Leedy-Voulkos Art Center

Leedy-Voulkos Art Center is a founding institution of Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District, at 2012 Baltimore Avenue. Established in 1985 by ceramicist and Kansas City Art Institute professor Jim Leedy — whose 1980s warehouse conversions catalyzed the whole district — it profiles work by KC’s creative community across multiple gallery spaces and is a cornerstone of First Fridays. Named to honor Leedy’s friend, the artist Peter Voulkos.

Description

Leedy-Voulkos Art Center is one of the galleries that founded the Crossroads Arts District, at 2012 Baltimore Avenue between 20th Street and the Freight House restaurants.¹² It presents work by Kansas City’s creative community across multiple gallery spaces and is a long-running cornerstone of the First Fridays gallery walk.¹²

Ownership and history

The center grew directly out of the Crossroads’ revival. Ceramicist and Kansas City Art Institute professor Jim Leedy opened his first Crossroads gallery in 1985 at 1919 Wyandotte Street and, beginning in the 1980s, bought and renovated deteriorating district warehouses into studios and galleries — a movement widely credited with launching the Crossroads as an arts district (see crossroads-arts-district).¹ In 1995 Leedy merged his galleries and renamed the operation the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center at 2012 Baltimore, adding “Voulkos” to honor his friend, the pioneering ceramic sculptor Peter Voulkos.¹ A museum profiling Leedy’s role in the district’s development is under development.¹

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