“Dream for KC Studio” was the label Christopher Leitch put on his images for this issue’s Artist Pages, featuring his captivating “Dream Drawings.” As it turned out, Leitch’s emailed tags captured an underlying theme of the July/August KC Studio, which is filled with stories about people who are chasing and realizing their dreams, from Spinning Tree Theatre directors Andy Parkhurst and Michael Grayman to Classical Revolution founders Nick and Alyssa Bell.
This month’s “Honors” column features painter and retired art teacher Carol Zastoupil, whose work is beginning to appear in museum collections and shows.
Our “Artist to Watch” is mezzo-soprano Samantha Gossard, who realized every opera singer’s dream when she appeared on the stage of The Metropolitan Opera in New York as a national semifinalist.
In this issue’s feature section, KC Studio’s literary specialist, Kathie Kerr, demystifies the self-publishing world for aspiring authors, and speaks to more than a half dozen local writers who have achieved success, both in print and digitally.
As part of our lead story on the internationally acclaimed KC-based Zahner Co., Julius Karash highlights the new role of Sean Kelley at the firm. Kelley, a former co-director of Grand Arts and one of Kansas City’s most skilled art impresarios, is once again living his dream of putting artists and projects together.
Perhaps no one has worked harder to make his dream come true than Tivoli Theatre founder, Jerry Harrington. In our story, “Against All Odds,” film critic Bob Butler chronicles the challenges and triumphs marking Harrington’s more than three decades in art film exhibition.
This issue is filled with reports of new bricks and mortar projects that represent the dreams of some of Kansas City’s leading cultural organizations. They include Kansas City Young Audiences, the National World War I Museum and Memorial, the Kansas City Art Institute, Union Station and Avila University. Thanks to generous donors, all have significant additions or expansions planned, as outlined in Julius Karash’s Business and the Arts column.
Looking to dreams realized on the state and national level, Susan Schmelzer reports on the successes of recent grassroots advocacy efforts, including increased funding for the Missouri Arts Council, and the inclusion of arts education in the curriculum of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, passed in December 2015.
Adding an “A” for the “Arts,” the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) curriculum is now STEAM!
Welcome Robert Trussell
This summer, KC Studio is pleased to welcome noted theater critic Robert Trussell as a regular contributor. Trussell, who began posting online theater reviews at www.kcstudio.org in June, is an award-winning journalist who has covered news, arts and theater in Kansas City for almost four decades. He will also contribute to the magazine’s print publication.
Trussell joins KC Studio following 26 years as the theater critic for The Kansas City Star. Earlier in his career at the Star he covered movies, music, culture, city government and hard news.
Trussell’s online reviews for KC Studio launched June 5 with coverage of Heathers: The Musical, at the Unicorn Theater. Also in June, he posted reviews of Parade at the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre and the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival’s Twelfth Night. Later in the summer Trussell will review the Kansas City International Theatre Festival and the Kansas City Actors Theatre’s I’m Not Rappaport.
The September/October issue of KC Studio magazine will feature an in-depth “Critic’s Picks” by Trussell, spotlighting the theater season’s most promising productions.
Design News
For this issue of KC Studio we were pleased to have the expertise of Mike Baugher, a Kansas City-based graphic designer who has done work for numerous corporations, small businesses, medical professionals, nonprofit associations and individuals. His portfolio can be viewed at mikebaugher.com.
Baugher filled in while our regular art director, Carrie Brophy, took time to enjoy her added role as new mother to William Conrad Brophy, born April 27. We look forward to welcoming her back for the September/October issue.
