Architecture & Spaces
Animals are natural performers, so some friends from the Kansas City Zoo literally jumped at the chance to take center stage and enjoy the spotlight at the Kauffman Center recently. Everyone brought their A-game, and it showed when the cameras started recording.
Follow this motley crew of feathered, scaly and prickly animals on their intimate Kauffman Center tour as they explore Brandmeyer Great Hall, Helzberg Hall and Muriel Kauffman Theatre.
Jasiri, a 2-year-old African Crested Porcupine, with her darling waddle and tutu of bouncing quills, is clearly a performer at heart. Elver, a 22-year-old Galah Cockatoo, felt at home on stage, as well. With his gift for gab and beautiful coloring, it is evident why zoo-goers flock to see him.
Fred, a 7-year-old Marine Toad, performed his version of hip-hop in Brandmeyer Great Hall, while D’Artagnon, a 7-year-old Blue and Gold Macaw, overcame stage fright in Muriel Kauffman Theatre.
The slew of animals that poked around the Kauffman Center certainly took advantage of all the spaces within our magnificent building. Alice, a 3-year-old Savanna Monitor admired herself in the glow of her dressing room mirror lights, and Smaug, a 20-year-old Green Iguana, savored city views from Brandmeyer Great Hall.
We can’t wait to bring human artists and audiences back into the limelight. In the meantime, we hope that watching our curious friends running the show in your absence brightens your day.
Drone footage courtesy of NMG Studios and Ben Weddle. Special thanks to the Kansas City Zoo.
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Kauffman Center Featured by Google Arts & Culture
Explore Kansas City culture in a new interactive online project by
Google Arts & Culture in collaboration with the Kauffman Center
Photo of Brandmeyer Great Hall by Jillian Shoptaw
On Friday, April 5, 2019, Google Arts & Culture launched Kansas City – Google Arts & Culture’s first online exhibition featuring an American city. The project brings together collections, stories and 360-degree tours from 15 renowned Kansas City institutions, including the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.
Photo of Helzberg Hall by Steve Mohlenkamp
From articles like ‘11 Fun Facts About Kansas City‘ to ‘The KC BBQ Experience: What to Expect,’ the exhibition highlights the history, people and culture that makes Kansas City the “Heart of America.” The project launched with a video highlighting Kansas City’s arts and culture scene. The platform has introduced Kansas City and its arts and culture to an international audience giving visitors around the world the opportunity to learn and experience Kansas City in a new way.
The partnership also features Google Arts & Culture’s Art Camera – a custom device that takes hundreds of close-up images, revealing a level of detail hidden from the naked eye. This means Helzberg Hall, Muriel Kauffman Theatre and Brandmeyer Great Hall can now be viewed in an interactive 360-degree gigapixel-picture.
“We’re excited to launch our first project profiling an American city here in Kansas City,” said Simon Delacroix, US Lead at Google Arts & Culture. “Kansas City’s vibrant art and history has been instrumental to Google Arts & Culture from our very beginning in 2011. Today marks a big step forward — with the help of 15 world-class institutions, we’re thrilled to share with anyone, anywhere, some of the amazing stories that make Kansas City the Heart of America.”
Paul Schofer, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Kauffman Center stated, “We’re excited and honored to be a part of this ambitious endeavor to highlight the many artistic and cultural experiences that Kansas City has to offer. The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is an iconic part of the arts and cultural landscape of Kansas City and we are proud to be included to showcase what so many of us already know: that Kansas City has world-class entertainment for everyone.”
Below are some of the featured exhibitions about the Kauffman Center:
Photo of the Kauffman Center from the southside by Mary Beth Russell
- Performances at the Kauffman Center: featuring information on the 300+ performances the Kauffman Center hosts per year (including the Kauffman Center Presents series, Kansas City Symphony, Kansas City Ballet and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City).
- The Construction of the Kauffman Center: an exclusive look into the five-year construction of the Kauffman Center from groundbreaking to grand opening.
- Architecture Highlights: an in-depth look at the Kauffman Center’s architectural features both inside and outside of the facility.
- The King of All Instruments: a showcase of the Julia Irene Kauffman Casavant Organ, Opus 3875, one of the finest performance organs in the country and the visual centerpiece of Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center.
You can experience Kansas City and the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts by downloading the Android or iOS app or visiting Google Arts & Culture.
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U.S. ENGINEERING COMPANY Sponsors Kauffman Center Children’s WALL, Gives 30 Kansas City Kids a Gift that Lasts a Lifetime
Company contributed $30,000 for local second-graders to participate in the Children’s Wall at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
On March 7th, 2011 Kansas City-based U.S. Engineering Company joined with the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts to welcome 30 second-grade students from University Academy to make their mark permanently on the Children’s Wall at the Kauffman Center.
General Director Evan Luskin and Artistic Director Ward Holmquist announced the 2011-2012 season of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City which will be the first season in the new Muriel Kauffman Theatre in the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. “Becoming a Resident Opera Company at this magnificent performance hall will allow the Company to present opera in ways that Kansas City has never before experienced,” notes Evan Luskin, Lyric Opera General Director.
You may not have noticed, but the entire steel structure of the Kauffman Center moved in the past month. Well, it only moved a couple of inches, but that it moved at all is remarkable. This is part of the “tensioning process” that is critical to the stability of the Kauffman Center design. It also enables the luxurious ceiling and walls made of glass to sweep so graciously, but securely, over patrons below.
“The pull,” as the construction team refers to the process that moved the steel structure, was done by crews from the subcontractor BSC using sophisticated measurements, precise technology and large hydraulic jacks. The precise engineering process takes place slowly over a month period, focusing on one portion of the steel grid at a time. An understated Matt Jansen, project manager with JE Dunn Construction Company, admits, “It’s a gigantic engineering feat.”
The Kauffman Center architectural design calls for a steel infrastructure and a cable supported system, something not common to most buildings. This requires the construction team to first build a typical steel structure. Then they tension cable support between that steel framework and the concrete anchor wall separating the building from the garage.
The glass lobby, a signature aspect of the Kauffman Center design, was engineered by Novum Structures. They are supported in their work by two local subcontractors: BSC, that focuses on the steel aspects of the lobby construction (including the pull) and Bratton that installs the glass.
Twenty-seven steel columns, gently angled like tent poles, are attached by cables to the existing steel infrastructure of the halls and to the concrete anchor wall near the parking garage below. The anchor wall is 50 feet high, four feet thick and 360 feet long.
Bolts weighing 20 pounds are used temporarily in the tensioning process. If weather cooperates, glass will begin to be installed in April, 2010 in some areas of the lobby roof and walls, even though the tensioning process may continue in other sections.
Additional complexity in this stage of construction arises from the need for guttering, lighting and heaters near where the roof meets the south wall.
In addition, another large engineering feat will take place when four cables are installed east to west across the roof’s edge to create a snow fence that catches and keeps snow in place until melted.
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