More than 5 thousand people in the Kansas City metropolitan area identify themselves as artists, including musicians, writers, actors and filmmakers. A diverse group of about 125 artists gathered over the weekend at the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center to discuss their priorities, the future of the arts in Kansas City and the role a nationwide program can play, as KCUR's Laura Spencer reports. By Laura Spencer
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Kansas City, MO – More than 5 thousand people in the Kansas City metropolitan area identify themselves as artists, including musicians, writers, actors and filmmakers. A diverse group of about 125 artists gathered over the weekend at the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center to discuss their priorities, the future of the arts in Kansas City and the role a nationwide program can play, as KCUR's Laura Spencer reports.
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Kansas City has been designated one of 14 creative communities across the country by a New York based program called Leveraging Investments in Creativity or LINC, a 10 year initiative to improve conditions for artists. Other cities in the program have focused on entrepreneurship, affordable studio space, and networking. Sam Miller, President of LINC, says the artists' town hall in Kansas City was designed as a means to establish the most pressing issues for this community. Sam Miller: "Because our goal is to build?we are a catalyst, we act through others." The Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City and the Charlotte Street Foundation are co-sponsoring the initiative locally and, at the end of the one year planning process, will present a proposal to the national LINC board. If approved, LINC would distribute a 100, 000 grant over 2 years, which would be matched by locally raised funds. Laura Spencer, KCUR News.