This is a fantastic place to bring the whole family--fun for all ages! For just $9 per person (kids…read moreand adults), you get access to a huge indoor play space filled with themed areas like a veterinary clinic, grocery store, mechanic garage, painting station, dinosaur zone, and more. There are also sensory stations that encourage imagination and creative exploration. A brand-new indoor water area is set to open on June 10th, which will be an exciting addition. The outdoor space is just as impressive, featuring nature trails, a sandbox, water play area, treehouse, bikes, and more. We especially appreciated the separate toddler-only zones that keep the littlest ones safe while they play. With so much to do, we easily spent around 3 hours exploring. You're welcome to pack a lunch and enjoy it at one of the indoor picnic tables or outside in the peaceful pollinator garden. Highly recommend for a fun, interactive, and affordable family outing!

We had the greatest time here with our Grandson. He is 17 months old and played for 2 1/2 hours…read moreand could have played longer but we needed to go eat lunch. There are many activities that entertain kids and I would say up to ten maybe. Some of the areas included were painting, grocery store, a car repair shop, restaurant, water feature, air flow type activities, small area for toddlers, outdoor activities, blocks, plus many more things. I like that adults have to be with children in order to enter. We decided to go ahead and get a year long membership. With the membership I could put my grandchildren on it and they can even go with their parents if we are not with them at no charge. There are also workers spread throughout the area who are so very kind and do a great job at keeping the place picked up and organized.

Impressive exhibits! Well worth the time to meander through. Wide variety of works on display.read more

I attended KCAI between 1965 and 1966 and was planning to major in Industrial Design. Having taken…read more4 year of art classes in high school in Shreveport Louisiana I had been lucky enough to have gotten a good foundation in art early with dedicated teachers. While in Louisiana I had some newspaper articles written about my art while there. When I first arrived at the Art Institute in 1965, I move into the then new dormitory with a excellent cafeteria and dinning area that impressed me. However, dorm life was a disappointment since I had to share the room with a roommate that had no intentions of finishing the semester and I had one these guys for my first two semesters. Both boys (they never grew up) were always having friends over (who also were quitting) so they were drinking and partying in the room at all hours of the night. I was forced to go downstairs and study in the dinning area to get my work done. I was disappointed in the Art Institute, first in my Foundation Training in that from what art work I saw that my instructors had done reminded me of my first year in high school art. However, I had never liked English or History in high School but I love attending both of these classes taught by Roy Culver (English) and John Burke (History) . My second year I started my major Industrial Design thinking about being a car designer or at least product designer. Again, I was disappointed in the teaching and had a strong feeling that my teacher who was also the Dean John Lotus really had no experience teaching Industrial Design. I also noticed that there were many manufacturing companies in Kansas City at the time that were probably using Industrial Designers but we were never exposed to these companies and those companies more than likely never knew there was a Industrial Design department at the Art Institute. The final straw and the reason I dropped out of the Art Institute was a story told to our Industrial Design class mid term of my second semester. I was already wondering what I was doing at the Art Institute when one morning Dean Lotus came into the classroom with a big smile on his face and told us that he had received a phone call from one of his best students that had graduated the year before and that the student had gotten a great job. After a long story about how great the student had been while a student at the Art Institute our Dean told us that this student had gotten a job in Minnesota with a big manufacture called Church they manufactured toilet seats. I said nothing and finished the class then walked to the Resistor Office and resigned. I was drafted into the Army 90 days later and later sent to Vietnam. I did get the job as an Technical Illustrator and stationed in Saigon where I not only helped put out a magazine there (GRUNT Magazine) that turned out to be quit popular and even today issues are for sale on the internet and even some colleges have it in their archives. I was assigned to a photo unit and we sometimes made ID photos for American construction contractors and after talking to them I decided to change employment directions. When I left Vietnam I when back to LSU in Louisiana and got a degree in Engineering and 4 months after graduation I got a job with a oil company working in New Guinea, I never stopped from that point working in Thailand, Sumatra, Vietnam, Bahrain, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Nigeria. Frist I will say that my early art education taught me to think outside the box that had been an asset in my professional life enabling to solve engineering problems that were though impossible before. I went on to being a Project Manager on my last $6billion project in Nigeria before retiring in Thailand where I am writing this review at 76.

What a lovely place! I recently took a bead making class here and it was thoroughly enjoyable from…read morestart to finish. It was difficult picking just one class because there were so many of them I wanted to take. Lawrence Arts Center has so much to offer all age groups. My class was a human hodge podge of ages and experience. The building is stunning. You are immediately taken in by the color collections and the great use of space and light of this building. Everywhere you look there is alluring and interesting artwork. Even the elevator interior is adorned with colorful sunflower art. This is a happy place, a very happy place. The classrooms are spacious and light. They have all sorts of cool equipment for the students to create their artwork. The instructors are all very knowledgeable and experienced in their craft. I was very impressed with the accommodations provided. There is ample parking and a parking garage is located across the street. There is no issue with access. All in all this is a terrific asset to the city. If you have some time on your hands and find yourself downtown, this is the place to be!

I'm not a particularly artistic person, but we stopped in here on our trip to Lawrence. I was very…read moreimpressed with the building, sleek and clean. I was also impressed by the sheer number of programs they boast here from theater and singing, metal working, pressing, painting, sculpture, etc. Many of these can be seen on display in the galleries about the building. They also have early school and learning centers attached. It makes for a very cool place for the arts crowd to gather.

I have been volunteering at Mattie Rhodes for 10 years now, Their new gallery is down the street!…read moreThey still own the art building for educational classes for kids after school! but the gallery address is 1701 Jarboe St, Kansas City, MO 64108! I absolutely love it! It is a space open to the public, they have an immense amount of talented artists from all over Kansas City! I would 10000% recommend you visit!

Nothing beats wearing a brand new outfit to a big party…read more And Mattie Rhodes knows how to party. The gallery and art center has moved down the street into a much larger and full sized room. The tight and cramped spaces at the old location have been turned into a bright, open and inviting space for people of all ages and backgrounds. The art exhibitions are more in depth. The workshops can include more participants. And those exhibition opening and closing parties? They're better than ever. For more info, please visit the art center's website and Facebook page.

Such a lovely museum and they host events!! In my case, my wedding!!! It was an absolute pleasure…read moreto have had my wedding here and I would do it all over again! Wonderful staff and wonderful artwork to look at. So many fun rooms, too! Downstairs has a speak easy and library and theater area. Such a fun place for events!

We chose to have our wedding here and with no regrets. To begin, the event manager was most helpful…read moreand accommodating to all our wishes for our special day. There were so many options for where we could hold our ceremony, including outside near the beautifully manicured gardens and fountain. We chose the package which includes complete setup and teardown of all tables, chairs, linens, dinnerware, catered food, and decorations. Unbelievable value. We were able to share the entire museum with our guests and enjoy all the unique character this historic venue has to offer. 10 outta 10, I would HIGHLY recommend!

I work at KU but on the West Campus so I rarely venture to the Union. Recently, I was required to…read morego there for a graduation ceremony. I was dreading this like a toothache. I pictured terrible parking, difficult to find room and too many people crammed in a poorly ventilated mini-auditorium. To my surprise, the Union was quite a pleasure. Parking was not the nightmare I envisioned and I was able to get a space within walking distance of the Union. I was able to easily locate the Woodruff Auditorium. Staff did a great job of posting directions at easy-to-find locations. I was able to find the auditorium and easily get a seat. The Woodruff Auditorium was big and spacious. I had no problem finding a seat and getting situated for graduation. This is a large auditorium but they did not squish people into spaces. There was plenty of room and it was the perfect climate. The acoustics were great, too, and I could hear perfectly from the back of the room. I was very impressed with this venue. I did not really have a chance to shop or venture into any of the other parts of the Union. From my quick glance, though, I could see this place was stocked with all the amenities people would need. There was a small convenience store, a large bookstore, a bank and other stores tucked away inside this building. Very nice place and the perfect venue for graduation.

I love the Union. It's hard to emphasize how much I love the Union, but I'll sure give it a try!…read moreNow for a walk down memory lane: - Freshman orientation: I first set foot in the Union for freshman orientation. Obviously, I had no idea what I was in for. My dad knew his way around and mysteriously managed to walk us past his "Outstanding Graduate of 1976" plaque. "No pressure" he told me. Yeah right. - Bookstore: "Wait, I need books?" Yes, books are good. The Bookstore has great deals on student essentials ranging from books and papers to Apple products (score!). Remember to load Beak'em Bucks on your student ID during enrollment -- especially if it's on your parents' dime ;) -- and you can use your KU card here instead of cash for some items (not sure if that really works for books, but I doubt it). - Walking to Memorial Stadium for football games: To get to the football stadium, there is a great shortcut through the Union. You enter on the 4th floor and go down to the bottom and presto -- the field is right in front of you! Go 'hawks! - JayBowl: I reviewed JayBowl separately, so I'll be brief. Bowling. *Extremely* student-friendly pricing. Bowling. That simple. - Classes: Yep, I even had a few classes in the Union. The lecture hall on the 4th floor is very nice! - Student Involvement and Leadership Center: If you're interested in getting involved on campus, you should DEFINITELY swing by the SILC office. Tons of awesome organizations to get involved in. Student Senate, Natural Ties, Alternative Breaks, KU LEAD, Greek Life and dozens of other organizations. Definitely something for everyone and lots of interesting people to meet. - Inter-Fraternity Council: Interfratters unite at the IFC office. Not sure how much work gets done, but I'm pretty sure those guys have a good time! - Blueprints Leadership Conference: For aspiring leaders and folks that are just interested in leadership (shout-out to the Leadership Minor), the Blueprints leadership conference is awesome. Check it out. - Rock Chalk Revue practice: I even had a few RCR practices in the Union. For the un-initiated, RCR is an annual variety show and philanthropy founded in the '50s. My wife and I met when we were partners in Rock Chalk so those days hold a special place in my heart, plus we won Rock Chalk pretty handily that year!. I'm sure I'm missing plenty of other great gems about our beloved Union. I hope you have as good of a time as I did! Rock Chalk!