West Bottoms Reborn - History, Place, and Art

Join Carmen Christina Moreno and participating artists in this series of events for the West Bottoms Reborn Project.

Full Schedule:
https://www.westbottomsreborn.com/calendar/

In the unique environment of the West Bottoms, public space is a part of a composition involving emergent history, connectivity, and mutiplicity. As both part of the core design team and extensions of the community, the artists bring their individual artistic practices and investigative methods to the design process, using notions of public art to question, “What is public space?”.

April 26 – Sight Unseeing
Soundscapes of the West Bottoms
The Disappearance of Turkey Creek
Keep Out! The Pursuit to Catalog Architectural Afterlife
April 27 – Diversion Tunnel
Plant Identification
City Wide Bike Ride in the Historic West Bottoms
April 28 – Cowboys of Color
Workshop + Walking Tour: Plants, Place, Planet
April 29 – Walking Tour: Strawberry Hill
A poetic reflection: Cry me a river, What the mind forgets the land reclaims
Architecture and Bridges of the West Bottoms
Exploring the Realm of Street Art in the West Bottoms
May 1  –  The Problems of Placemaking: A Moderated Panel Discussion with West Bottoms Reborn Artists
May 5  –  West Bottoms Reborn Project Exhibition
May 10 – Reception: West Bottoms Reborn Project Exhibition

About the Project

In 2015, the Historic West Bottoms Association (HWB) approached the KCDC and the City of KCMO Office of Culture and Creative Services for help in addressing infrastructure and connectivity needs in the West Bottoms, with the hope that improvements would engage the unique heritage of the area and sustain its emerging arts industry without demeaning it. The KCDC worked with HWB and OCCS to apply for a National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) Our Town Grant, which is a grant program (eligible to municipalities) that supports projects that enhance the quality of life and opportunity for existing residents, increase creative activity, and create a distinct sense of place with the arts at their core. Our Town projects challenge artists, arts organizations, and community development practitioners to deliberately integrate arts and culture into community revitalization work – placing arts at the table with land-use, transportation, economic development, education, housing, infrastructure, and public safety strategies. The KCDC West Bottoms Vision Study for a System of Public Places builds upon the Greater Downtown Area Plan (extends downtown boundaries to the West Bottoms), Arts Convergence Plan (nurturing city-wide artistic production), the KCDC 2011 West Bottoms Vision Plan, and the Urban Land Institute’s Rose Fellowship Study (economic development). This project will also build on an existing streetscape and wayfinding plan and a green infrastructure plan that is currently underway.