Open Spaces festival is much more than an arts exhibition
The ultimate measure of any great city is quality of life. While quality of life can be evaluated in innumerable ways, availability and access to cultural experiences are always key criteria. Challenging convention, stimulating dialog and exposing beauty; Open Spaces, Kansas City’s first citywide, two-month, multi-medium arts exhibition, provides unprecedented access to virtually all aspects of art — visual, performing and experiential. While the impact to our city and arts economies is substantial, the impact on our collective sense of community is invaluable.
Geographically diverse with all forms of creativity represented, Open Spaces makes art available and accessible to everyone with over 41 unique contemporary art installations located throughout the city representing 10 countries and nine U.S. states, and 10 weekends of theater, dance, music, spoken-word and activities. And, most of what is presented through Open Spaces is free to the public.
Cultural diversity is a key element of Open Spaces with artists, performers and exhibitions representing all corners of the globe. Never has so much opportunity existed to explore our world within our city, and for residents and visitors to explore our city’s history and landscapes through the arts.
Spanning 62 days with hundreds of participating artists, this city-wide exhibition encompasses parks, urban spaces, galleries, performance halls and outdoor stages, with dual focus on visual and performing arts. The natural setting in Swope Park provides open spaces for 13 of the 41 art installations, and every weekend “The Village” in the park comes alive with free, diverse performances of theater, dance, music and poetry as well as workshops, lectures and participatory activities.
From 18th & Vine jazz district to the Crossroads, from 28th & Linwood to the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art — throughout the metropolitan area — local, regional, national and international artists share their work at galleries, performance spaces and museums. Additionally, the “Expanded Field” offers performances and exhibitions by local cultural institutions rounding out representation of Kansas City’s vibrant arts scene.
“The Weekend”, a three-day music festival at Starlight Oct. 12 through 14 will feature headliners Janelle Monae, the Roots, and the Vijay Iyer Sextet, in addition to the McFadden Brothers, the Soul Rebels, Sankofa Danzafro, Red Baraat, DakhaBrakha, Innov Gnawa, the Marcus Lewis Big Band and the Hermon Mehari Quartet.
We have so much to celebrate, discover and discuss. We share a city rich in culture, diversity and inclusion. Open Spaces offers unprecedented opportunity to explore, experience and enjoy all that the arts have to offer. To learn more, visit OpenSpacesKC.com, download the app or pick-up a program. But most of all come see and be a part of Open Spaces 2018 — a Kansas City Arts experience.
This story was originally published September 4, 2018 at 2:10 PM.