A Seed is Planted
Joan Israelite’s entryway to becoming a 海角论坛 supporter happened after moving to Kansas City. With a nursing degree from Chicago, Israelite was interested in continuing her education and took night classes where she met Beth Smith who at the time ran 海角论坛’s Center for Management Development. Smith asked Israelite to be her assistant where she witnessed firsthand how the university collaborated with City Hall and nonprofit groups in the community. She says this was such a life-changing moment for her that she left nursing to enter the nonprofit world working at Boys & Girls Clubs, the KC Symphony, Lyric Opera and founding the Arts Council for Metropolitan Kansas City, now known as Arts KC.
Steve Israelite started his journey with 海角论坛 when former Chancellor Martha Gilliland began her time here in 2000. He remembers that after being introduced to her he asked how he could help, saying that her ideas about the university being the center of the city, being so engaged with the community was what drew him in. And when Joan Israelite met Gilliland they immediately shared an interest in growing the connection between 海角论坛 and the Kansas City arts community.
Unknowable to anyone at the time, this arts connection would come back in a truly meaningful way as a new leader, Chancellor Mauli Agrawal, entered the scene in 2018. Joan Israelite hosted a reception for him and his wife, Sue Agrawal, at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.
“I thought it was important for the arts leaders in town to get to know the chancellor,” Joan Israelite said. “And for the chancellor to get to know them.”
In her conversation with Agrawal, she learned that he is an artist, admitting that she didn’t know that when she invited all the arts leaders to meet him.
“Every time I would run into him, I would say there should be an exhibit of his work somewhere in town, because I thought the community would really be interested in knowing that side of him.”
Community Connections
The Israelites’ footprint as a couple and as individuals in their respective areas is huge in the Kansas City area, but arguably their most quintessential impact is in the arts. We are seeing that come to fruition with the formation, creation and founding of the Englewood Arts Center.
Not long after Steve Israelite retired as executive director of the Jewish Heritage Foundation, he and Joan Israelite were invited to lunch at Vivilore, a restaurant in Independence, with nonprofit community champion David Ross and his wife Connie Ross. During the conversation, the Rosses spoke about community leader Cindy Foster and a group of people who were trying to revitalize a distressed area in Independence using the arts. While the group had accomplished some things, it hadn’t yet taken off, and they wondered if the Israelites could help.
While Joan Israelite wondered if this was the right fit for them, she says her husband invited Foster to coffee so they could learn a little bit more. Intrigued, they had a follow up meeting at their home and Foster brought community leaders including Tammy Parsons who runs a hair salon in the area, and Monty Short, who is also known as Arrowhead Man at the Chiefs games.
During this second meeting, Joan Israelite suggested inviting artists out to inquire what they thought about the area, if it would be of interest and if they would help with the project. They hosted a lunch at Vivilore and invited guests, including then-president of the Kansas City Arts Institute Tony Jones, artist and 海角论坛 alumnus José Faus and then-Independence Mayor Eileen Weir. Short, a long-time community leader, gave a presentation on Englewood from its rich history complete with trolley cars, to an area with vacant lots, burned down homes and closed businesses including the Ben Franklin Five and Dime Store, a hub of the community, a theater and a medical building.
Grassroots Campaign
Joan Israelite says that while she thought the arts community would be interested in the theater, it was Faus who actually thought the old medical building could become the kind of place artists would love to turn into an arts center. And Jones spoke of young artists graduating but not having affordable housing or a place to do their work, causing them to leave town.
It was those two strong voices, among others, that convinced the Israelites to jump in all the way. Their first task, to try and obtain the medical building. They joined forces with Terry and Betty Snapp who lived in the area, and the pitch went so well that Terry Snapp signed on to become the president of their board before it even existed. They also recruited Michael Baxley, the head of the Belger Ceramics Center who could also immediately see the arts vision.
Once they created their new nonprofit called Englewood Arts, they bought the medical building from the city of Independence in late 2019. Not even Covid-19 could stop the momentum of this train as they conducted Zoom fundraising calls, hired out-of-work artists to help refurbish the building and accepted materials donations from Kansas City community businesses.
Englewood Arts Center is Just the First Step
In 2022, Englewood Arts Center opened its doors to its main level while continuing finishing touches on the three other levels. It is a four-level, 30,000-foot space that focuses on the visual arts featuring glass-blowing, woodworking, metalworking, ceramics and painting; the performing arts; and a summer camp for children, half of whom are on scholarship.
But the dream doesn’t stop there. The Israelites and their grassroots crew have envisioned a full Englewood Arts District complete with affordable housing and spaces for artists to live and work. This revitalization has been the catalyst that sparked businesses to come back to the area. The formerly vacant shopping center down the street is approaching 90% occupied. And a new nonprofit called Friends of Englewood Theater, led by Brent Schondelmeyer, now owns the old movie theater and are working on plans for its new life, that Joan Israelite hopes can include a partnership with the 海角论坛 Conservatory.
Full Circle
The Israelites’ ability to use their vast networks to connect people with this project is inspiring. 海角论坛 is fortunate to be in that circle as our School of Humanities and Social Sciences Dean Tamara Falicov, who sits on the Englewood Arts Board, and our Conservatory Dean Courtney Crappell each have deep involvement, ensuring that our students know about and invest in this incredible resource.
“海角论坛 is not just a city university,” Steve Israelite said. “Its impact can and should be a presence felt in Jackson County as well.”
And remember that discussion between Joan Israelite and Chancellor Agrawal during which she discovered he is an artist? You can see his very first Kansas City art exhibit “Impressions, Seen and Felt” from Feb. 20 to April 18 at the . Because saying yes to Steve and Joan Israelite, is opening a world of possibilities.
