Julius Karash

Julius A. Karash is a freelance writer, editor and public relations person. He formerly was a business reporter for the Kansas City Star and executive editor of KC Business magazine. He devours business and economic news, and is keenly interested in the relationship between arts and economic development in the Kansas City area.

Kansas City Symphony’s Free Outdoor Concerts Bring Classical Music to a Metro-Wide Audience

Folks who seldom get together did just that when Kansas City Symphony musicians gave a free concert on the city’s east side Oct. 3. The event, one of a series of free fall outdoor concerts launched in response to COVID-19 social distancing guidelines, took place in the parking lot of Community Builders of Kansas City, […]

January 11, 2021
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KCI Public Art Selection Process Takes Another Step Forward with Naming of Diverse Panel

With an eye toward diversity and inclusion, the first public art selection panel for the Kansas City International Airport single terminal project has been chosen by the Municipal Art Commission (MAC). The panelists are: Bill Gautreaux, art collector Bruce Hartman, executive director and chief curator, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art Cory Imig, artist, arts administrator […]

December 3, 2020
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Nelson-Atkins Lays Off 36 Employees Prompting Pushback

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art’s recent decision to lay off 36 employees, including photography curator Jane L. Aspinwall, ignited a controversy that has inflamed the Kansas City art world. The museum announced October 21 that it was trimming its staff by 15 percent and reducing its budget by 25 percent, to about $26 million, due to the “debilitating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

November 23, 2020
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Former Kansas City Star Building’s Plan for Art and Arts Festival Draw Mixed Reviews

Amid the heartbreaking artistic and economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing redevelopment of the old Kansas City Star building has been a bright spot. Developer Vince Bryant of 3D Development has been forging ahead with a $98 million conversion of the historic structure at 18th and Grand into a mixed-use development known as […]

October 29, 2020
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Artists and Developers Blaze Innovative Trails in the Quest for Affordable Studio Space

Rising rents often lead artists into a peripatetic existence, and Don Wilkison is no exception. Wilkison, a Kansas City artist known by the pseudonym “Minister of Information,” was settling into a new studio at the end of June. Located in a renovated building at 32nd Street and Gillham Road, it is the latest of several spaces Wilkison has labored in during the past year.

September 30, 2020
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‘Fighting the Good Fight’

Arts organizations, long accustomed to bolstering the public’s morale during tough times, have been shouldering their own share of suffering amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The seemingly relentless wrath of COVID has shut down venues, cancelled performances, suspended programs and put the kibosh on fundraising galas.

September 1, 2020
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