This profile is in active compilation — some details are awaiting a cited source.

Charlotte Street Foundation is a Kansas City nonprofit founded in 1997 by David Hughes, Jr. to put money, space, and visibility directly into the hands of working local artists. It runs the $10,000 Charlotte Street Awards, a two-year Studio Residency Program, and a 20,000-square-foot arts campus in a repurposed industrial building at 3333 Wyoming Street in the Roanoke corridor — Stern Theater (black box), Charlotte Street Gallery, Kemper Library, resident studios, the Jedel Family Workshop, and a courtyard — plus Capsule, an experimental performance venue at 1664 Broadway in the Crossroads. Seventeen artists were named to the 2026–2028 residency cohort in June 2026.

Description

Charlotte Street Foundation is a Kansas City arts organization whose purpose is direct support of working artists in the metro — unrestricted cash awards, free studio and rehearsal space, exhibition and performance platforms, and professional development. It was founded in 1997 by David Hughes, Jr., an arts advocate who built it in response to needs artists in the city had articulated themselves, and in memory of a late artist friend and the community that had formed around him.12

The organization began as a grantmaker — the annual Charlotte Street Awards, now $10,000 each, given to Kansas City-area visual and generative performing artists — and expanded over three decades into residencies, exhibitions, project grants, and venue operation.12 More than $2 million in awards and grants has been distributed since 1997.2

For most of its history Charlotte Street worked out of borrowed and temporary space, running programs such as the Urban Culture Project in vacant downtown storefronts and at La Esquina at 1000 W 25th Street.3 That changed with the acquisition and conversion of a former industrial factory at 3333 Wyoming Street in the Roanoke corridor, opened as a permanent 20,000-square-foot arts campus around 2019–2020.456 The campus consolidates what had been scattered: the Stern Theater black box, the Charlotte Street Gallery, the Kemper Library and archive, resident artist studios, a dance rehearsal studio, a recording and mixing studio, the Jedel Family Workshop, and the Jon Puschek Courtyard.45

In 2022 the organization added Capsule, a performance venue at 1664 Broadway Blvd in the Crossroads Arts District, dedicated to emerging experimental and hybrid performance practice.7

Programming

  • Charlotte Street Awards — the founding program: competitive $10,000 unrestricted awards to Kansas City-area visual and generative performing artists, given annually. Associated awards have included a one-month paid residency at the Art Omi International Studio Residency Program in upstate New York and a travel grant to attend an international art fair.8
  • Studio Residency Program — free studio and rehearsal space on the Wyoming Street campus, awarded on a two-year cycle. The 2026–2028 cohort of 17 artists (9 visual artists, 5 performers, 3 writers) was selected from 167 applicants and announced June 2026; they joined the 14-artist 2025–2027 cohort already in residence.910
  • Neighborhood Artists Residency — a place-based residency strand distinct from the campus studio program.11
  • Cultural Producer Grants — grants for small artist-run organizations, launched in 2021 in partnership with founder David Hughes, Jr.12
  • Exhibitions and performance — the Charlotte Street Gallery mounts exhibitions on public hours; the Stern Theater and Capsule host performance, dance, and hybrid work, including bookings by outside companies such as Kansas City Public Theatre.13714
  • Open Studios — periodic public openings of resident artists’ studios on the campus.13

History

1997 — founding. David Hughes, Jr. established Charlotte Street Foundation to serve needs Kansas City artists had themselves articulated: an organization that would function as a creative, social, and economic resource rather than only a presenter. It began with cash awards to artists.12

2000s — Urban Culture Project. Charlotte Street’s Urban Culture Project put contemporary art and performance into vacant and underused downtown space, and operated La Esquina at 1000 W 25th Street as an exhibition and performance venue — the organization’s most visible physical presence before it had a building of its own.3

2013 — founder transition. Hughes announced planned transition from the co-director role in 2012 and stepped down in 2013; the organization continued under successor leadership.152

2019–2020 — permanent campus. Charlotte Street acquired and converted a former industrial factory at 3333 Wyoming Street in the Roanoke corridor into a roughly 20,000-square-foot multidisciplinary arts campus — the first permanent home in the organization’s history, and the point at which studios, gallery, theater, library, and workshop came under one roof.456

2022 — Capsule. The organization opened Capsule at 1664 Broadway Blvd in the Crossroads, a venue specifically for emerging experimental and hybrid performance.7

2026 — current. Seventeen artists were named to the 2026–2028 Studio Residency in June 2026; the organization is operating a full 2026 event calendar, with Amanda Middaugh promoted to Co-Executive Director (Operations) and a national search under way for a Co-Executive Director (Programs).910

The room

The Wyoming Street campus occupies a repurposed industrial factory building of roughly 20,000 square feet. Its named spaces are the Stern Theater (black box performance space), the Charlotte Street Gallery (visual art, public hours), the Kemper Library and archive room, the Jedel Family Workshop (equipment shop), the Jon Puschek Courtyard, resident artist studios, a dance rehearsal studio, a recording and mixing studio, and shared gathering spaces.45

Capsule, at 1664 Broadway Blvd in the Crossroads, is a separate and smaller performance room programmed for experimental and hybrid work.7

“ — seat counts for the Stern Theater and Capsule, and gallery square footage, are not established by any source read in this pass.

Sources

Footnotes

  1. Charlotte Street — “Mission & History” (official) — asserts: founded 1997 by advocate David Hughes, Jr.; established in response to needs articulated by artists in the community; organization conceived as a creative, social, and economic resource for Kansas City artists; program expansion from cash awards into exhibitions, studio residencies, project grants, and professional training. (First party.) ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. KCUR (NPR, Kansas City) — “Twenty Years On, Kansas City’s Charlotte Street Still Backs The Arts In A Big Way” (April 13, 2017) — asserts: launched 1997 to provide cash awards to Kansas City-based artists; expansion into exhibitions, studio residencies, project grants, professional training; working space, financial support and visibility to thousands of artists; more than 100 recipients of annual grants worth $10,000 each; more than $2 million distributed in awards and grants since 1997; Hughes’s stated motivation of honoring a late artist friend and the community around him. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  3. Charlotte Street — Urban Culture Project archive (official) — asserts: Urban Culture Project as a Charlotte Street program; La Esquina at 1000 West 25th Street as a UCP exhibition and performance venue. Example programming record: charlottestreet.org ↩ ↩2

  4. Charlotte Street — “CSF Campus FAQ” (official) — asserts: campus at 3333 Wyoming Street; facility comprising Stern Theater, Charlotte Street Gallery, Kemper Library, Studio Residency studios, Jedel Family Workshop, and Jon Puschek Courtyard; black box theater, visual art gallery, dance rehearsal studio, recording and mixing studio, artist-in-residence studios, equipment workshop, library and archive room, and gathering spaces. Corroborating venue page: charlottestreet.org ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  5. The Pitch (Kansas City) — “Charlotte Street unveils new arts campus in repurposed Roanoke industrial factory” — asserts: independent local-press confirmation of the Roanoke-corridor campus in a repurposed industrial factory. Corroborating: Flatland KC, “Charlotte Street Foundation Finds Permanent Home Near Downtown” — flatlandkc.org ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  6. Hyperallergic — “In Kansas City, a 20,000-square-foot Arts Campus Aims to Bring Together the City’s Artists” — asserts: the campus at roughly 20,000 square feet and its purpose of consolidating the city’s artist community in one facility. (National arts press, independent.) ↩ ↩2

  7. KC Studio — “Arts News: Charlotte Street Announces Capsule Performance Space Events” — asserts: Charlotte Street opened Capsule, a performing arts venue at 1664 Broadway Blvd in the Crossroads Arts District, as a platform for emerging experimental and hybrid performance practice. Corroborating: Copaken Brooks — copaken-brooks.com; Do816 venue page — do816.com ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  8. Charlotte Street — “Grants + Awards” (official) — asserts: competitive $10,000 Charlotte Street Awards to Kansas City-area visual and generative performing artists; associated one-month paid residency at Art Omi International Studio Residency Program and a travel grant for an artist to attend an international art fair; cumulative award totals. ↩

  9. BroadwayWorld — “Charlotte Street Announces Artists Selected for Studio Residency Program” (June 14, 2026) — asserts: 17 artists selected for the two-year Studio Residency (9 visual artists, 5 performers, 3 writers) from 167 applicants; incoming residents joined the 2025–2027 cohort of 14; studios on the Charlotte Street Campus, Stern Theater, 3333 Wyoming Street, Kansas City, MO; national search announced for Co-Executive Director (Programs); Amanda Middaugh promoted to Co-Executive Director (Operations); Patrick Alexander, Programming + Residency Manager. ↩ ↩2

  10. Charlotte Street — “Charlotte Street Announces 17 Artists for the 2026-2028 Studio Residency” (June 2026, official) — asserts: first-party confirmation of the 2026–2028 cohort. Corroborating prior cycles: charlottestreet.org and charlottestreet.org. Live calendar: charlottestreet.org ↩ ↩2

  11. Charlotte Street — “Neighborhood Artists Residency” (official) — asserts: existence and structure of the Neighborhood Artists Residency as a distinct program. ↩

  12. Charlotte Street — “Charlotte Street Foundation partners with Founder David Hughes, Jr. to launch Cultural Producer Grants for Small Artist-Run Organizations” (July 2021, official) — asserts: the Cultural Producer Grants program and Hughes’s continuing partnership with the organization after his 2013 departure from leadership. Recipients announcement: charlottestreet.org ↩

  13. Charlotte Street — “Plan Your Visit” (official) — asserts: Charlotte Street Gallery public hours, Tuesday–Friday 12–5 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m.–5 p.m.; visitor information for the campus. Corroborating venue listing: ArtsKC Go — artskcgo.com ↩ ↩2

  14. ArtsKC Go — Charlotte Street Stern Theater venue page — asserts: Stern Theater as an active listed Kansas City performance venue carrying outside bookings. Corroborating: Do816 — do816.com; Kansas City Public Theatre artist page at Charlotte Street — charlottestreet.org ↩

  15. Charlotte Street — “Charlotte Street Announces Planned Transition of Founder + Co-Director David Hughes” (November 2012, official) — asserts: Hughes’s announced transition out of the co-director role. Corroborating: KCUR, “Charlotte Street’s David Hughes Announces Transition Plans” — kcur.org ↩

See also

Categories

On the record — ks.city/registry/charlotte-street-foundation · record updated 2026-08-13