Laura Spencer

Indonesian gang culture. The hunt for Osama bin Laden. Sunbathers, barbecuers and swimmers at a national park in Israel. Life in a Karachi orphanage. These are just some of the subjects explored in the nearly 40 films scheduled for this year's True/False Film Fest.

A pinhole camera is a simple tool – and it can be constructed with basic materials. You could even make one at home with your child on a snow day. All you need is cardboard, tape, and aluminum foil. But, it’s the eye behind the camera that draws a line between child’s play and the potential for photography.

"Snowpocalypse 2" brought upwards of a foot of snow to some parts of the Kansas City metropolitan area. The storm shut down schools and businesses, and knocked out power to tens of thousands of residents.

At a press conference this morning, officials say they found a body in the rubble of the site of former JJ's restaurant on the Country Club Plaza. No positive identification has been made yet.

Nature has provided a source of inspiration for Chinese poets and painters for thousands of years. An exhibition at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art juxtaposes the old with the new - showcasing some of the museum’s collection of Song Dynasty paintings, as well as a monumental landscape by a contemporary Chinese artist.

A proposal is in the works to tear down the Orion Pictures building in the Film Row District in the Crossroads Arts District in Kansas City, Mo. and put a 180-space garage in its place. But some say the 1946 building should be preserved.

Over the next six months, a quiet Midtown laundromat will be transformed into the site for a series of arts events. It’s an experiment - combining different genres including film, poetry, and even culinary arts - with a focus on public-oriented artwork.

Greek mythology is considered one of the major touchstones of Western culture. And modern literature abounds with references.

This week marked the launch of a series of public meetings – at community centers, libraries, churches, a museum, an art gallery, even a police station - to discuss the future of the arts in Kansas City.

Kansas City Art Institute students experienced cross-cultural communication through art during a Sunday workshop with visiting artists at the H&R Block Artspace. As part of their 1o-day residency in Kansas City, the Xijing Men led the students through activities designed to inspire them to use their skills as budding artists.