A celebration of Kansas City and the historic Midland Theatre.
All throughout the building, Midland Lofts artfully curated collection of works ingeniously calls forth the glamour of old grand movie palaces from Hollywood’s early days and merges it with contemporary interpretations of old-world themes taken from the silent film and Vaudeville era up to the jazz-tinged music of 1960’s West Village nightclubs.
The art program was designed to evoke the opulence, mystery, and glamour of the entertainment industry in all its various iterations.
All images are copyrighted and used with sole intention to promote the property’s art collection.
I Will Rise II
Front Desk Mural: I Will Rise II, by Michael Vincent Manalo, is a modern presentation of the dramatic red drapery that evokes the image of theatrical curtains from Midland's heyday in the 1920's while the contemporary figure makes the work feel of today.
Lady in Pearls
Elevator Lobby: Lady in Pearls, by Tyrus Lyton, epitomizes the glamour of the Golden Era in Hollywood, when opening nights and film premieres were lavish see and be seen affairs.
Duke Ellington
Billiards Room: Duke Ellington, was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra
Ella Fitzgerald
Billiards Room: Ella Fitzgerald was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song" and "Queen of Jazz"
Lena Horne
Billiards Room: Lena Horne was an American singer, actress, dancer, and civil rights activist.
Louis Armstrong
Elevator Vestibule: Louis Armstrong was an American trumpeter and vocalist. His career spanned 5 decades and he was among the most influential figures in jazz.
Ramon Novarro
Billiards Room: Ramon Novarro was a Mexican-American Film Star in the 1920s and 1930s. Novarro starred in The Road to Romance, the first film screened at Loew’s Midland Theatre on October 28, 1927.
Maria Callas
Billiards Room: Maria Callas was an American-born Greek soprano who was one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century.
Maria Callas at the Midland Theatre
Billiards Room: Maria Callas performed at the Loew’s Midland Theater on October 28, 1959 for the theater’s 32nd anniversary.
Miles Davis
Billiards Room: Miles Davis was an American jazz musician and among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music.
Nina Simone
Billiards Room: Nina Simone was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, composer, arranger and civil rights activist.
Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino, nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor based in the United States, was one of the first in Hollywood to offer an award for artistic accomplishments in films.
Dorothy Dandridge
Billiards Room: Dorothy, by Patrick Wallace, is a painting of Dorothy Dandridge an American actress and singer. She was the first African-American film star to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Billie Holliday
Billiards Room: Billie Holiday was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day", Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop singing.
Duke Ellington
Billiards Room: Duke Ellington was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra
Raymond Griffith
Raymond Griffith was an American silent movie comedian who later became a writer and producer.
The Road to Romance
Billiards Room: Movie poster for The Road to Romance, the first film screened at Loew’s Midland Theater on October 28, 1927.
Lupe Velez
Lupe Velez was a Mexican actress, singer, and dancer during the Golden Age of Hollywood
Loew’s Midland Theatre
Leasing Office: Historic photograph of the Loew’s Midland Theatre marquee
Sarah Vaughn
Second Floor Mailroom: Sarah Vaughn was an American jazz singer. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and was nominated for a total of nine Grammy Award
Silent Movie Production
Coworking Space: These photographs evoke imagery of silent movie film production from a decidedly modern perspective
Tribute to Swing Bands of the 1940s & 1950s
Fitness Center: Highly stylized customer composition makes reference to the jazz & swing bands and lady singers of the 1940s &1950s, when smokey nightclubs were sought after venues for entertainment.
The Wild Party
Laundry Room: Movie poster for The Wild Party, a 1929 film about a comely collegian (Clara Bow) falling for an anthropology professor (Fredric March) and accompanies him on a jungle expedition. It's known as one of the first films to introduce the use of the boom microphone.
Count Blasie
Lobby Entrance Seating: William James "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Known for one of his great albums, Count Basie and the Kansas City 7
Cabin in the Sky
Laundry Room: Movie poster for Cabin in The Sky which tells the story of when compulsive gambler Little Joe Jackson (Eddie "Rochester" Anderson) dies in a drunken fight, he awakens in purgatory, where he learns that he will be sent back to Earth for six months to prove that he deserves to be in heaven. The Film is notable due to its entirely African-American cast, which was unheard-of back in 1943
Vintage Microphone
Laundry Room
Loew’s Midland Theater
Leasing Office: Historic photograph of the Loew’s Midland Theater marquee
Drama and Comedy
Conference Room
Bill "Bojangles" Robinson
Second Floor Mailroom: Bill Robinson, nicknamed Bojangles, was an American tap dancer, actor, and singer, the best known and the most highly paid African-American entertainer in the United States during the first half of the 20th century.
Vintage Microphone
Laundry Room
A Modern Take on Early Movie production
Business Center
A Modern Take on Early Movie production
Business Center
Red Theater Curtain
Conference Room
Fanny Brice
Lobby Entrance Seating: Fanny Brice was an American comedian, illustrated song model, singer, and theater and film actress who made many stage, radio, and film appearances
Loew’s Midland Theater
Leasing Office: Loew’s Midland Marquee featuring the Grand Opening Date.
Harold Lloyd
Lobby Entrance Seating: Harold Lloyd was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many silent comedy films. One of the most influential film comedians of the silent era, Lloyd made nearly 200 comedy films from 1914 to 1947.
Vintage Microphone
Laundry Room
Vintage Theater Seating
Second Floor Mailroom
Midland Chandelier
Conference Room
Josephine Baker
Lobby Entrance Seating: Josephine Baker was an American-born French dancer, singer and actress. She was the first black woman to star in a major motion picture, the 1927 silent film Siren of the Tropics.
Carmen Jones
Laundry Room: Movie poster for Carmen Jones the tale of the cigarette-maker Carmen and the Spanish cavalry soldier Don Jose is translated into a modern-day story of a parachute factory worker and a stalwart GI named Joe who is about to go to flying school.
Gloria Swanson
Lobby Entrance Seating: Gloria May Josephine Swanson was an American actress. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most famously for her 1950 return in Sunset Boulevard,
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