KC is home to world-class arts & culture. Help The Star redesign how we cover it
When I moved from New York to Kansas City during the pandemic, I repeatedly told my friends and co-workers that I was excited to move back to be closer to family. But also because I knew KC had the fine arts, food scene, entertainment and cultural experiences that I look for in places I call home.
Kansas City’s moniker as the “Paris of the Plains” rose to prominence in the early 1900s when journalists compared the city’s booming nightlife scene, due to looser laws on prohibition, and the system of boulevards and fountains to those of the City of Lights.
Even as it has grown and changed over the last 100 years, Kansas City’s reputation as a hub for arts and culture endures. The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, BBC, and Travel + Leisure have all named Kansas City a must-visit destination in recent years.
It is no surprise. The Kansas City region is home to more than 3,000 unique cultural assets, according to the nonprofit ArtsKC. That includes artists of all kinds, venues, community theaters and more.
Museums like the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, the National WWI Museum and the Rabbit hOle interactive children’s museum welcome visitors from around the world. The Kansas City Ballet is one of the largest and most acclaimed companies in the United States, according to the Dance Data Project. The Kauffman Center, home to the KC Symphony, is an iconic piece of our skyline. Jazz history was made and maintained in the 18th and Vine cultural district. The list goes on and on.
But if you are a regular reader of The Star, you may find coverage of our region’s robust arts and cultural experiences a little lacking.
In recent years we have turned our attention to redesigning coverage of local government and increasing the accountability journalism we publish. We asked you for input on the types of local journalism that matters to you, and your feedback informed changes we made.
We’ve also been experimenting with amping up food coverage through our Let’s Dish series and newsletter, increasing coverage of restaurant openings and closings, covering concerts through fans’ eyes and with increased visuals, and sharing stories about unique arts and culture events that celebrate the diversity of our region.
Now, we want to hear more from you. Our goal is to bring Kansas City’s world-class arts, entertainment, food and cultural opportunities to more people.
We’re not interested in recreating the arts and culture section of the past. But instead focused on building sustainable coverage of this community for readers to enjoy for years to come.
We want to help make understanding and engaging with arts and culture in our city more accessible. We want to help educate Kansas Citians on how they can experience the arts with an informed view. We want to highlight the artists, creators and cultural ambassadors that make Kansas City a robust and unique place to live. We aim to help our friends and neighbors know how to find incredible and affordable cultural experiences that help expand their view of our city and the world.
How to share your feedback with The Star
Like our previous community listening projects, there is a survey at the bottom of this article that we encourage you to share your thoughts in.
Your feedback will directly inform the decisions we are making about who, what and how we cover what’s happening in our region, and how The Star should be present in our community.
We read every single email and survey submission that we receive. Over the coming weeks, we will also organize focus groups and conduct interviews with readers, artists and arts organization leaders.
We want to hear from as many Kansas City area residents as possible — it is important that the diversity of our community be reflected in the residents involved in this community listening project.
Our commitment to you
The goal of this listening project is for you, our community, to have a seat at the table as we work together to create essential, sustainable and impactful coverage of Kansas City’s arts, entertainment, food and cultural experiences.
That may mean changing how many reporters are assigned to cover particular communities in our coverage area, what issues or topics our reporters are covering, whose voices are prioritized in our reporting, or the types of events and partnerships we help facilitate.
We’re committed to sharing our progress along the way. You’ll hear about what we are learning from the community, and you’ll start to see our coverage shift and change as we go through this process. We’ll continue to listen to your feedback as we make changes, which means you’ll probably see our coverage continue to change over time.
Our community is growing and changing, and we want our coverage of the metro to reflect that.
How you can get involved
We’ve included a short form at the bottom of this article with some questions. Please indicate on the form if you’d be open to participating in an interview or a focus group for this listening project there. Please include your contact information so we can follow up with you.
This article is published outside of our paywall. We encourage you to share it widely with others in your community.
If you have questions about this project, please reach out to Hannah Wise, our assistant managing editor for engagement & experimentation, by email at hwise@kcstar.com.
If the survey below is not showing up in your browser, please try to use this direct link.
