KANSAS CITY, MO — The newly opened 18th & Vine Welcome Center is welcoming visitors with more than community resources and city services. Through a new partnership with Zhou B Art Center Kansas City, the Welcome Center now features original artwork by four accomplished Kansas City artists, creating an immersive introduction to the creativity and cultural identity that defines the Historic 18th & Vine Jazz District.

Located at 1516 E. 18th Street, the Welcome Center serves as a direct connection between residents, visitors, and the City of Kansas City. Open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., the space provides access to city resources while also celebrating the artists and entrepreneurs who continue to shape Kansas City’s creative community. Visitors can also purchase the artwork on display, offering a unique opportunity to take home an original work created by local talent. The Welcome Center will continue expanding its offerings with curated merchandise from local vendors in the future.

The inaugural exhibition features works by four Zhou B Art Center Kansas City resident artists whose diverse artistic voices reflect the richness of Kansas City’s creative landscape:

Charlie Quinn is a self taught artist and licensed Master Social Worker whose vibrant, texture rich paintings explore healing, resilience, and identity. Drawing from their own experience living with complex PTSD, Quinn creates work that transforms personal narratives into powerful visual stories while advocating for human rights and trauma informed care through public speaking and community engagement.

Crissi Rice creates artwork rooted in celebrating the beauty, history, and cultural significance of Black women’s hair. Inspired by generations of women in her own family, Rice honors the resilience, pride, and legacy of African American and Indigenous women through richly detailed works that elevate natural hair as both a personal expression and cultural symbol.

Jean McGuire returned to painting after nearly four decades away from the canvas. Her current body of work centers on figurative paintings inspired by antique photographs, using a restrained palette to honor the lives and untold stories of people captured in fleeting moments throughout history. Her work has been exhibited locally and nationally.

Dora Kearney combines decades of decorative painting expertise with a fine art practice that embraces experimentation and texture. Using acrylics layered with inks, plasters, foils, glass beads, glitter, and unexpected materials, her vibrant mixed media pieces create movement, depth, and light while reflecting her lifelong passion for artistic exploration.

This collaboration represents a shared commitment between the City of Kansas City and Zhou B Art Center Kansas City to ensure that local artists remain at the center of the district’s continued revitalization. Rather than simply displaying artwork, the Welcome Center creates new opportunities for artists to reach broader audiences, generate income through sales, and contribute to the evolving story of one of America’s most historically significant Black cultural districts.

“Art has always been one of the defining forces of the 18th & Vine District,” said Izzy Vivas, Director of Sales and Creative Development at Zhou B Art Center Kansas City. “This partnership allows visitors to immediately experience the creativity that exists here while directly supporting the artists who continue to shape Kansas City’s cultural identity.”

For more than a decade, Zhou B Art Center Kansas City has served as one of the region’s premier creative hubs, providing affordable studio space, exhibitions, educational programming, cultural events, and professional opportunities for emerging and established artists. Home to dozens of resident artists, the center is dedicated to strengthening Kansas City’s arts ecosystem by connecting artists with the broader community through meaningful exhibitions and public engagement.

The exhibition also aligns with the City’s broader Revive the Vine initiative, a more than $400 million public private investment designed to restore cultural landmarks, improve infrastructure, activate vacant storefronts, expand housing, and strengthen economic opportunity throughout the Historic 18th & Vine Jazz District. By incorporating local artwork into the Welcome Center, the partnership reinforces the initiative’s vision of creating a district where culture, commerce, and community thrive together.

The public is invited to visit the 18th & Vine Welcome Center to experience the exhibition, learn more about city resources, and purchase original artwork from the featured artists.

18th & Vine Welcome Center

1516 E. 18th Street
Kansas City, MO 64108

Hours:
Monday through Friday 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

For more information about the Welcome Center and the Revive the Vine initiative, visit www.kcmo.gov/Home/Components/News/News/3175/16