PLUG (Plug Projects)

PLUG (formerly Plug Projects) is an artist-run, 501(c)(3) nonprofit gallery in Kansas City, now at 1328 Agnes Avenue in the Agnes Arts Building on the east side. Founded as an artist collaborative in 2011, it ran a storefront gallery in the West Bottoms from 2011 to 2020 before the pandemic pushed it out; in 2021 it reopened within a former Agnes Avenue police building alongside a complex of artist studios. Known for artist-run programming and public criticism/crit events.

Description

PLUG — originally Plug Projects — is an artist-run nonprofit gallery in Kansas City.¹ Founded in 2011 as an artist collaborative, it operated a storefront gallery in the West Bottoms from 2011 to 2020, where it became known for artist-run exhibitions and public-criticism events.² After the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to leave the West Bottoms space in spring 2020, PLUG spent a year without a physical home and then, in 2021, reopened within a former police building on Agnes Avenue (the Agnes Arts Building), joining a complex of artist studios; it keeps public hours on Sundays (12–3 p.m.).¹²

Ownership and history

PLUG is an independent, artist-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit, run collaboratively by its member artists rather than a single owner.¹² It is one of Kansas City’s longer-running artist-run spaces, with roots in the West Bottoms arts scene and a current home on the city’s east side.

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