INTERURBAN ARTHOUSE

ArtsConnect represents the community Creative Placemaking and arts advocacy work done by IUAH. Our Creative Placemaking engages regional artists, community members, local businesses, representatives from municipalities, and other key community stakeholders in equitable, representative, arts-centric community development and design, including public art, public gathering spaces, community-wide festivals and public-facing performances. Our advocacy work is in communicating the importance of the arts to local and regional economies, community livability, and quality of life to city, county, state, and national representatives to increase public funding for - and so public impact of - the arts.

ArtSmart provides pre-K through 12th grade students in Title-1 schools - the majority of whom are economically disadvantaged with arts enrichment and curriculum integration for enhanced learning. IUAH pays KC metro regional artists from diverse backgrounds and artistic practices to bring the arts to students most sorely in need of it. By connecting with local artists, young people are inspired through dance, story telling, music, poetry, painting, sculpture, mural design, field trips and more. Numerous studies provide hard evidence of the positive outcomes for students who engage in and are engaged by the arts, which students from economically disadvantaged homes have less opportunity and exposure to.

ArtSpace provides affordable space for artists and community in a 10,000 sq. foot former USPS sorting facility. Reinvented and revitalized in 2018, the IUAH ArtSpace now includes 19 studio spaces, occupied by 30 artists (representing leather, painting, jewelry, collage, assemblage, music, and mural design), and a 3,500 sq. foot gallery and event space used for exhibitions, classes, presentations, performances and private events. The outdoor space includes a stage and seating for 50 guests and a fenced area that accommodates 28 festival tents.