Paseo Academy of Fine And Performing Arts (www.facebook.com/kcpspaseo)
Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts marks its 35th anniversary
An art community is only as strong as its most vulnerable members. In the case of Kansas City, they are children from our most disadvantaged communities.
A crown jewel of Kansas City Public Schools, the Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts stands as a “Repairer of the Breach,” doing its part to provide a gateway for young, urban artists to live their artistic dreams.
This fall marks the 35th Anniversary of the school’s opening.
Created as part of a billion-dollar plan to desegregate Kansas City Public Schools resulting from the landmark 1977 Jenkins v. Kansas City Missouri School District federal lawsuit, the journey began on March 30, 1989, when District Court Judge Russell Clark entered an order to close and demolish the legendary Paseo High School, along with its iconic stone towers. On Oct. 23, 1990, a massive crowd of Paseo alumni from decades back, crossing lines of race and social status, gathered to watch the demolition of their alma mater.
What has arisen from the rubble is an artistic eagle whose wings of aesthetic influence spread wide over Kansas City and the entire Midwest.
For the first several years of Paseo Academy, instruction was delivered at the old West High School, which was slated for permanent closure. During this time, the original Paseo High School was torn down, and a brand-new building was constructed with art galleries, theaters, a full-size gymnasium, classrooms designed specifically for art instruction, and an architectural design that would make Frank Lloyd Wright drool.
Dr. Dennis Walker, retired principal and independent art education consultant, worked as a teacher at Paseo during its formative years and returned years later as principal.
“The new facility was overwhelmingly beautiful with two professional dance studios, three theaters, five art studios, and a state-of-the art professional art gallery,” Walker said. “I was in awe of the perfectly designed architecture conducive to professional instruction in the arts — dance, theater, theater tech, vocal/instrumental music, creative writing, visual arts, and fashion/costume design.”
It was on Dr. Walker’s first day in this building that he set a major career goal.
“I knew on the first day that one day I would be back as principal. I stood in the front rotunda and declared/spoke my dream. ‘I will be back as principal.’”
Jessica Manco, award-winning artist and educator, is one of the school’s success stories. A 1994 alumnus of Paseo Academy, she has gone on to plant herself firmly in the fertile soil of Kansas City’s art consciousness.
“I graduated in 1994 with a full ride scholarship to Cooper Union in New York City and returned to teach painting and drawing for four years with another alumnus, Elaina Michalski, after our former teachers Rusty Newton and Kathy Mendenhall retired,” Manco said. “I am currently in an exhibition at the Nelson-Atkins with three of my former students from Paseo.”
A big part of Paseo’s success has been its partnerships with organizations ranging from The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art to The Alvin Ailey Dance Company. Students have been visited by iconic figures such as artistic luminary Benny Andrews, jazz legend Jay McShann and the late beloved Ida MacBeth.
“I was also able to work with established artists like Jim Leedy, Hugh Merrill and many others that partnered with our school,” Manco said.
“A large portion of Paseo’s impact is the benevolent nature in which it has operated,” she added. “When I taught there, from 2002 to 2016, there were countless outreach and community service projects and events. It’s not surprising that public service and education are paths that many Paseo alumni have chosen.”
One of them is Heather Lay, a 1999 graduate. “My art now comes in the form of blankets,” Lay said. “I make them and give them away to people who need warmth. I help homeless people dealing with the harshness in life.”
Rodrigo Alvarez and Isaac Tapia, 2007 graduates, are a team of Paseo alumni known for their vibrant murals across the city.
“Paseo has been the rock I’ve built my career around,” said Alvarez. “I had been exposed to every artistic discipline even when my interest was in the visual arts only. My memories of the space are painted by music in the halls, spoken word recited in passing as we walked to our next class, dance battles during lunch . . . I would not be in the art field had it not been for Paseo Academy or its instructors.”
Paseo’s programs include all the standard offerings of a visual and performing arts institution, including painting, dance, orchestra and more. What is not standard are the awards and accolades that Paseo alumni have earned.
Four-time Grammy Award-winning songwriter, composer and performer Brian Kennedy is an alum of Kansas City’s Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts. Kennedy has worked with a wide range of musicians, from Frank Ocean to Jennifer Hudson to Kelly Clarkson. In true Paseo fashion, he has also formed a non-profit that works with young musicians.
Not only has being a Paseo alumni served students well, but it has also served teachers and staff well. Several instructors, such as Clarence Smith, left their footprint at Paseo before moving over to the post-secondary level and passing their classrooms to the next generation. Smith currently teaches jazz performance at Penn Valley Community College.
Another alumnus, Stanley Banks, is now the artist-in-residence at Avila University. As he states on the college website, “As Avila’s Artist-in-Residence, my main objective is to bring visibility to the university’s Creative Writing emphasis in the English major.”
Paseo success stories abound and reverberate through Kansas City. Nicole Collier White, the Kansas City Public Schools’ chief communications and community engagement officer, aptly summarized the school’s contribution as “a vital asset to Kansas City Public Schools and the greater Kansas City community, enriching the cultural landscape and producing strong alumni who contribute to the city’s thriving arts scene.
