Join us on April 11th at 2:00 pm. We will be opening our year with a group exhibition curated by James Wilson. James has thoughtfully selected a diverse range of artists and works to introduce the season and set a compelling tone for what’s ahead. Join us in our celebration and hear about Alcott’s plan for the future. Enjoy the warm, rustic atmosphere of the 103‑year‑old building as you explore the show. We are proud to announce Alcott’s celebration of our 25th year in existence. We are planning a special event in mid‑summer to commemorate this important milestone. Please keep watching for an update.
The Alcott Neighborhood started the arts center to save and restore the old Alcott grade school building and to make a meaningful, lasting impact on both children and adults in the area — especially inner-city residents seeking an artistic leg up. We urgently need dedicated, helpful people to step forward to support Alcott’s growth, assist in renovating our historic landmark, and expand accessible artistic opportunities for everyone. Alcott is at an exciting point of positive change. The organization has built a strong, sustained arts program over the last twenty-four years — now let’s look ahead and build toward the next twenty.
We are formally known as the L. M. Alcott Art Center Foundation, and we are an entirely volunteer-run organization. For the last 24 years, the LMAACF has offered incubation space for developing performance groups, theatrical productions, art exhibitions, a wide range of art classes, and several forms of theatrical training. We have provided opportunities for first-time directors to stage semi-professional plays, fostering a nurturing environment for emerging associate member groups that use the Alcott facilities for rehearsal space, theatre productions, and fundraisers. The Foundation’s goal is to provide meaningful artistic opportunities, and this is something we do exceptionally well. The facility has attracted artists from a broader-than-anticipated geographical area, evolving into a regional arts hub within the first two years of our twenty-year run. People appreciate the old-school charm—tall ceilings, wood floors, and steam radiators—and some have likened our rehearsal spaces and art galleries to New York–style studios. Alcott operates under the “Everything Positive—Nothing Negative” motto. While we have never relied on grants for our survival (though we are very grateful for those we have received), we focus on positive resources and community support to sustain programming and events that uplift others.
The L.M. Alcott Art Center, or Alcott Arts Center as most know us, was started in 1999 in an effort to save a neighborhood school from being converted into a minimum-security prison, preserving an important community asset in our mostly residential area. At that time our neighborhood faced challenges, including old, abandoned truck stop buildings directly across the street from the school and a less-than-desirable motel that rented rooms by the hour. But our community needed some hope and positive change. The founders — a group of local neighbors who lived near the building, together with several nearby business owners — were given an opportunity to help create a constructive, uplifting presence in their own neighborhood. The Board of Education agreed to sell the building to a local nonprofit group, and although that group held the property for just over a year, the original neighborhood advocates who had petitioned the Board to prevent the prison conversion were soon called back to help define a new direction for this historic school building. Our facility first opened in 1923 as the Louisa May Alcott Grade School, serving the Kansas City, Kansas public school system in that role until 1976.