All Episodes

June 25, 2025 15 mins

The Art Press Fund is transforming Manhattan's cultural landscape by bringing diverse events to the community while renovating a historic Art Deco building into a 400-person indoor venue to complement their successful outdoor space.

• Eric Kleiner, musician with Headlight Rivals, leads the organization alongside Derek Richards and his sister
• The fund's three main goals include providing affordable/free entertainment for all ages, bringing diverse music genres to Manhattan, and creating year-round entertainment options
• The historic Ag Press building renovation will create a 400-person indoor venue expected to open in early 2025
• Arts in the Park concert series, now in its third year under Art Press management, continues a 50-year tradition of free community concerts
• The venue will host more than concerts, including art showings, speakers, and community meetings
• The organization seeks community support to continue growing its cultural offerings
• People can find information about upcoming events and support opportunities via "The Press" on social media platforms and the Art Press District website


GMCF

CFAs

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater
Manhattan Community Foundation.
In this episode we feature arecently broadcast segment of
the GMCF Community Hour as heardon NewsRadio KMAN.
Back with the second segment onthe GMCF Community Hour here on
NewsRadio KMAN.
Yes, we originate the show inManhattan and I, dave Lewis, and

(00:22):
in Key West, florida.
It's a vacation, but I amtaking, you know, an hour and a
half or so to do this little gig, and so it's always fun and
challenging to go through allthe technology.
So special thanks to Felix forall the work he's doing to
navigate that world.
Speaking of navigating a world,how about Eric Kleiner?
Eric Kleiner is joining us hereon the program.

(00:44):
He is with the Art Press Fundand this is our.
I think this is our first timeto visit.
About Art Press, or Art Press,eric, tell us what Art Press is.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Well, the Art Press Fund is a non-profit that aims
to bring different events of allkinds to the area.
I excel in the concert and therock and roll side of things,
but we have a few differentworkers that deal with different
stuff.
We do all kinds of events andwe're trying to make them bigger

(01:18):
and better for Manhattan.

Speaker 1 (01:21):
I feel like so, eric.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
Go ahead, sorry.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
Eric is the band.
Is what?
Sorry, eric is a musician.
You are the band.
Is what?
Headlight Rivals?
Yes, uh-huh.

Speaker 2 (01:30):
That is.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
So you are a musician but you also coordinate a lot
of musicians at a lot of bandsand you also work with Manhattan
Parks and Recreation onbringing the Arts in the Park
concert series to town.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
We do.
Yeah, we've been doing that,for this is our third year doing
that and it's a blast it's.
We're lucky to have a traditionof 50 years of music in the
park for free.
We were very happy to be partof it and I think we've improved
it quite a bit as well.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
I think everybody has a different great memory of
arts at the park over the past.
I mean, we've seen some.
Blake Shelton was there when hewas, you know, just getting
started we had Chuck checker, mygosh, we've had some real
legends there, you know.
And you know Martina McBridecame and did a benefit concert

(02:24):
after the 93 flood.
There was all kinds of greatstars that we have had and we
got a lot of local talent.
That's just wonderful.
And and art center park isalways just and he waved for
juneteenth.
How about that that would havebeen.
I wasn't able to go to that,but that would have been a blast
.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
Yeah, yeah, it's really cool what Juneteenth has
done down there.
I'm glad I think thateverything went okay with that,
but I don't think it rained atall.
Usually we get recursed onFridays and just pop up rain,
but we're getting lucky thisyear.

Speaker 1 (02:59):
Well let's get back to the Art Press Fund.
You're a new entity and let'stalk a bit about who all is
involved, who the players areand what you all hope to achieve
.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
Well, there's many people involved.
The top three players aremyself, my partner Derek
Richards, who owns the Ag Pressbuilding with his wife Corey and
the press building, and then mysister is also on the art press
board and she does a lot moreof the paperwork side of things.

(03:32):
I'm kind of the big idea showguy.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
So what are your let's just say your top three
goals with art press.
We'll come back and talk aboutthe ag press building here in a
little bit, which is a greatstory in its own right too.
So you've got some goals.

Speaker 2 (03:50):
Our number one goal is to bring you know affordable
or free entertainment that canbe great for everybody.
You know we're definitely notfor dividing the crowds.
We want kids and adults andolder people and all people to

(04:10):
like the events that are goingon.
The second thing would be tobring in diversity to Manhattan
amongst the genres of music.
You know we're lucky inManhattan where we have quite a
rock and roll and country thinggoing on here, but we want to
keep bringing in differentgenres of music and and

(04:33):
different, you know, levels ofartists.
And the third thing you knowwould would probably be, you
know I mean, arts in the parkand the president is is awesome,
but we we do have like an offseason right now, but when our
building is completed we don'twant to take time off from

(04:53):
having events.
We want there to be a constantstream of entertainment for the
people in Manhattan.

Speaker 1 (05:03):
Let's talk about the Art Press building or the Ag
Press building, and it's, youknow, original form, now with a
new name.
Apparently it's registered as ahistoric building because of
the Art Deco type.
Look that it has thearchitecture world.
It's just a neat building andit's been well maintained and

(05:25):
it's just got so much potentialand I know Derek had just really
had this great vision abouttrying to make something special
out of this for the communityyeah, and and it's going to be
amazing.

Speaker 2 (05:40):
You know, we we run the outside venue right now and
we've had shows up to about 600people there and we've had
events as small as 50 peoplethere.
The inside will be a 400-personcap, which, for a promoter like
me, it makes your job a loteasier to have indoor shows and
outdoor shows.

(06:00):
As much as I love Arts in thePark and the Press's outdoor
venue, we have a lot of weathervariables, um, so it'll really
take the stress off of mepromoting and we'll be able to
get bigger acts and, as soon asthe building's done, have a roof
over their head.

Speaker 1 (06:14):
So I'm very excited for that absolutely well,
there's, uh, is there a timeframe that you have with the uh,
the building itself, to do alot, lot of the improvements
that you want to be able toincorporate?

Speaker 2 (06:27):
Yeah, you know, derek would know a lot more about
that than me but they'reexpecting to have it open in
this next year.
So hopefully, by hopefullyafter New Year's or in the
spring of next year, we willhave an indoor venue.
On Yuma of next year we willhave an indoor venue on Yuma.

Speaker 1 (06:45):
So you have established the Art Press Fund
to help assist financially withthis.
You had, like you had,acknowledged you're a non-profit
.

Speaker 2 (07:01):
Let's talk about this fund and how that's starting to
come together.
For the effort, oh, you knowit's been great.
Um, you know, our, our, ourgoal besides, you know, bringing
different art and, um,different shows and events to
the area is to.
You know, I'm a musician and Ikind of get to see things from
both sides as a promoter andI've seen hundreds of venues and
played hundreds of shows and Iand I know how this works.
But we want to ensure that theaudience, the artists, the

(07:24):
production teams, anybodyinvolved or going to these
events are taken care of andeverybody is treated very well.
You know, the Art Press Fundbasically started out of when I
was in high school and then Iwent to college.
I started booking bands and, uh, derek started coming to our

(07:47):
shows and liking the way that wewere doing things and you know,
it got to the point where theshows were getting pretty big
that Derek had thought we coulddo something with them.
So the art press fund kind ofspurred off of just me trying to
bring bands and book my ownbands here in Manhattan and we
have a bunch of things Fantastic.

Speaker 1 (08:12):
This is a rather large undertaking, with the work
that you want to do, and it'snot just live music that you
want to see happening there atthe art press building in the
future.

Speaker 2 (08:26):
Yeah, you know we want there to be.
It's more than just a concertvenue.
It's an event space.
You know we want there to beart showings, speakers, you know
, community meetings.
However, the building can beused to benefit you know, the
people that want to rent it orthe events in the community.

(08:48):
That's what we'll use it for.
But yeah, it's far more thanjust a rock and roll venue,
that's for sure.
It really it's four acres, youknow, in the middle of town.
It's kind of unbelievable thatit exists and the promise it has
yeah, do you have some thingsin the works for fundraising

(09:09):
events?
yeah, you know, um, with arts inthe park, you know we try to um
, you know, have benefactors forevery show and and we try to to
not only raise money, you know,to have our events, which we're
very lucky to have, you know, agood community support behind
us.
But, um, one of theinspirations for the art press

(09:32):
fund was this organization outof kansas city called the mmf,
the midwest music foundation,and I they help bands out all
the time to get insurance andthings like that for touring
musicians.
They were a big, you know,inspiration for ours.

(09:52):
So right now, during our artsin the park season, it's kind of
awesome because we kind of getto help those through them being
our benefactors, help themraise money alongside us for our
events.
So so like, we're helpingorganizations and you know
non-profits in kansas city andand all over manhattan here do

(10:13):
their thing too.
Um, but you know, in anon-profit when you're trying to
do events we're always lookingfor, for support in the
community, for sure let's jumpback a little bit to like um
arts in the park for a littlebit.

Speaker 1 (10:24):
Uh, because you know, you, you obviously have a lot
of the connections, you know,with the talent that we have in
the area and and much of whatyou have done there is is pick
out local talent, which I thinkis just a wonderful aspect that
you bring to arts in the park.
But what's that selectionprocess like to determine?

(10:45):
You know, because I know yougot goals.
You got so many differentpeople that are into different
types of music.
But you know, when I go out andI see you know several hundred
manhattanites there for arts inthe park, that their
representation, their age group,does not necessarily define the
type of music.

(11:05):
They just want to beentertained and take advantage
of something that's just reallyunusual and unique about
Manhattan.

Speaker 2 (11:12):
Yeah, you know, arts in the Park is cool because
there is everybody, from, youknow, babies to people that are,
you know, 80s or 90 years oldand a lot of the like.
Via Christi brings their fromthe nursing home, brings a lot
of people out for the shows.
So, you know, when, as apromoter, when I'm looking for
bands, you know, orentertainment, you know, the

(11:35):
first thing is, you know theyhave to be a credible artist,
like they have to have generallyrecorded music or, you know,
somehow show us that they're,that they're good, a live band,
you know, or have cds or orwhatever, however they
distribute their music.
Um, but you know A lot of localbands I'll go see, because some
of these college bands that dohave a good pull around here and

(11:57):
do bring people out, they mightnot have that.
So a lot of the discoveringbands will be, you know, as far
as local talent, going out andseeing them yourself sometimes

(12:18):
help, but not so much anymore.
Um, for me, you know, even if weget bigger bands, and I always
want to have local artists andlocal bands be part of arts in
the park, because that's reallywhat it's all about.
You know a lot of these peopleare patrons for years that go to
arts in the park and we do havea lot of local talent.
That's really good.
So I I do like to showcase thatand I think that you know a lot
of people compare manhattan toplaces like lawrence and kansas

(12:40):
city and and I think that we, wedo have a competitive market
and have a lot of good musiciansand a lot of those musicians
from those areas really likeplaying in manhattan.
So so booking manhattan and youknow especially the press in the
park stage is very fun andthere's a lot of eager people to
play there.
So we we try to be selective,very selective, but but we try

(13:02):
to balance, you know, differentgenres with locals and touring
acts as well.
We don't just want one simplerecipe for anything you know.

Speaker 1 (13:12):
We've got a great story to tell and we're pretty
excited about being able toshare it here on the GMCF
Community Hour.
How can people find out moreand, if they got a notion to
help out with the Art Press Fund, what's the process like?

Speaker 2 (13:26):
Yeah, you can search the press on.
All forms of social media willbe there.
Media will be there.
The art press district umwebsite is a really good place
to find all of the shows, allthe events, the, the goals and
the vision of the building um.
But really, you know now we weadvertise on radio and we use

(13:48):
every avenue, but I personallythink most people get a lot of
information from facebook andinstagram.
So facebook and instagram thepress are probably the best
places to go to to findinformation absolutely, eric.

Speaker 1 (14:02):
We've covered a lot of things here, anything that we
didn't touch.
Based on that, you want to makesure that we share no, I don't
think so, you know.

Speaker 2 (14:09):
I think we're on to something really good in
manhattan and since I was a,I've seen a scene and
entertainment go up and down,and I think we're on our way up,
so I'm pretty happy about that.

Speaker 1 (14:21):
Definitely, so definitely.
Eric Kleiner is hererepresenting the art press fund.
What a great story to tell.
So we'll find out more aboutthem in the future and you, as
our listeners and supporters ofthe community foundation, we
certainly hope that you'll lendhim an ear and also get out and
help support them and andefforts in the future all right

(14:43):
eric have a good day, and whenwe come back from the break,
we're going to be visiting withsome folks from salvation army.
we had a little bit of a changein our plans here mid-show, so
we've got, uh, carla and, Ibelieve, sarah that are going to
be here and we're going to besharing the Salvation Army story

(15:03):
coming up here in just a coupleof moments when we return from
the break.
On the GMCF Community Hour,which is brought to you on KMAN
every Monday morning at 10,sometimes and mostly in
Manhattan, but this week in KeyWest Florida.
How about that?
Huh?
Always find out more about usat the website, which is
mcfksorg.
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Crime Junkie

Crime Junkie

Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.

24/7 News: The Latest

24/7 News: The Latest

The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.

Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.