Grassroots and growing for over 47 years!

About

The Kansas City Artists Coalition was created to change the lives of artists living in Kansas City, Missouri and the region. On March 5, 1975 a large group of artists gathered in the studio of local artists Philomene Bennett and Lou Marak to address “How the Artist Can Benefit from Centralization.” Overwhelmingly the group felt a self-initiated organization was the only alternative to isolation, elitism, apathy, and ignorance. The ultimate result of that meeting was the incorporation of the Kansas City Artist Coalition in August 1976. The Kansas City Artists Coalition (KCAC or Artists Coalition) is an artist-centered, artist-run alternative space that presents a variety of exhibitions of contemporary artists’ work in its Main Gallery and the Snap Space Gallery.

Mission

The Kansas City Artists Coalition (KCAC) is a nonprofit organization that promotes visual arts awareness in Kansas City and the surrounding region, and supports the professional growth of artists.

  • Foster a climate which encourages innovation and creativity among artists

  • Utilize the collective initiative and creativity of artists for their own benefit

  • Provide a forum for contemporary visual arts through our galleries and publications

  • Champion the work of local artists and increases the viability of Kansas City as a place for artists to live and work

  • Spread the word about the vitality of the arts in Kansas City, Missouri and the region

  • Encourage artists to go forward with their ambitious and innovative ideas, and to seek out peers and mentors in the artists communities across the United States and the world

  • Support artists’ work financially

  • Promote the exchange of ideas

Purpose

Commitment to Inclusion

The Kansas City Artists Coalition (KCAC or the Artists Coalition) is committed to inclusivity and accessibility. KCAC seeks to achieve diversity and cultural equity in its leadership, partners, members, and programs. KCAC seeks to ensure equitable practices within board activity, staffing, training, and communications.

The Artists Coalition carries out its mission with proactive efforts to embrace differences of culture, ethnicity, race, religion, international origin, sexual orientation, physical abilities, socio-economic status, age, and gender.

Land Acknowledgement

Working and collaborating in Kansas City; unceded ancestral land belonging to the Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo), Wazhazhe (Osage), Washtáge Moⁿzháⁿm (Kaw/Kanza), and Očeti Šakówiŋ (Sioux) people. Indigenous people are the past, present, and future of this land.

Visit https://native-land.ca/ to learn on whose land you stand.