Lee’s Summit Arts Center Draws a Crowd
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On the drawing board, the MCC-Longview Cultural Arts Center was designed to be an arts and entertainment venue as well as a community safety facility. In reality, it’s proving to be those things and many more.
The 18,500-square-foot center opened in October 2008, with part of its $6 million cost borne by grant monies from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Project Impact: Building Disaster-Resistant Communities program. If storm clouds gather the center can swing into its other role, that of emergency shelter.
“Thankfully, we have not had to use the facility as a tornado shelter yet, although during the fall 2008 semester we did experience high winds in Lee’s Summit and were prepared to move to the Cultural Arts Center, if needed,” says Dr. Beth Lindquist, dean of instructional services.
Its safety features, however, are understandably overshadowed by cultural aspects that include a 185-seat, flexible-format theater, dressing room, scenery and costume workshops, dedicated dance classroom, and lecture and meeting space. There’s also an
art gallery, which along with the theater space is having an impact both on campus and in the surrounding community.
“So far, we have hosted public community concerts and meetings, two art exhibits and have two more exhibits scheduled,” Lindquist says. “We have plans for a public theater performance by one of [Kansas City, Mo.’s] stellar theater companies, and we are in negotiations for a ballet performance as well. Both the theater group and the ballet are planning to offer master classes for our theater, dance and music students, and perhaps a master class for high school students. Our community education unit also has plans to offer non-credit ballet classes.”
In addition to specific performances and exhibits, the center also is being used for more pancultural activities that further tie together the campus and the town.
“During the fall term the CAC provided a backdrop for the Longview Art and World Music Festival, including a student art exhibit focused on multicultural themes,” Lindquist says. “We also have had excellent attendance at our academic theater and music performances. And in October 2008, we had a public performance from a Kansas City Symphony string quartet plus clarinet that was very successful and well attended.”
The center stays busy with these and other functions, including faculty art exhibits and student performances in theater and choral music. And as the building catches on, its calendar will likely get even more crowded.
“As news of the new facility gets around, we are receiving more and more inquiries from potential partners,” Lindquist says. “Groups in the Kansas City metro area are interested in partnerships with us to bring cultural events to eastern Jackson County. That trend is especially evident in the area of children’s programming for the arts.”
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Story by Joe Morris
