The Tivoli Cinemas — or a reasonable facsimile thereof — might be getting a revival.
Harrington
Officials with the Nelson-Atkins Museum are in discussions with Jerry Harrington, Tivoli owner, on a collaborative project to present “art-house” movies at the museum.
Kathleen Leighton, manager of media relations and visual productions at the Nelson Gallery, said museum director and CEO Julien Zugazagoitia “has been in talks with Jerry.” She added that as of now, “There is nothing to announce.”
If terms and a deal are reached, movies like those that Harrington brought to the Tivoli before it closed in April would be shown in the 500-seat Atkins Auditorium event space.
Admission would be charged, but because the auditorium is considered gallery space — some Thomas Hart Benton paintings adorn at least one wall — food and drink might not be allowed.
The Nelson’s website describes the space as blending “up-to-date audio-visual capabilities with a gracious setting” and adds, “The acoustics are well-suited for film, voice and music.”
…In the spring I attended a One Day University event at the Atkins Auditorium and found the space to be reasonably appealing. On the positive side, the sound and sight lines are good. On the negative side, the slope of the room is rather steep, and some uneven surfaces near the top make footing a bit challenging in those areas.
Overall, however, a return of a Jerry-Harrington movie-house operation at the Nelson would be a wonderful thing for Kansas City and the gallery, as well as Harrington. Let’s hope it works out. I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t.
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Former Kansas city Star reporter Kelsey Ryan, who is developing an online news operation called The Beacon, sent out a unique “Happy Layoff-versery” notice today.
Ryan
Ryan’s email marked the one-year anniversary of The Star laying her off — a fate that has befallen scores of editorial and other Star employees since 2008, two years after the McClatchy chain bought the paper as part of its acquisition of the Knight Ridder chain.
Although the Newton, KS, native was shocked and very upset when she got that 7 a.m. phone call, she said she almost immediately began looking forward. She wrote…
“By 3 p.m., my work email was downloaded and my resume updated. And by 5 p.m., I realized I really didn’t want to ever work for another McClatchy paper. Or Gannett. Or GateHouse. Or (insert name of struggling newspaper company here). That in some ways, going to another newspaper was the easy route, to grab a lifeboat and hope it won’t sink itself in the next year or two. To bury my head in the sand, pretending more layoffs wouldn’t happen. Instead, I decided I would build a new ship.”
She has meticulously and painstakingly been developing her new venture, which is not yet up and running. She has some funding and office space (the Westport Plexpod) and hopes to announce a board of directors soon.
Her plan with The Beacon is to shine a light on “wrongdoings and abuse by government, businesses and other institutions in the region through in-depth, solutions-driven journalism.”
Just like her old job with The Star, her new undertaking is “still a grind,” but with a big difference…”It’s my grind.”
…I wish Kelsey the best and, like many other former Star journalists, am eager to see The Beacon up and running.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Thanks for giving us this news about Kelsey Ryan. I met her recently when she was a panelist at a Kansas Open Meetings Act (KOMA) and Kansas Open Records Act (KORA) conducted in KCKS by Phillip Michael of the office of the Kansas Attorney General. I hope you will let us know further information about The Beacon.
I’ve mentioned before on here that some of the senior staff laid off by The Star could create their own online version of a newspaper and, as a function of their experience, contacts and institutional memory, bury The Star. That was done by the terminated staff of the other newspapers in Kansas and I believe the old staff put their former employer pretty much out of business.
Kudos to Ms Ryan. If she follows her stated goals The Beacon should be a blessing for Kansas Citians.
I don’t know Kelsey Ryan and am assuming that she came to The Star after I was laid off from there in 2008. But I feel her pain and admire her resolve big time. If you’re reading this, Kelsey, good luck with your online news service. I will support it any way I can.
Several of us former reporters and editors met with her at the Bier Station several months ago, Mike…Marty Rosenberg put the session together. Later, a kick-off event of sorts was held at the same place. (I wasn’t able to make it.)
Kelsey is very smart and obviously doesn’t shrink from a major undertaking. I think her chances of succeeding are good. The challenge, of course, will be breaking through the noise of the internet and building a core audience…If we get together with her again, I’ll let you know.
I was going to go to that event but was in St. Louis helping the firm with a trial.