A reader recently asked me about the Kauffman Center for Performing Arts. In case you are out of the loops Kansas City, performing arts and architecture, the Center, designed by Moshe Safdie, is the recently completed home of our symphony, ballet and a venue for a variety of performing arts organizations in town.
Mr. Blandings and I took a hard hat tour last Fall and the space is remarkable.
I was working at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation when his widow, Muriel McBrien Kauffman, began to envision this project.
While Mrs. Kauffman's foundation could have absorbed much of the original projected costs of the building, the trustees felt it was significant that the community feel that the Center was its own. It is a testament to their leadership that it was built with private funds and the city has embraced it so completely.
Opening weekend was a few weeks ago with loads of hoopla, though Bill and I did not attend. I am taking our middle son to see Tom Sawyer next week and am filled with anticipation for the performance, but also with seeing the ballet, and the building, through 11-year-old eyes.
Seriously, you cannot take a bad picture of this remarkable structure; it soars. For more information on the Kauffman Center click here; to purchase tickets to Tom Sawyer, a new ballet choreographed by William Whitener, music by Maury Yeston, click here. To see a terrific slideshow of the space with images by Paul Warchol (including this one) at ArchDigest.com click here. All other images my own.Labels: Out and About
