JOHNSON COUNTY PROFILE WITH A METROPOLITAN CONTEXT

Cultural Community

In 1983, one could count the galleries in the Kansas City metropolitan area with the fingers on one hand. Today, you would need a calculator!

2007 marked a significant new chapter in the arts in Kansas City with the urban and suburban areas demonstrating great vision for the arts:

• The Nelson-Atkins Museum Bloch Building opened to world acclaim.
• The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art opened on the campus of Johnson County Community College with national acclaim for it collection and architectural design.
• The Kauffman Center for Performing Arts broke ground and will open in 2010.
• The Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City launched a United Art Fund/ArtsKC Fund.
• A Johnson County 1% Public Art Program (PDF - 36Kb) approved by the Board of County Commissioners.

The arts are maturing and evolving in metropolitan Kansas City, and as the suburbs come of age, they are adding their stamp on the metropolitan cultural profile.

• Kansas City is ranked 7th in concentration of visual artists in the United States. Johnson County has the second highest number of artists in the seven metropolitan counties.
• Johnson County Community College is one of the leading national higher education institutes focusing on the arts. The Carlsen Center has three performance venues including one of the two leading performance series in the metropolitan area. The College has one of the leading contemporary art collections, which is displayed throughout the campus. In October 2007, the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art opened to national acclaim for its collection and architectural design.
• Community theatres including The Theatre in the Park, Johnson County Park and Recreation, Olathe Community Theatre, Leawood Stage Company, and the granddaddy of them all, The Barn Players are prevalent in the Johnson County and metropolitan Kansas City.
• Public Art is a growing venue throughout the metropolitan area including the long-standing one-percent program for the City of Kansas City, Missouri. Additionally, several cities in the suburbs have taken on the mantle including the cities Leawood, Overland Park and Olathe in Johnson County. Johnson County Government has also recently adopted a one-percent program.
• Six cities in Johnson County have local arts agencies – Leawood, Lenexa, Olathe, Overland Park, Prairie Village and Roeland Park.
• Johnson County’s five public school districts have one of the strongest arts curriculum in the metropolitan area.
• Community leaders who value the arts as key to future economic development of the area.

Johnson County

In the decade following World War II, the county’s population exploded. By 1950, the number of county residents had increased to 63,000, from 18,288 in 1910. Since 1950, population and building growth has been stimulated by construction of new transportation corridors such as Interstates 35 and 435, which opened rural areas to new development. By 2000 the county’s population had reached 443,000, and projections indicate it will exceed 630,000 by 2020.

Johnson County has the highest population of all the seven major metropolitan counties and nationally ranks approximately 30th in per capita income. CERI, Johnson County’s Economic Research Institute annually publishes Primer, which provides important economic information on the County.

Websites you might like to visit:

• http://www.cerionline.org/
• http://jocoks.com/
• http://artskc.org