KC artist opens new studio to bring workshops, retail and community to Troost
Artist Remy Wharry welcoming the public to her new Raw Art Creative Studio on Wednesday marked a major step in the Kansas City painter’s career.
She has moved from smaller studio spaces and mobile art workshops into a two-floor storefront at 3004 Troost Ave. where she can paint, teach, sell products and build community.
Before Raw Art Studio, Wharry had worked out of studio spaces at Interurban Art House in Overland Park and the Zhou B Art Center. She also traveled for workshops, paint parties and events, often packing up her car to bring supplies to organizations, venues and homes.
“So now it’s really nice to have a centralized location,” Wharry said. “We’re a split level. I can do my workshops downstairs and have my own personal studio upstairs. It’s really cool.”
Classes, retail and collaboration
The studio opened as part of Kansas City’s Open Doors program, an effort designed to help small businesses and artists move into storefronts as the city prepares for the 2026 World Cup.
The new studio will be open Tuesday through Saturday. During daytime hours, visitors can stop in to look at artwork, see works in progress, shop for prints, buy paint kits and purchase items from Wharry’s own paint line. In the afternoons and evenings, the space will shift toward workshops, including painting, wearable art, DIY customizing and sustainable fashion projects.
Wharry said she wants the studio to be more than a place where people follow a basic outline. As a former elementary school teacher, she wants to guide participants through the larger creative process. She also plans to bring in other artists and small businesses to co-facilitate classes.
“I do like to take them through the whole process of learning color theory and learning how to blend and shade and things like that,” Wharry said. “But then also incorporating other collaborations with other artists and small businesses so that they’ll come in and co-facilitate other workshops with me.”
Wharry’s plans also include Saturday art club sessions, where people can bring their own projects, hang out and create together at no cost. She said those gatherings are part of her larger goal of creating a “third space” where adults can meet people, build friendships and support each other through art.
The studio is already becoming a place for collaboration. Wharry said Global Tattoo, a neighboring tattoo shop, plans to host a workshop where tattoo artists can explain how they entered the field and teach the basics of preparing a tattoo machine and practicing on silicone skin. She has also talked with other creatives about blending movie nights, craft clubs and outdoor events.
For Wharry, those ideas reflect the unfinished and evolving nature of the space. One of the biggest challenges, she said, has been learning how to operate a storefront for the first time, including decorating, organizing, moving in supplies and accepting that the studio does not have to be perfect immediately.
“I think a big thing for me is just learning how to be OK with the work in progress and recognizing that as I start utilizing the space, it’s going to keep changing and that’s OK,” Wharry said.
World Cup program with long-term plans
Nia Webster, assistant director for the Neighborhood Services Department and project lead for the Open Doors program, said Wharry is one of several artists using the program to open a first storefront. Webster said the program was shaped by lessons learned from past large scale events and the need to position local businesses before major events arrive.
Open Doors provides six-month lease support for participants, with rent subsidies of up to 80% based on the square footage of the space. Participants pay the remaining portion and receive grant support for build-out. At Wharry’s location, Webster said the program also worked with the property owner on tenant finish improvements so Wharry could move in and begin building out the studio without carrying all of that cost herself.
“I think we learned lessons from the NFL Draft. Don’t wait for them to do it. We have to do it ourselves,” Webster said. “This was about placemaking and how we put them in position for the World Cup.”
Webster said the downtown focus was intentional because many World Cup activities will be centered there. Still, she said the goal is not only to serve visitors during the tournament. The program could become an economic development tool that helps Kansas City attract and retain small businesses and artists during future major events.
Building community through art
Chris Goode, a community leader who owns of Ruby Jean’s Juicery next door, said Wharry’s studio represents the kind of investment that can continue to matter after the World Cup ends. He said art has always been part of how he thinks about community, healing and business.
“Art is healing and this is a community in desperate need of healing,” Goode said. “Art, to me, is one of the conduits to a healthier existence.”
Goode said his relationship with Wharry began before the Open Doors program. She has popped up at different events and had art featured in his space over the years. To him, the new studio is part of a natural progression and an extension of Black art already being supported along Troost.
Rachel Audsley, a business and community development officer for Mazuma, said she heard about the opening through the KC Chamber website and came because Mazuma supports the arts and recently opened a branch near 31st and Troost. She described the studio as a warm and inviting place that could draw more people into the area.
“I would say it’s very posh and kind of a cute space,” Audsley said. “Come down because there are awesome activities that she’s got and it’s a really nice, homey space. It has a very cozy feeling.”
Wharry said the soft opening helped confirm the risk she has taken. She quit her job to commit fully to the studio, and said seeing people come through the door made the work feel real after weeks of preparing the space with help from her mother.
Now, Wharry is focused on building the studio into a place where people can create, connect and see art as something accessible. She is also thinking beyond the six-month lease, whether that means continuing in the space, finding another location or one day pursuing residencies in other cities.
“I’m in this space,” Wharry said. “I’m doing what I love and I think I am doing good at it, so I think everything will be OK.”
This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 3:57 PM.
