Arts Archives

Photographer Edward Steichen has been described as "the Annie Leibovitz of his day, in overdrive." In the early 1920s and '30s, Steichen created more than 1000 celebrity portraits as chief photographer for Vogue and Vanity Fair.

By Laura Spencer

Kansas City, MO – Photographer Edward Steichen's crisp, bold style helped create a new era of modern glamour.

An exhibition at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art features more than 150 of Steichen's black- and-white photos, as KCUR's Laura Spencer reports.

In recording studios across the globe, even the most tone-deaf singers are achieving something close to perfect pitch, thanks to a computer program known as Autotune. Such was not the case in the early 20th century, when singers were rarely miked and either had a voice or didn't. Florence Foster Jenkins notoriously did not.

By Steve Walker

New York-based artist Nari Ward has been described as a "modern archaeologist," using salvaged materials in his works, like television sets, discarded clothes, liquor signs and grocery carts.

By Laura Spencer

Kansas City, MO – For the past 10 years, Ward has lived and worked in Harlem, collecting objects there to re-purpose. KCUR's Laura Spencer caught up with the artist recently at the Nerman Museum during the installation of the show called "Nari Ward ● Re-Presence."

After nearly three decades as director, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art's Marc Wilson retires today (June 1, 2010). KCUR's Laura Spencer reports.

By Laura Spencer

Kansas City, MO – After nearly three decades as director, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art's Marc Wilson retires today (June 1, 2010). KCUR's Laura Spencer reports.

Marc Wilson began his career at the museum in the late 1960s on a fellowship, returned as associate curator, then curator of Chinese art, and took the helm as the museum's fourth director in 1982.

Over the last three decades, the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas in Lawrence has nearly doubled the size of its collection. Looking ahead to future expansion, the museum recently hired an internationally renowned architectural firm to create a plan.

By Laura Spencer

This year's winners of the Charlotte Street Foundation's Generative Performing Artist Awards are two Kansas City artists known for the diversity of their ensemble work. KCUR's Laura Spencer reports.

By Laura Spencer

This August marks the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. In a recent edition of The Walt Bodine Show, we talked with a Texas-based artist about his new exhibition at the Kemper Museum of Art addressing Katrina and its impact on the people and the places along the Gulf Coast.

Guests:

David Bates, painter

Barbara O'Brien, curator, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art.

In recent years, visitors to Powell Gardens, the 930-acre botanical garden east of Kansas City, have encountered stone sculptures from Zimbabwe, and 30 foot dinosaurs - or explored tree houses and mazes.

By Laura Spencer

Kansas City, MO – In one of this year's outdoor exhibitions, artist Lyman Whitaker's copper blade sculptures turn with the wind. KCUR's Laura Spencer reports.

The word luminous can be defined as emitting light or full of light, enlightened or intelligent. For ceramic artist Linda Lighton, it's a light from within.

By Laura Spencer

Scribe is now the full time mural artist at Children's Mercy Hospital - he told KCUR's Susan B. Wilson about his artistic journey.

By Susan B. Wilson

Kansas City, MO – If you have ever taken a child to Children's Mercy Hospital, you can't miss the colorful murals in waiting and exam rooms. The artist who creates the vivid and whimsical animal characters, landscapes and seascapes in vibrant colors is Donald Ross.

Like the crack of a champagne bottle against the bow of a ship, a menagerie of actors, artists and musicians are launching a new performance space within the skeleton of a an old car showroom this weekend. Called The Living Room, it's the newest venue in the Crossroads District to house a mix of performance styles. And when the yet unnamed company invited reporters down to the space for a preview recently, KCUR's Steve Walker took the bait.

By Steve Walker

The art of bead work has a long tradition in the Native American culture, passed down from one generation to the next. An exhibition at the Spencer Museum in Lawrence, Beaded Heritage, pairs beaded bags and moccasins from the collection with contemporary pow wow regalia worn by two Haskell Indian Nations University students.

By Laura Spencer

The Theatre for Young America is revisiting plays and the players of the Negro Leagues in a musical fable called "The Monarchs of KC." The show proposes what might happen if the team were to reappear on the old field to a contemporary Kansas City family.

By Steve Walker

Kansas City, MO – One can almost smell the popcorn and the hot dogs at Theatre for Young America's salute to the Negro Leagues's most successful franchise, the Kansas City Monarchs.

It was seventy years ago that the Kansas City Museum opened to the public. The museum is located in a 100-year-old Beaux-Arts style mansion called Corinthian Hall. It's currently undergoing renovations and an extensive restoration.

By Laura Spencer

Kansas City, MO – Corinthian Hall was formerly the home of lumber baron Robert A. Long and his family. After Long's death, his daughters gifted the estate to the city of Kansas City to be used for a museum.

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art will soon open its long-awaited Egyptian galleries. We talk with two of the curators about the new exhibits.

By The Walt Bodine Show

Kansas City, MO –