KANSAS CITY IS THE ONLY UNESCO CREATIVE CITY OF MUSIC IN THE UNITED STATES!

Thanks to the efforts of Anita Brown-Dixon and Dr. Jacob Wagner for this reality!

As a Creative City of Music, Kansas City is working to:

  • promote jazz heritage as a driver for sustainable development through city-adopted policies for neighborhoods, with jazz music being the principal component;
  • implement cultural district planning according to the universal values carried by Local 627 African American jazz musicians union, to honor and valorize the historic and existing culture of the 18th and Vine Historic District, and local neighborhoods;
  • implement a Jazz Corridor, which identifies all aspects of Jazz for the national and international creative consumer for entertainment, education, historic preservation and businesses purposes;
  • build an economic development plan in the city’s urban core and cultural tourism sites which will include a strong international component and connect to countries with an interest in jazz and Black American Music; and
  • engage other Creative Cities through musical collaborations including the Voyage of the Drums Jazz Festival, aimed to foster inter-cultural understanding, tolerance and mutual respect through music.

Learn more here!

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