Belger Arts (Belger Arts Center / Crane Yard Studios)

Belger Arts is a Kansas City arts organization in the Crossroads Arts District, built around the Belger family’s collection and grown from the family’s Belger Cartage crane-and-hauling business. It spans three venues: the Belger Arts Center (2100 Walnut St, exhibitions since 2000), Belger Crane Yard Studios (2011 Tracy Ave, a 56,000-sq-ft ceramics-and-arts complex opened 2013), and the Belger Glass Annex (1219 E. 19th St, opened 2021).

Description

Belger Arts is a Kansas City arts organization in the Crossroads Arts District that presents the Belger family’s collection and supports working artists across three venues.¹² The Belger Arts Center (2100 Walnut Street) has staged exhibitions since 2000, encouraging viewers to “explore, question, and deepen their understanding of art.”¹ In 2013 the organization opened Belger Crane Yard Studios at 2011 Tracy Avenue — an arts complex with roughly 56,000 square feet of classroom, studio, exhibition, and retail space, dedicated especially to ceramics and overlooking the family company’s actual crane yard.¹² A third venue, the Belger Glass Annex at 1219 E. 19th Street, opened to the public in October 2021.¹

Ownership and history

Belger Arts grew from the Belger family’s Kansas City business — Belger Cartage Service, a crane-and-hauling company — and the family’s substantial art collection, evolving into a foundation-run arts institution.² It is a distinctly Kansas City, family-founded operation.

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