(air whooshing) (delightful music) (upbeat music) - Local 627 Musicians Union was founded March 2nd, 1917.

So the Mutual Musicians Foundation, as we know it now, is adaptation of the union post segregation era.

And just since 1917, it's been a place where musicians are able to address their business concerns, do contracts and most importantly, just socialize and fraternize amongst each other and develop skills and teach and learn from each other.

That's what has been since the beginning and that's what remains now.

And in 1979, I believe, it was designated on the registry of historic places and then in 1981, it was designated a national historic landmark, making it the first national historic landmark in Kansas City, Missouri.

Kansas City is an internationally recognized place for music, especially jazz.

So I think that's kind of just a little secret that we have that we really don't promote.

So I think as far as pushing us forward, if we took more advantage of that, I think Kansas City, as a whole, as an arts community, would benefit greatly.

(delightful music) - All right.

(delightful music) ♪ Going to Kansas City ♪ Kansas City here I come ♪ I'm going to Kansas City ♪ Kansas City here I come ♪ I'm here I'm here ♪ Because a pretty little baby's name ♪ ♪ I'm gonna give you one ♪ I'm standing on the corner ♪ Eight to the fan ♪ I was standing on the corner ♪ 12th Street and back ♪ With a Kansas City baby and a bottle of Illinois wine ♪ - Everybody has their own niche.

Everybody has something that they like to do.

But the one thing that we fail to realize is that art is a common language.

It's this thing that, in some way, shape or form, we can all relate to.

(delightful music) I started in Youth Synergy's Transitional Living Program.

So it was pretty much I was homeless at the time and I needed somewhere to stay.

So they have an 18-month program where youth can come in and pretty much live here for that full 18-month period.

Synergy, here at the time, offered photography classes.

And I used to just watch it, like sit over in the art space and just watch them do it.

But after time passed, I let my anxiety go and actually stepped in and decided to go ahead and try it out.

When it's just your music and yourself and you just have this camera in your hand, it's like, you don't really have nothing but a choice to just kind of like, look through this lens, going with the vibe of the music and you just start capturing all these pictures.

And with being at Synergy at that time, it was difficult 'cause it was just like, I'm in this technically considered homeless right now and they helped me to be able to go where I needed to go.

So like they would take me to the zoo, they would take me to the park, like I would be in here and some of 'em would just sit in here with me, like in the art space and you're overwhelmed and a staff will just come in here, see that you're drawing or coloring and join you.

And then that's how they kind of use that way to ease into a conversation to see what's wrong, to be able to, once you feel more comfortable and just walk through my pictures with me or give me critique that they think or anything like that.

(delightful music) It started with this photo.

That was my very first photo at that.

Like my first photo that I sold as well.

Like it was just like, that was my photo.

That photo has been in the mayor's office.

That photo has been in Casey Bisco Downtown.

Like, that photo has ventured into so many different places and it just shows all the different paths that it can take.

Like, it's a photo that shows a path that has led me on different paths.

So it just shows me that growth and I think that's why I hold onto my photography is because it shows me where I started and where I am now.

I honestly don't think that I would've reached the heights that I have reached if I didn't have that open expression, being here to have all the connections that I need to try all the different things that I would like to try 'cause not everybody gets to try clay, nobody gets to try paint.

Certain things it's just, if your parents or whoever might be stopping you, aren't going to allow you to get to that point.

But here, it's like you don't really have that barrier and you can just be free.

And who knows what it can turn into?

(somber music) - Spinning Tree Theater was founded in 2010 and for the first nine years, we operated as a professional actors equity theater company.

And in the summer of 2019, we produced "Starlight Express" in partnership with variety of the children's charity of greater Kansas City.

(delightful music) That summer was one of the most rewarding experiences for everybody because what we were doing is trying to establish an environment where everybody was welcome, everybody had opportunities to perform, to rehearse a play together, to collaborate, to learn about how we are, in many ways, the same and then learn about our differences and how we can come together and work together.

- [Narrator] And then one rainy spring morning, someone came.

- Good morning.

- Good morning, madam.

How may I help you today?

- Well, I was looking for something for my daughter, a special friend.

- Ah!

I see.

I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for.

This one here is...

This beauty here is quite popular.

- She's lovely.

But I was hoping for something a little more unique.

- I understand.

This one right here is one of a kind, the maker never repeats himself.

- She is beautiful, but I don't know.

Perhaps a doll isn't right.

Perhaps I should think about it a little more.

- Madam- - Thank you for your time.

- If I may, I have one more thing to show you.

This one's not a doll, but perhaps he is what you're looking for.

He is not new, but he is exquisitely made and masterfully restored.

Ah!

The rabbit intrigues you, I see.

- [Edward] I know you.

Why do I know you?

Who are you?

- A memory came to Edward.

A memory of a little girl that had grown into a woman.

- My watch.

Abilene.

- Edward?

- Yes, Edward, that's my name.

- Edward!

- It's me.

(somber music) - The open, Solomon, can you play louder when you come in?

- [Solomon] Yeah.

- And Cameron, if you can slow down, slow down a little bit, your words are kind of running into the end and loud.

- Okay.

- We need to hear you more, project more.

- Okay.

- Okay?

- Sometimes they kind of get really close to gather the words and you lose them a little bit and sometimes I'm sort of noticing we might work on a couple.

Sometimes I notice sometimes you drop the end of your sentences instead of lift them up.

So sometimes just kind of go this and wither out.

So we're gonna talk about that a little bit, I think.

- Okay.

- Beautiful work.

- The last summer show that I did, I was God, which was pretty crazy in "Children Of Eden".

That was a very high up position that I was like, oh!

Okay.

But it was super fun.

I didn't think I would ever be able to get a lead role, but Spinning Tree gave me the opportunity, which was amazing.

I was super nervous at first.

I mean, I think anyone is when they're joining like a new activity or a new space or a new organization, but I would just like to say that the people involved in theater are some of the coolest, nicest, like most accepting people ever.

Obviously, I look different and it's hard to see someone in a wheelchair and include them.

But the minute I walked in the door here at Spinning Tree, I felt accepted and included and I've made some of my best friends here.

- "Scars And Stripes" was born out of a lot of time to think about the racial revolution that was happening in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.

And I was looking for beauty, desperately looking for beauty in the situation 'cause I was so sad and there was not a lot of hope to be had in those early months of the pandemic.

And so in my feverish search for beauty in the situation and for some light and for the silver lining, I spent a lot of time researching my family history and discovered an article written about my most recent enslaved ancestor.

My great, great, great grandmother, Alice Gillum Scott, who was born in 1859 and lived beyond her 100th year in 1959, which also happens to be the year that my father was born.

And to know that my dad was born in a world where people who had been enslaved were still alive, it just really blew my mind and really made it very close to home when I had been able to be hidden inside of not only the stage, but also in a world where there's lots of entertainment and like that was kind of traveling the world and all these things.

And so it wasn't until then that I really took time to spend thinking about her, her face, her personality, her likes her dislikes and it transformed my relationship to this country, my relationship to my family and that song is just the beginning of what that exploration will be.

(delightful music) ♪ Land of the free ♪ Home of the brave ♪ Some grown obscure to see ♪ They forgot to mention ♪ Despite good intentions ♪ 400 years and ain't much changed ♪ ♪ They tell the story of American glory but ♪ ♪ The dream that end away ♪ Scars and scars and scars and stripes forever ♪ ♪ Scars and scars and scars and stripes forever ♪ ♪ And you can think I should forgive and forget ♪ ♪ But I haven't even started the healing yet ♪ ♪ Just scars and scars and scars and stripes forever ♪ (delightful music) ♪ The world is watching ♪ And still we're marching ♪ On the lens that we're portrayed ♪ ♪ My body matters ♪ My heart is shattered ♪ But I'll keep singing anyway ♪ To tell the story of American glory ♪ ♪ But they won't wash our part away ♪ ♪ Scars and scars and scars and stripes forever ♪ ♪ Scars and scars and scars and stripes forever ♪ ♪ You could think I should forgive and forget ♪ ♪ But I haven't even started my healing yet ♪ ♪ Just scars and scars and scars and stripes forever ♪ ♪ Lady Liberty ♪ Your torch shines for me ♪ Hope one day you get to see your people living free ♪ ♪ On that day we'll sing ♪ We're all free to bring the chorus of our voices ♪ ♪ Concurring through humanity (delightful music) (Calvin humming) ♪ Land of the free ♪ Home of the brave ♪ 400 years and aint much changed ♪ When I think about how I got involved in the arts, well, it was, I want to see people benefited through vulnerability and through art and through sharing.

And I've been able to be used as an instrument for that, for most of my life on a weekly basis.

And I take a great deal of responsibility in that kind of call in charge.

And I also take a lot of pleasure in it.

And so everything that I do involving in the arts is kind of through... Is for that end, to see communication and vulnerability and empathy and wanting to see our society become more understanding of one another and a more beautiful and whole place.

(delightful music) - Epic Arts is a community program of community housing of Wyandotte County.

And its purpose is to enliven and celebrate creativity here in KCK.

(delightful music) At Epic Arts and CHTPC, we are firm believers in the power of creative place-making and we believe that art is a pivotal role in building a strong sense of community and pride and identity in a community.

- I really feel like arts education is really important for the human experience.

Epic Clay Studio is a place where people can come and learn how to do all kinds of ceramics.

We have wheels so people can learn how to throw on the pottery wheel.

And then we also do a lot of hand building classes.

So it's kind of a place for any artist or any person at all to come and learn how to grow as a ceramic artist.

With ceramics especially, you get to learn how to go with the flow if things aren't going exactly how you want on the wheel 'cause that's usually how it goes.

You still like end up with something beautiful at the end of the day.

And I think it's just such a cool opportunity to be able to share that with the people that come to our studio.

I've seen so many people grow in so many ways.

Our returning students that have been here for over a year, just seeing how they started and where they are now and it's just such an important place for them.

And I just think it's so cool that we get to share that with the community.

- We begun with our ceramic studio next door and now we have expanded into other programs, including this new gallery space.

We have another gallery space, that's a popup gallery outdoors.

We have a curated Airbnb upstairs, nice fellowship suites and also a park outside that has an outdoor stage.

Our hope is to have this happening in all neighborhoods in Wyandotte County, not just here in the Strawberry Hill neighborhood.

So yeah, that's just, I guess, our vision is to see this grow all over Wyandotte County.

(delightful music) - Base Academy Of Music helps kids start to play musical instrument.

When a child sits down and they have someone work with them and say, I see you, I hear you, you matter and they start working on that, music becomes a tool then that tells that kid that they have worth, they have value, they can go on and succeed in doing amazing things.

There was one time a kid came out of a lesson and he's like, "mom, I hit the drums and music came out."

That just like made me so happy.

- As I was thinking about starting Base Academy Of Music, as I was sitting here thinking, how do you bring music lessons into the city?

A student that I was working with at that time came to me and he's actually told me, he's like, "hey, my mom died and you're the first person I wanted to tell."

And like, that really struck me.

And I knew that his mom was sick.

I knew that this was coming, but for him to come and tell me that, I was like, man, we've been working on "Smoke On The Water".

We're working on little things like that.

And I'm his music teacher, I connect with him emotionally without even trying.

How much more do kids need things like that?

How much more do kids need people in their lives, those outlets for that emotional peace?

And so I think that that was a piece of just taking that responsibility of a music teacher a lot more seriously, was a big aha moment for me.

- [Band Member] One, two, ready, go.

(upbeat music) ♪ Easy taking with me all the time ♪ (upbeat music drowns out singer) ♪ Met at the party now you own my soul ♪ ♪ Don't even think about it say you'll go ♪ ♪ Yeah I I'll do anything that you want me to do yeah ♪ ♪ I I'll do almost anything that you want me to do yeah ♪ ♪ But I can't fall for that ♪ No can do ♪ I can't go for that ♪ No no can do ♪ I can't go for that ♪ No no can do ♪ I can't go for that ♪ Can't go for that ♪ Can't go for that ♪ Can't go for that ♪ I can't go for being twice as nice ♪ ♪ I can't go - Artists in general are plagued by imposter syndrome, like many people, but I feel like artists experience that pretty intensely sometimes.

And you might not feel like you deserve your opportunities or to have the career you have, but getting that community support really does make a world of difference.

(upbeat music) Kind of a universal experience with being a second generation immigrant is that there's a lot of pressure to succeed, financially or with notoriety, your parents sacrifice so much to get you where you are and you want to return the favor, you want to make them proud of you.

And I think for of that reason, it can be pretty difficult for a lot of immigrant parents to support their kids in something that may be a little bit riskier, that might not result in them like, having guaranteed work, guaranteed financial success like art.

I was very lucky to have a mom, who's really my hero, that supported of me.

It was very clear that I wanted to be an artist from a very young age.

So, yeah, she kind of gave me the okay.

She did everything she could to make that happen for me.

I grew up in a community where more people speak Spanish than English.

And then coming here was completely different.

I was in my bubble and I thought everybody in the United States was like that 'cause that's all I knew.

I thought the Hispanics were everywhere and that everybody spoke Spanish.

So it was kind of a unique community that I really had no idea you cannot find anywhere else in the United States.

That's something that I try to kind of put in my work is a little piece of Miami, like the vivid colors and the energy and things like that.

And I think people have been really receptive to that here.

We are in an age where people are interested 'cause that wasn't always the case.

People are interested, they wanna see different things, they wanna experience different things and they wanna know what people's different experiences are.

So, I'm happy to try to depict that as best as I can.

(electrifying music) - Right now we're in our New Frontiers Program here at Behavioral Health, just down the hill from University Health One.

And in this program, we provide a day program for people that experience mental illness so they can live on their own, they have their own apartment, but this gives them some social interaction during the day.

(delightful music) What you're seeing right now are people participating in one of our art therapy groups and they're exploring those things that they might not have been able to verbalize, but they're looking through the lens of art.

And so our trained clinicians are helping them explore their thoughts by engaging them in conversation and questioning them on why they've chosen certain things.

And then in using that to build therapeutic rapport, so that they can explore those issues in deeper detail.

(delightful music) We all have varying levels of talent when it comes to art.

So even if you're not doing it well, the benefit of doing something with your hands and creating something has untold effects on your body and on your wellbeing.

When people are participating in art, when they are are doing art, they're taking their inner world and they're expressing it into the outer world.

And that does some things to your brain and your body.

In your brain, it releases something called dopamine.

That's the happy chemical that makes you feel good.

And so as people are molding clay or painting a picture or picking up a pencil and drawing something, it makes them feel good in that moment and then it makes them continue to feel better.

Art also reduces the amount of cortisol in your body.

So cortisol is what we call the stress hormone.

And when you live in chronic stress, when your body is continually producing cortisol because your stressed out 'cause you've been working too hard or something traumatic has happened to you, it has biological effects on your body.

So it can make you lose your hair, it can make you develop arthritis or osteoporosis.

When I think about programs that include art or maybe other non-traditional means of treatment, often people think of the cost that would be associated with that.

But when I think about the cost, I think about what it would cost us not to provide art and opportunities for expression for people.

If people aren't able to get things that are in their inner world out and express them to others, if they're not able to create, then it has effects on somebody's wellbeing and on their functioning in society.

People are able to contribute more to society when they can contribute freely and creatively.

- The Owen Cox Dance Group was formed back in 2007.

Brad Cox and I formed the company in order to present new music and dance collaborations presented with live music and in collaboration with visual artists, musicians, dancers and other organizations in the arts, here in Kansas City.

(delightful music) I think that the art scene in Kansas City is very vibrant and we feel very fortunate to be a part of that community.

I think that there's a wonderful audience for the arts, people are hungry for the arts.

The arts was one way to help bring people together during the pandemic through videos and more online content.

But now that things are opening back up gradually, being able to experience a performance or a gallery opening or something in person that's a very deep and meaningful way that we can share the human experience.

Many people don't realize the impact that the arts have on our economy in our city and in our region.

So of course, we contract dancers and musicians, performers, but it's much broader than that.

From renting the theater space to having postcards and programs printed at a local printing company to patrons going to restaurants before performances, there's much larger economic impact that is felt in a bigger way than people realize.

So the piece we are sharing with you today is "Inemetso" and the music is by Broms and the dancers are Marion Felistino and Christopher Paige Sanders.

And this work was created in collaboration with the Park University's International Center For Music and they're an incredible program and we love working with their musicians.

The pianist for the piece is Sia Hau Chin and I hope you enjoy it.

It's a piece that's very special to my heart and the dancers do a beautiful job and in bringing the piece to life.

(delightful music) - I get to work with young people and our youth advocates, instructors, work with young people developing their skills.

I guess we call them those soft skills, all through the focus of creative arts.

(delightful music) I think what makes art important is just another avenue for young people to learn how to communicate.

There's so many different versions and fields of art-making.

It's just another form of communication.

And if we start thinking about communication and how we communicate and how we want our young people to communicate and feel good about communication.

So many people out there don't know how to express themselves or don't get the opportunity to have art.

But in some form, is just that opportunity to build our communication skills, build how we see the world and how we're looking at ourselves and the places around us.

It's exciting to get to see what they're thinking about, it's exciting to see what they're gonna tell you about their work.

Maybe they're not using all the big words, but they're definitely telling you about it from their perspective and from that place they're in at that moment.

And it helps us understand if we're actually doing a good job.

If they're feeling good about what they're talking about and they feel confident about what they're talking about and we can see that, it's awesome, it's a great moment.

(delightful music) In addition to just our Northeast location, we have our West Side location.

There, we have our art center that's been there for many years.

And then we have our now brand new cultural center as well.

(delightful music) (tap dance shoes clanking) - So the mission of the community college is really all about access, access to education and in our department, access to the performing arts.

So whether it's taking a teaching artist, like we had recently, that went out to work with teachers to actually teach them how to integrate the performing arts into their classrooms, into their curriculum.

- So as I go through this, I can set the rules right away, right?

We're gonna be in control of our bodies.

We're gonna be in control of our voices.

We're gonna be using our imaginations a great deal.

See yourself doing something you love, open your eyes.

We're gonna be focused and concentrated on task.

And lastly, we're all gonna work together in a cooperative way.

(delightful music) Keep it going.

(delightful music) Get ready to find your ending shape in five, four, three, two, one.

And hold your ending shape, look around the room, beautifully done, everybody.

The stickiest learning is audio, visual and kinesthetic.

When we can put all three together, that's the best way.

So are you using your audio?

You're listening, right?

Visual?

Yes, you're watching and kinesthetic.

We got 'em all going, right?

And I can add in terminology.

Let's do it one more time and notice the terminology I'm gonna use.

Let's go back to solid.

And now I'm going to melt you into a liquid.

So now I'm working with the idea of what is melting.

And then I'm going to evaporate you, evaporate you into a gas.

(delightful music) And then I'm gonna ask you to condense back into a liquid.

And then I'm gonna ask you to freeze into a solid.

Exactly.

Well done, that looked great.

- By the same token, we love to take the professional performing artists that come here and perform on our stages, out into the community to work with students in dance studios, or community centers or schools so that they can interact with those professionals and really learn from them.

So for example, Trinity Irish Dance is with us right now and they went out into the community to the Driscoll School Of Irish Dance and worked with 12 or 13 of their senior students to really kind of share with them techniques, dance moves, things that these professionals have learned in performing all over the place and kind of introduce that experience to the students and give them a look at what it's like to be a professional dancer.

(floorboard clanking) - [Instructor] Nice job.

- That was really good.

Okay, ready?

Five, six, ready, go.

(floorboard clanking) - Okay, so that's good.

(floorboard clanking) Good!

- And you'll see a lot of the work that puts the females up front, that's something that's very important to us, that Irish dancers or just dancers in general, are seeing that strength represented on stage.

So I want you to feel that power that you have in your feet when you yell.

So the yell is like (groans).

It's like a war cry.

So everybody try it, it'll feel silly.

Just go for it.

One, two, three.

(all groaning) Oh!

We could do better than that.

One, two, three.

(all groaning) You're gonna do that with your hands.

So really keep it in.

Making sure your right and your left are making the same amount of sound.

(floorboard banging) We're gonna add- (floorboard banging drowns out speaker) Right, right, right, left.

Right, left, right, right, left, right.

- So and that is kind of the ultimate culmination for me of helping fulfill that community college mission of access to the performing arts, to arts education and helping people in the community feel that they have a place here on campus that they belong and that they feel comfortable and that they can feel a part of something that's really a lot of fun and they might learn something in the process.

(delightful music) - Content at the Kansas City Museum is heavy.

We aim to tell the untold stories of Kansas City's history.

And I think we do that very boldly and inclusively, accurately and telling the whole story is how we believe that we can get to healing.

(delightful music) The decision was made early on, acknowledging that artists play a vital role in our city and they have in our history, they do today, they will in the future.

And we knew that in order to create a museum that celebrates Kansas City's history and its cultural heritage, that we had to have a conversation about the role of art and artists.

- Think about something of this sort and you're growing an institution like this, you want your patrons to come in and just stop for a moment and enjoy that experience.

So when you step on these grounds and you see the beauty around you, there's a lot of history here.

And then you come in and you're greeted with these unbelievable pieces of work.

- [Anna] So I think our approach to engaging artists on the design side was actually very new for the city.

How we did the selection process for 1%, instead of doing a request for proposals, we did a request for qualifications.

We spent time working with those artists to develop their concepts.

So that was new for the city.

And my hope is that the city continues to work with artists on many design projects, not just for museums and cultural institutions, but even for infrastructure projects, roads and bridges.

Having an artist part of your team and bringing that sense of space and design and creative vision and creative problem solving is so vital and many, many cities do that.

And I would like to see Kansas City fully embrace doing that with artists.

- All of these amazing beginnings that spirited outward into the world.

Imagine being in Paris, the Chancelezar and you're having a conversation at lunch and you hear someone playing and you turn around and it's Herman Mahari.

He's from Kansas City.

Or James Reese Europe took jazz to Europe in World War One during that time.

We have that monument here.

So I think we have some... We have an opportunity to celebrate, however, to also be celebrated.

And that's huge.

It's very important.

(delightful music) - So my name is Vi Tran, I was born in the shadow of Saigon, Vietnam and raised in the cattle country of Southwestern Kansas.

I came to this country with my mother and my father and my sister, and the four of us came here with the clothes on our backs and $20 that a missionary gave to us and we built from there.

I am a preacher's kid and the son of butchers.

I'm equal parts sea salt and wheat fields and I'm a storyteller, but I really believe that the arts help give a city its identity, that certain flavor, that rasa is a term that I love, that means flavor.

And Kansas city has such a unique flavor because of the arts scene here and all of the generative artists that help make up this ecosystem, as far as cost of living, centrally located, all of those factors make it a really, really wonderful place to live as an artist.

And we always kind of have to fight the attrition of like, oh!

So and so started off in Kansas City and they moved out elsewhere.

And so I say, love your artists, love your artists here because we love you and we're creating and sharing stories for you because we're your neighbors and we know your stories and you know ours and we wanna have those conversations with you.

Yeah, so.

- You're better, John.

There you go.

(delightful music) ♪ There's something wrong ♪ There's something off ♪ We have no words ♪ You're so tight lipped ♪ I'm running my mouth ♪ This is so absurd (delightful music) ♪ How can you make ♪ Me feel so alive ♪ I just make you tired ♪ There's too much ground ♪ To cover up ♪ Our landmines are wise ♪ But they don't know me ♪ They don't know you (delightful music) ♪ There's something wrong ♪ There's something off ♪ I can't cry it lose ♪ You got your secret smiles and frowns ♪ ♪ I found me the truth ♪ I know a place ♪ Restore is achieved ♪ I think I'll go down ♪ The black tide rode ♪ To Sherlock unknown ♪ They like me in Rome ♪ But they don't know me ♪ And they don't know you ♪ And they don't know me ♪ And they don't know you ♪ They know sad songs ♪ So it's cool to hear to them ♪ Here's to me here's to you ♪ They know sad songs ♪ So it's here so here's to them ♪ ♪ Here's to me ♪ Here's to you ♪ They don't know me ♪ They don't know you (delightful music) ♪ They don't know me ♪ They don't know you (delightful music) ♪ They don't know me ♪ They don't know me ♪ They don't know you ♪ They don't know me ♪ They don't know me ♪ And they don't know you ♪ They know sad songs ♪ So it's here so here's to them ♪ ♪ Here's to me ♪ Here's to you ♪ They know sad songs ♪ And so it's me so here's to them ♪ ♪ Here's to me ♪ Here's to you ♪ Here's to them ♪ Here's to me ♪ Here's to them ♪ Here's to you ♪ Here's to them ♪ Here's to me ♪ Here's to you (delightful music) ♪ They don't know me ♪ And they don't know you (delightful music)