University leaders gathered on the east side of the Olson Performing Arts Center on Wednesday to break ground on Phase 1 of the construction of the new 35,000-square-foot, $41 million conservatory expansion on the campus of the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
C. Mauli Agrawal, chancellor of the University of Missouri–Kansas City, said this day has been decades in the making.
“We're not simply adding square footage to the Olson Performing Arts Center, we are expanding a home where talent is discovered, nurtured and shared with the world,” he said. “This milestone reflects years of vision, persistence and generosity from university and community leaders who understand what the UMKC Conservatory means to you, to Kansas City, and who never stopped believing in a dreams of a bigger, better facility for students and faculty.”
Courtney Crappell, dean of the UMKC Conservatory, said the expansion and renovation project will be transformative across the music, dance and theater departments, and will provide greater opportunities to students in the performing arts.
“This really is a new chapter for us,” Crappell said. “It's the physical and metaphorical foundation as we springboard into this new age, and it could not be more important than right at this time.”
A training ground for the next generation
University leaders say the new addition will create a modern environment to prepare young performers for a life in Kansas City’s arts community.
“Arts organizations like the Symphony, the Kansas City Ballet, the KC Repertory Theater, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City — not everyone knows this, but they have their roots in our faculty or our alumni,” Crappell said. “This new expansion to the performing arts center is really where that next generation of the workforce will be trained.”
The new light-filled glass addition will include a large music rehearsal and performance space, two dance rehearsal rooms and a state-of-the-art black box theater.
The facility, designed by Helix Architecture + Design, will move the current black box theater from its location in the basement of the performing arts center to a more prominent space on the ground floor of the new building. The black box theater will complement the conservatory’s existing White Recital Hall and Spencer Theatre to create a “theater district” on the university campus.
Colin Vorbeck, interim chair of the theater division, said the black box theater and rehearsal spaces will serve students in exciting new ways.
“These are the laboratories where the students and faculty are working,” he said. “We outgrew them a long time ago, and so this is a significant step forward really for the entire conservatory.”
The black box theater has some of the most innovative additions in the entire project. They will integrate enhanced sound and lighting technology, including digital projection.
“This new black box space is going to be a veritable playground for students studying scenic costume, sound media, lighting and stage management,” Vorbeck said. “It's going to challenge our stage managers to be able to tell their stories in unique ways.”
The next phase
Phase 2 of the project will include the renovation of the conservatory’s current facilities and White Recital Hall. The reconstruction will create more classrooms, theater spaces and a central hub for student resources and collaboration.
One of the conservatory’s challenges has been accommodating all of the classes, lessons and ensemble rehearsals with only one large rehearsal space. Building upgrades will allow the spaces to be used in flexible ways, creating more possibilities for special events and performances.
Chris Hayes, chair of the music division, said the changes will be transformative.
“New and updated spaces function better and they are great for morale,” Hayes said. “We have already started a process to revise our whole curriculum, because it's going to be that much of a game changer for us.”
The expansion plans are expected to include additional opportunities for Kansas City area educators and students from across the metro. Planned offerings include summer camps, after-school programming and master classes offered by conservatory faculty.
The expansion and renovation is expected to attract new talent and boost enrollment, particularly in the dance and theater programs. Enrollment in those two divisions is currently limited by the amount of classroom, rehearsal and performance space available.
The expanded footprint will allow the university to admit more students in both programs. Conservatory leadership anticipates that the new expansion could increase enrollment by up to 40%.
DeeAnna Hiett, chair of the dance division, said improved rehearsal and performance spaces should attract students of dance.
“We already are in competition with Fordham University and Juilliard,” Hiett said. “This past year, we lost a dancer who went to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, so I think this is going to put us up there and give us stronger recruiting.”
Hiett said the addition will give her students a chance to grow their talents as well as open up possibilities for hosting dance festivals and conferences.
“It's going to be great to get out of the basement and have a window,” Hiett said. “We're down here dancing with cinderblock walls in a basement, so it's just going to be a much brighter, more exciting environment for the faculty, students, and guest artists that come in.”
Paving the way for local partnerships
The conservatory’s expansion has also paved the way for more formalized partnerships with Kansas City Actors Theatre, Unicorn Theatre and The Coterie. Crappell said the new agreements announced in early September will give students hands-on professional experience both on stage and in production fields.
Crappell said the collaborations will help students build their craft, professional networks and their careers while contributing to Kansas City’s theater community.
“What we do is strengthen that human connection through the arts, but the building is where it starts, so this is a bet we're making on our future,” Crappell said. “It's going to change the next 50 years of the activity that happens in this building that invites the community into it, and that spills across the entire city.”
UMKC’s plans to invest in the expansion of the conservatory have faced setbacks over the years. The idea to expand and modernize the department was first raised in 2011 by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, which included a downtown facility as one of its Big 5 Ideas. UMKC officials raised nearly $48 million for the project by 2017, anticipating matching state funds.
The Missouri Legislature approved, but then-Gov. Eric Greitens vetoed state funding, derailing the project. In 2018, the project lost a $20 million pledge from the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation. In September of that year, UMKC officials announced they were scrapping the idea of a new facility downtown and narrowed their scope to proposals within a 2.5-mile radius of the Volker campus.
UMKC has not announced a date for the completion of the conservatory’s expansion.
Editor's note: KCUR 89.3 is licensed to the University of Missouri Board of Curators and is an editorially independent community service of the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
