall into a destination for community for the south Kansas City area.
Located near the escalator taking visitors up toward the AMC Theater and at the entrance of West 87th Street and Ward Parkway are banners alerting the community about Mallarts, a free weekly arts celebration taking place from 6 to 10 p.m. every Friday in April.
Spille reached out to artist Whitney Kerr to help put together the program inside a space that used to be a food court. They’d previously worked together on a mural inside the mall, and as they were walking through the mall, Kerr noticed the space and later pitched them the idea of hosting a larger art gallery.
“Free space to show art is always a very valuable thing in the artist community,” Kerr said.
Free as in the 6,000-square-foot room where Mallarts will take place. Spille came up with a budget to run the weekly event, including catering, live music and interviews with featured artists for the first and last Fridays in April. The Fridays in-between will be open as a standard art gallery.
Kerr put a call out to around 40 area artists to infuse south Kansas City with art from people of all backgrounds, paintings, ceramics, canvas and even a furniture artist. He got commitments from 16 so far. He said other artists said they would have joined if they had more time to prepare.
He grew up close to the mall, and it’s a nostalgic place for him, adding to the motivation. The Kansas City native has an emphasis on murals. You may have seen some of his work near Ward Parkway Mall. The postcard-style design on the side of a Subway location at 8015 State Line Road is his work.
He has other murals in rural parts of Kansas, and along with business partner Mike Trujillo, they’ve created around 40 murals under The Arts Dept. The thought process of bringing art to a place where it doesn’t exist is why he wanted to host Mallarts at the mall.
“There’s an art desert in south Kansas City,” Kerr said. “There aren’t a lot of events and things for people to do relating to the arts, so I think it’s a cool idea to bring the art out there to the people I know.”
All that’s left is to set up the empty room with the artist’s work and welcome everyone inside the mall’s art.
