In our Beyond Our Borders story on arts and the state line in the Kansas City area, artists and leaders of arts organizations said they believed that the boundary isn't much of a barrier when it comes to the metro's cultural landscape — artists and audiences enthusiastically cross the state line for all sorts of cultural events.
Arts leaders do say the metro needs more public funding for the arts — an idea with a troubled history, given the failure of a bistate cultural tax 10 years ago (Missouri voters approved the proposal; Kansans voted against it). Meanwhile, Kansas City, Mo., and Johnson County, Kan., both have programs that devote 1 percent of the budgets for capital construction projects for public art.
Also, institutions on both sides of the state line have devoted public spaces, such as museum lawns, to outdoor sculptures.
Our recent exploration of arts and the state line suggests that even though Kansas and Missouri have their differences, when it comes to aesthetic sensibilities, they're actually pretty similar. Any doubts? Check the photos above.
This look at the Missouri-Kansas state line is part of KCUR's months-long examination of how geographic borders affect our daily lives in Kansas City. KCUR will go Beyond Our Borders and spark a community conversation through social outreach and innovative journalism.
We will share the history of these lines, how the borders affect the current Kansas City experience and what’s being done to bridge or dissolve them. Be a source for Beyond Our Borders: Share your perspective and experiences on the state line with KCUR.
