Arts Archives

While we usually admire an artist's ability to be creative in their work, many of the most successful artists find that they must also be creative in business.

By Susan B. Wilson

A new theatre production called Slammed! explores the impact of the recession through the eyes of local residents. It's inspired by the documentary theatre style of Anna Deveare Smith and the oral histories of Studs Terkel.

By Laura Spencer

Kansas City, MO – More than fifty people from the Kansas City area were interviewed for the project, including artists, economists, social workers and corporate executives.

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art announced 75 patrons have gifted 400 works of art, in honor of the museum's 75th anniversary - and the museum's retiring director, Marc Wilson. This includes a collection of Impressionist masterpieces.

By Laura Spencer

Kansas City, MO – The Marion and Henry Bloch Collection of 29 Impressionist works is considered one of the most important private collections of Impressionist art in the United States.

With the Unicorn Theatre's mounting of the Tony Award-winning musical "Grey Gardens," the cast and production team faced a formidable task. The lead actresses are recreating two of the most beloved and iconic figures in the history of documentary filmmaking and it's their notoriety that has called forth a platoon of hair and make-up artists to ensure that the actors' transformations ring true.

By Steve Walker

The Charlotte Street Foundation provides support and recognition for artists. On Wednesday, the organization contacted three artists with the news that each was selected to receive a $10,000 visual artist award. Artists don't apply. They're nominated. And there's no restriction on how the money is spent.

By Laura Spencer

A new site-based installation at the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art called "Springtime in Winter" envelops visitors in a color-saturated landscape. The large work stretches 20 feet along each of the three walls, and it's nearly 11 feet tall.

By Laura Spencer

Artist Cindy Kane asked journalists who'd covered conflicts to share personal items about their war experiences. For Kane, press badges, band aids, ticket stubs, ear plugs, and smudged notes all connect the battlefield to the headlines.

By Laura Spencer

Kansas City, MO – KCUR's Laura Spencer reports on Kane's installation called The Helmet Project at Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art.

The image of Mark Twain is so embedded in American culture that it's often forgotten that he was born Samuel Clemens and had an adventurous life prior to writing classic adventures.

By Steve Walker

In a preview of a performance this weekend, Caroline Baughman tells a Pacific Northwest Native American story about how the raven stole the sun.

By Tim Bridgham

Kansas City, MO – On Saturday, January 23, 2010, The Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council presents An Evening of Interfaith Storytelling, Music, Dance, and Art called Winter's Light. One of the participants will be Caroline Baughman, who is a council member representing paganism.

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art announced a promised gift of seven works of African art from the private collection of Adele and Donald Hall, in honor of the Museum's 75th Anniversary.

By Laura Spencer

Find out why a volunteer chose to display Wayne Thiebaud's Cosmetic Counter for the exhibition Volunteer Voices: Selections from the Collection of the Kemper Museum.

By Drew Bolton

If theater audiences this month only want to see shows with holiday themes, that is not a difficult task. But when theaters decide to stage a play in December that has nothing to do with the season, it could be, to some, a calculated risk, but to others, a relief. Next week, a performance space in the Crossroads is staging an adult-themed play that's only connection to winter is that it's set north of the equator.

By Steve Walker

In November 2009, two installations of American Indian Art opened in the Kansas City metropolitan area: at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and on the campus of Johnson County Community College.

By Laura Spencer

Approximately 50 works of American Indian art from a diverse range of cultures and geography are on display in an installation at Johnson County Community College. Here, the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art's director Bruce Hartman talks about one of the commissioned works: Molly Murphy's "New Possibilities Bags: Women Stepping Forward."

By Laura Spencer

Last week, a local theater director gathered together a bunch of actors to do a satirical reading of former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's new book, "Going Rogue."

By Sylvia Maria Gross

Kansas City, MO –
Thousands of Sarah Palin's supporters have been turning up for book signings around the country. The closest she gets to Kansas City will be Springfield, Missouri on December 2, 2009. But even some of Palin's opponents are kind of curious to hear what's in the book.