Leedy-Voulkos Art Center

Leedy-Voulkos Art Center The Heart of the Kansas City Crossroads Arts District | Est. 1985 | Come join the fun and support local artists!
(205)

MISSION & VISION
Founded in 1985 by Jim Leedy, with the vision of initiating a permanent and thriving art community in Kansas City; the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center's mission is to profile world class artwork by Kansas City's creative community of painters, sculptors, ceramicists, photographers, designers, printmakers, craftsmen and more. For the past 30 years, we've continued the founder's legacy o

f sharing professional resources with developing artists to help leverage their exposure during monthly First Friday openings. We exhibit compelling shows of international, national, and regional artist, but our main focus is to provide a venue to support students and local artists in order to retain Kansas City's talented creatives. FIRST FRIDAYS
On the first Friday of every month, the majority of galleries and retailers open their doors free of charge to the public to debut new exhibitions or showcase new products. This "block party" draws thousands of visitors through the area in one evening. In the warmer months, gallery-goers can be dazzled by street performers, dine from a food truck, and enjoy live music in the streets. We're open from 6pm-9pm every First FRiday of every month throught the year. For more information, please visit the
Crossroads Community Association
WWW.KCCROSSROADS.ORG

09/02/2026

Featuring Astrid Mier y Terán, a.k.a. KUNTURWARMI, a guest artist of M.A.S.A., talking about her work, Rikch’ariy, in SemiLucid at Leedy-Voulkos Art Center. First Friday Opening, September 4, 5- 8 p.m.

Join us Saturday, September 5, from 2–3 PM for an Artist Talk & Panel with M.A.S.A. members, moderated by Maria Vasquez Boyd of ArtSpeak Radio (KKFI 90.1 FM). Hear directly from the artists about their work and the exhibition. Free and Open to the Public. Hope to see you there!

Static BloomArt Collective August 7 - October 30, 2026Back GalleryStuart Asprey | Jason Cytacki | Robert DohrmannFor mor...
09/02/2026

Static Bloom
Art Collective

August 7 - October 30, 2026
Back Gallery

Stuart Asprey | Jason Cytacki | Robert Dohrmann

For more information, please visit our website today.

September First Friday Opening | 9/4/2026 | 5-8pmMegan Karson In ResidenceSeptember 4 - November 21, 2026Opie Gallery | ...
09/01/2026

September First Friday Opening | 9/4/2026 | 5-8pm

Megan Karson
In Residence
September 4 - November 21, 2026
Opie Gallery | LVAC

Two months, two seasons, two coasts.

This collection of photographs was made using the wet plate collodion process, one of the earliest forms of photography dating back to the 1850s. Handmade on sheets of metal and glass, these images were created during two month long artist residencies, one on an island in Washington in the spring, and another in the woods of Maine in the late fall. Each of these residencies allowed for intentional and intimate study of the local ecosystems, resulting in a visual storytelling map of the similarities and differences of these two environments.

* For more information, please visit our website and follow Megan Karson *

September First Friday Opening | 9/4/2026 | 5-8pmKim Eichler-MessmerWhat Quilts Carry: Eighteen Years of Quilting at KCA...
09/01/2026

September First Friday Opening | 9/4/2026 | 5-8pm

Kim Eichler-Messmer
What Quilts Carry: Eighteen Years of Quilting at KCAI
September 4 - December 5, 2026
Main Gallery | LVAC

SAVE THE DATE
What Quilts Carry: Artists in Conversation
Saturday, October 17th | 2-3pm
RSVP Online

Please visit our website for more information.

LEEDY FOUNDATION FRIDAYJim Leedy, ThenBefore Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, before the generations of artists who would becom...
08/28/2026

LEEDY FOUNDATION FRIDAY
Jim Leedy, Then

Before Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, before the generations of artists who would become part of the community he built, LeedyVille, there was Jim.

These recently transferred and scanned slides offer a glimpse into Jim Leedy’s younger years and the beginnings of a life devoted to art, experimentation, and community.

Every photograph is a piece of the story.

Preserving Jim’s artwork is only part of the work. We’re also working to preserve the photographs, documents, stories, and history that help us understand the life behind the art and the community he helped create.

We’re working to preserve that history, and we need your help.

There are lots of ways you can help:
❤️ Share this post
❤️ Come visit us and bring your friends
❤️ Buy a piece of art
❤️ Make a donation online
❤️ Help us spread the word about Jim Leedy and the community he built

Every visit, purchase, donation, and share helps keep this history alive and supports the continued work of preserving Kansas City’s creative legacy.

08/28/2026

LAST DAY TO VIEW

Lori Stanziola

Pressed into Memory
​
June 5 - August 28, 2026
Opie Gallery
​

​
This collection of work brings together images that celebrate big vistas and small details of life. Through the act of gathering images – flora, fauna, ordinary objects, and abstract motifs – it embodies the way we preserve memories through objects. Each print becomes a memento, a fragment of experience carefully shaped, inked and pressed into permanence. Relief printmaking, with its repeatable impressions and layered possibilities, feels like an especially rich way to capture these ideas.

At the heart of this exhibition is the universal experience of curating what we hold dear, and the human desire to preserve life’s moments – through both imagery and craft.
​
Learn more by going to our website today and follow Lori Stanziola

M.A.S.A. Artist Talk & Panel DiscussionJoin us Saturday, September 5, from 2–3 PM at the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center for an...
08/26/2026

M.A.S.A. Artist Talk & Panel Discussion

Join us Saturday, September 5, from 2–3 PM at the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center for an Artist Talk & Panel with M.A.S.A. members, moderated by Maria Vasquez Boyd of ArtSpeak Radio (KKFI 90.1 FM).

Hear directly from the artists about their work and the current exhibition.

Free and open to the public!

An online exhibition catalog is also available on our website, where you can learn more about the artists and RSVP for the talk.

Hope to see you there!

08/21/2026

Foundation Friday | Part 1: Preserving Jim Leedy’s Flat File Work

A little behind-the-scenes look at D2 Research documenting nearly 500 pieces of Jim Leedy’s flat file work.

Archiving is more than storing artwork: it’s researching, documenting, preserving, and uncovering the stories behind the work. And sometimes, we discover something new, like this piece Jim created for the Arthritis Foundation.

Jim’s legacy reaches far beyond his own artwork. For more than four decades, Leedy-Voulkos Art Center has given thousands of artists in Kansas City opportunities to create, exhibit, and connect.

We’re working to preserve that history, and we need your help.

There are lots of ways you can help:

❤️ Share this post
❤️ Come visit us and bring your friends
❤️ Buy a piece of art
❤️ Make a donation online
❤️ Help us spread the word about Jim Leedy and the community he built

Every visit, purchase, donation, and share helps keep this history alive and supports the continued work of preserving Kansas City’s creative legacy.

08/21/2026

LAST DAY TO VIEW…

Threshold Ecologies by Jean Schmitt is on display in our Main Gallery until Saturday, August 22nd.

Jean writes, “This work comes from shared routines with other living things: worms eating my kitchen scraps, wheatgrass leaning toward the light, and vultures I track as they ride invisible spirals of warm air overhead. What began with nature-as-metaphor has become a kind of studio commons, where authorship is loosened from the single artist and shared among many hands, bodies, materials, and motions.”

Jean Schmitt is a multimedia artist and educator based in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Assistant Professor in the School of Art at the University of Arkansas. Her work spans living sculptural systems, drawing, and installation, engaging ecological processes of decomposition, soil-making, and renewal. Schmitt is a co-founder of the Prairie Pedagogy Research Group, has a longstanding collaboration with Kichwa filmmakers (APAK) in Ecuador, and frequently works with mathematicians, technologists, and scientists. Her work has been exhibited most recently at the Poincaré Institute Museum in Paris and the Taoxichuan Studio Gallery in Jingdezhen, China, with additional exhibitions in Boston, Kansas City, Madrid, Quito, and Cuenca.

View Lori Stanziola’s woodblock relief prints in Pressed into Memory’s final week, closing Friday, August 28th in the Op...
08/21/2026

View Lori Stanziola’s woodblock relief prints in Pressed into Memory’s final week, closing Friday, August 28th in the Opie Gallery.

This collection of work brings together images that celebrate big vistas and small details of life. Through the act of gathering images – flora, fauna, ordinary objects, and abstract motifs – it embodies the way we preserve memories through objects.  Each print becomes a memento, a fragment of experience carefully shaped, inked and pressed into permanence. Relief printmaking, with its repeatable impressions and layered possibilities, feels like an especially rich way to capture these ideas.
 
At the heart of this exhibition is the universal experience of curating what we hold dear, and the human desire to preserve life’s moments – through both imagery and craft.

Lori Stanziola (she/her) is a Kansas City based artist specializing in fine art printmaking. Drawing on her experience as a designer, Lori uses graphic shapes and patterns to create richly layered works from hand carved blocks.

Address

2012 Baltimore
Kansas City, MO
64108

Opening Hours

Wednesday 11am - 5pm
Thursday 11am - 5pm
Friday 11am - 5pm
Saturday 11am - 5pm

Telephone

+18164741919

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Leedy-Voulkos Art Center posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Museum

Send a message to Leedy-Voulkos Art Center:

Shortcuts

Share

Category