Kansas City Arts Leader Amy Kligman on Life and Leadership
By Becky Brown
When she worked at Hallmark, Kansas City, Missouri–based artist Amy Kligman had two bosses. One was a creative, and the other focused on the business side of, well, the business. The two had a partnership that just worked. When Amy asked about that working relationship, she was taken aback by her manager’s response.
“She told me a story about kites and strings,” Amy says. “The reason their partnership worked was that he was the kite and she was the string, the grounding force. They had a mutual respect for the wild ideas and the practical framing.”
Amy has carried that balanced concept of creative leadership with her, first as a cofounder of Plug Projects, then as executive and artistic director of Charlotte Street, and soon to parts unknown. She is an Artist INC alumna and Artist Leadership Fellow. Amy has also been instrumental in Charlotte Street becoming the host and partner organization for Mid-America Arts Alliance’s Artist INC Kansas City.
Charlotte Street’s new building opened during the pandemic and is located at 3333 Wyoming Street in Kansas City, Missouri. Under Amy’s leadership, the organization raised $10 million to open its own building complex, and it now provides artist support via awards, grants, residency programs, and partnerships.
Amy is leaving Charlotte Street at the end of the year, but she leaves a legacy of stewardship, creativity, and growth.
Done right, artistic leadership supports creators and furthers the work itself.
Amy didn’t set out to build a scaffolding that would bolster an entire community of artists. She just had some ideas. She joined Charlotte Street as artistic director and five months later found herself leading the entire organization.
“At first it was overwhelming,” Amy says. “We’re told as artists that we’re bad at math, logistics, all those things. I’m an artist and a woman, so I’m told I’m bad at those things from every direction. That’s scary. But I care about this organization, and that goes a long way. And if you’re telling me this is something I need to do, I’m going to do it, and employ a lot of help.”
Part of her strength as a leader is admitting her weaknesses.
“I’m not the best person to do some things,” Amy says. “It takes a lot of reaching out and finding who is the best at those things. Build a team. Build your expertise. And always be learning.”
Her time at Charlotte Street has been one of progress. Under Amy’s leadership, the organization raised $10 million to open its own building complex, and it now provides artist support via awards, grants, residency programs, and partnerships. Choosing to step down wasn’t easy.
“I like to be part of building things and manifesting something,” Amy says. “At Charlotte Street, I had the opportunity to build on something that other people had done a lot of work to create, and I had the opportunity to keep it going. I started to have ideas that didn’t feel like they’d 100% work within the scope of Charlotte Street. Maybe there’s something else that needs to happen. It feels like a wild fantasy to pursue it.
Joy and Other Feats of Strength curated by Amy Kligman at Charlotte Street. Photography by E.G. Schempf.
“Because I’m an artist, I allow myself to think and feel things that other people might not.”
That’s the power of creatives: They see a need within their community and take action.
“A lot of artists just want to do something, they just have an idea,” Amy says. “There are such incredible, delightful, surprising ideas that manifest into real things that impact people. Those things are happening with very few resources: ‘Who can I talk to, can I borrow this space?’ Building things up from gritty, DIY roots.”
The scale of such endeavors can be a tripping hazard for many would-be artistic leaders and innovators. How big does a project need to be to be worthwhile?
“How far do you want to take it? The answer that’s correct is ‘As far as you feel like it’s meaningful,’” Amy says. “There’s no reason to take it into some enormous platform. It doesn’t have to make money or reach thousands of people. It can be meaningful if it reaches a cohort of 20. Listen to those impulses and see them through. Maybe there’s something you noticed that nobody else did.”
Amy encourages artists to follow these impulses, no matter how circuitous their paths may become.
“Embrace the wavy line. I’m all for nonlinear paths,” she says.
“Pay attention to things that spark you. It’s funny how they can all come together.”
Amy Kligman and Amanda Middaugh posing at Charlotte Street’s 2023 annual block party.
For Amy, the biggest hurdle for making things happen is seeing a path forward. But if artists can see even the first few steps, she suggests they move ahead.
“Artists have good ideas, and nobody else is going to do them,” she says. “If you really believe in those things, you have to be smart. Figure out who you can partner with, how you can get something done. Maybe you need to break those steps down, or break a really big idea down into small components, into to-do lists. But you can make it happen.”
Believing in the next steps is what is propelling Amy into an artistic future after Charlotte Street.
“I’ve worked this job for almost 10 years, and I feel like I’ve been a weirdly lucky person. I’ve left my dream job twice: Hallmark and Charlotte Street,” she says. “But I’ve only ever stepped away closer in the direction of my heart. That feels like something an artist does.”
In the next year, this movement has Amy curating an exhibit at Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. In the exhibit, her own work will act as a platform for the work of others. The vision is a salon to serve as a place of discourse and collaboration.
“It’s the anti-bunker,” Amy says. “If a bunker is the place you go at the end of the world to isolate and hoard, this is where you go to share and get through things together.”
Her work at Charlotte Street has acted as a frame for the work of others. And sharing and getting through things together is the essence of building and leading an artistic community. This work has also helped Amy close internal gaps.
“As far as I have wandered, I’ve only wandered closer to myself, my path,” she says. “I’m now as true to myself as I could have been.”
Amy is a graduate of Artist INC and an Artist Leadership Fellow. Learn more about Artist INC as the program celebrates its 15th anniversary.
Header photography: Amy Kligman headshot photography by Estuardo Garcia.
A new painting by Amy Kligman. Image courtesy of the artist.