Midwest Trust Center

Midwest Trust Center in Kansas City

Midwest Center, Johnson County Community College

The Midwest Trust Center is Johnson County’s performing arts center. Early on, the founders of Johnson County Community College (JCCC) dreamed of building a world-class performing arts venue in Johnson County, Kansas. In 1990, that dream was realized, and the center soon became a cultural hub for the rapidly growing county. The Midwest Trust Center’s growth parallels that of Johnson County, expanding from 50 events the first season to around 150 annually today. Events include Midwest Trust Center Series, the annual series of around 25 events presented by JCCC that feature professional, internationally known artists in a wide variety of genres; academic branches of JCCC; and community groups who rent the space.

In 2020 Johnson County Community College accepted a $1,000,000 donation intended to provide an ongoing endowment to support the College’s Performing Arts Series. These funds will also provide scholarships for students studying creative arts at JCCC. As a feature of the donation, the center now bears the name Midwest Trust Center, a local company founded by Brad Bergman. The donors Brad and Libby Bergman are long-time supporters of the College, having co-chaired the JCCC Foundation’s annual Some Enchanted Evening Gala – the largest single fundraising event for student scholarships. Brad has also served as Chair of the JCCC Foundation Board of Directors. The Bergmans have been consistent supporters of dozens of activities at JCCC. They have four children, each of whom has benefited from classes taught at the College.

Since 2000, with the development of the Midwest Trust Center Arts Education program, the Midwest Trust Center also addresses cultural and art-related program needs in K-12 education. The MTC Arts Education programs include school performances at the Midwest Trust Center, and engagement activities with artists performing in schools. Master classes, lecture/demonstrations, workshops and other opportunities for interaction with students happen throughout the year. MTC Arts Education  also offers support materials for programs, study guides, concert previews, plus professional development – creative skills workshops and curriculum-building seminars for teachers in arts integration.

The MTC Arts Education had a leadership role in the re-establishment of the Kansas Alliance for Arts Education, and in 2014 was named a Kennedy Center Partners in Education site, teamed with the Shawnee Mission School District. An expansion of the Kennedy Center Partnership occurred in 2018 with the addition of the Liberty Schools, and again in 2019, adding Kansas City Young Audiences, making it one of two cross-state Kennedy Center Partnerships in the US. MTC Arts Ed is the only Kennedy Center Partner in the state of Kansas.