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First Friday extends to Jazz District

Event organizers say they hope expanding the event will bring attention and opportunity to artists living east of Troost.
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It's a First Friday first for the iconic 18th and Vine District.

"Kansas City has a great diversity and mosaic of all different kinds of artists and art works, and to be a part of this is really exciting," said Vine Street Studio Art Gallery owner Pat Jordan. 

Jordan is no stranger to art and its power to revitalize a neighborhood. As the president of the Gem Cultural and Educational Center, she led the effort to renovate the Gem. 

Now she's helping First Friday, one of KC's biggest art events, extend east to the 18th and Vine District.

TIP: Get to First Friday in the Jazz District with a free bus ride from the Crossroads

"It's really important for urban artists and artists on the east side of Kansas City that they have a place to come to," she explained. "We also call [the Vine Street Studio Art Gallery] a creative space. They can come. They can feel welcome and they know they can grow their craft here. We also talk to them about ways they can market their business and they can enhance their entrepreneurial skills."
 
Over the past two months artists, musicians, dancers and community leaders came together to organize the eastside version of First Friday. On Friday, May 6, all of their hard work finally comes to fruition. 

"There is quality art going on east of Troost," explained American Jazz Museum Executive Director Cheptoo Kositany-Buckner. She spear-headed the First Friday movement. "There is a community here where people come to enjoy the art. Eighteenth and Vine is very, very important for this city. It's not just the heritage of this community. It's the heritage of this city."

PICS: Who brought First Friday to the Jazz District?

First Friday in the Jazz District extends along Vine and 18th streets. It starts at 4 p.m.

"The Gem Theater and the [Negro Leagues and American Jazz] museums were catalysts for redevelopment," said Jordan. "That is what the arts are famous for - being catalysts for urban redevelopment. We as artists and arts administrators and arts institutions go into places others will not go. Once we are there, then the excitement starts."
 
Buses from the Crossroads to 18th and Vine will be free on Friday, so if you use the KC Streetcar, you can also use the KCATA system.
 
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Terra Hall can be reached at terra.hall@kshb.com.

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