Leedy-Voulkos Art Center | Crossroads Art District | 2012 Baltimore Ave, KCMO 64108
MISSION & VISION
Founded in 1985 by Jim Leedy, with the vision of initiating a permanent and thriving art community in Kansas City; the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center's mission is to profile world class artwork by Kansas City's creative community of painters, sculptors, ceramicists, photographers, designers, printmakers, craftsmen and more. For the past 30 years, we've continued the founder's legacy of sharing professional resources with developing artists to help leverage their exposure during monthly First Friday openings. We exhibit compelling shows of international, national, and regional artist, but our main focus is to provide a venue to support students and local artists in order to retain Kansas City's talented creatives.
WHO WE ARE
Stephanie Leedy
Co-Owner & Art Director
JIM LEEDY
artist | teacher | visionary | founder
I love the fact that the work looks like it was dug up out of the ground. I want to see how close one can get to nature through art; because nature is the greatest teacher.
Keeping an open mind, always, that’s the key. For once you close your mind, you are dead.
I don’t know how you become famous, but I can tell you how you become immortal: make something out of clay, fire it, go in the backyard, dig a hole, and put it in the ground.
Change and experimentation is what we’re all about. It’s what I’m about. As individuals, we’re in a constant state of flux. I want to be a part of this constantly evolving process.
Always be conscious of where you've been when heading in a new direction.
*Leedy quotes pulled from an interview with Kara Rooney for The Brooklyn Rail on June 4, 2012
Portait by Cameron Gee
JIM LEEDY: Artist Across Boundaries
by Matthew Kangas
Available is the first book-length discussion of Jim Leedy, Professor at the Kansas City Art Institute since 1966. Art historian Matthew Kangas examines his career as a pioneer of postwar American art and explores the influences on Leedy and the discoveries revealed in Leedy's highly original and provocative art. Published in conjunction with the University of Washington and the Kansas city Art Institute, the book includes over 190 full-color plates and illustrations of paintings, ceramics, prints, photographs, public art projects and proposals, and the airborn nylon Sky Art sculptures.