James C. Olson Performing Arts Center

The James C. Olson Performing Arts Center or the P. A. C. as it is commonly known, was completed in 1979 as home to the UMKC Conservatory. It is named for James Olson, who was Chancellor of UMKC from 1968-1976 and University of Missouri System President from 1976-1984. Olson was a champion for the building's construction and helped guide the university through the political process that created funding for it. The building houses the Conservatory's music, music education, music therapy and dance programs as well as space for UMKC's Department of Theater. Performance spaces include White Recital Hall, the Studio 116 Black Box Theater for student productions and the Helen F. Spencer Theater, home to the Kansas City Repertory Theatre.

The UMKC Conservatory traces its origins to the Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Art, founded in 1906. The organization over the years occupied a variety of downtown office spaces and houses around Kansas City before settling in the early 1950s into a complex of three houses and a performance space called Grant Hall on Warwick Blvd, across from the Kansas City Art Institute. Grant Hall was named for William T. Grant, the long time chair of the organization's board of trustees, who had provided funding for the building. Grant was also a founding trustee of the University of Kansas City and the two institutions shared close ties. It was common for students to take classes at both schools.

After Grant's death in 1954, his son William D. Grant became chair of Kansas City Conservatory trustees and steered the organization into an eventual merger with the University of Kansas City in 1959. When the University of Kansas City became part of the University of Missouri System in 1963, administrators began to try to bring elements of the UMKC Conservatory to the Volker Campus. The Conservatory's Warwick Blvd campus was much too small for its educational and performance needs and provided a logistical problem for students needing to take classes on both campuses. The Pierson Auditorium and University Playhouse on the Volker Campus provided needed performance spaces and after 1971, Epperson House was used as faculty offices and practice spaces for students. However, these measures were just temporary fixes for the problem. The Conservatory needed a large dedicated facility.

In the early 1970s, the creation of a building for the UMKC Conservatory became a top priority of UMKC Chancellor James Olson. Olson had arrived at UMKC in the midst of a building boom brought about by huge increases in enrollment after the merger with the UM System. The state legislature had in recent years funded tens of millions of dollars for the eventual construction of 7 new buildings on the campus. However, when Olson approached the Curators of the University of Missouri for their support in raising the money for a facility for the UMKC Conservatory, he faced stiff resistance with one curator openly saying that he had no intention of financing a "Singing and Dancing Hall."

Over the next 8 years, Olson helped raise private funding for the building and continued to lobby the curators and state legislature both as UMKC Chancellor and after 1976, as UM System President. In the end, UMKC was able to raise $11.5 million for UMKC's Center for the Performing Arts. 462 individual donors, corporations and foundations donated a total of over $6 million. This included a $2 million gift for Helen F. Spencer for the creation of the Helen F. Spencer Theater as home for the Kansas City Repertory Theatre. The rest of the funding was eventually provided by the state legislature. The P.A.C opened in the summer of 1979 and was eventually renamed the James C. Olson Performing Arts Center in honor of the man who had played such a pivotal role in its creation.

The P.A.C. allowed the Conservatory to fully move to the Volker Campus. Eventually the Warwick Blvd campus was sold. Today the Kemper Museum of Modern Art sits at that location. The P.A.C contains office and practice space for conservatory and theater students. The White Recital Hall, named for long time supporters Raymond and Patricia White, provides performance and recording space for the school's orchestra and chamber groups. The Spencer Theater is home to the Kansas City Repertory Theatre, which has been associated with the university since 1964 and allows the university's theater students to gain valuable experience working with a professional theater organization. The Conservatory's Department of Theater also utilizes the Studio 116 Black Box Theater for student productions.

The UMKC Conservatory is currently fundraising for an eventual expansion of the P.A.C. which will provide a dedicated performance space for Dance and theater programs.

Everett, William. Halverhout, Karen. Rhythms of a Century: University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music. Kansas City, Mo. Bookmark Press, 2005.

Olson, James C. . Serving the University of Missouri: A Memoir of Campus and System Administration. Columbia, Mo. University of Missouri Press, 1993.

Silas, Faye A.. "Officials Dedicate UMKC Arts Center." Kansas City Times (Kansas City) October 15th, 1979. .22.

Shad, Leslie. "Recital Hall at UMKC is Unveiled." Kansas City Times (Kansas City) August 27th, 1979. .28.