For Adults

Summer Wheat presents on works in the exhibition, Blood, Sweat, and Tears, addressing major themes explored throughout her career.

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https://kempermuseum-artisttalk-summerwheat.eventbrite.com

Summer Wheat (b. 1977, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) earned a BA from University of Central Oklahoma and an MFA from Savannah College of Art and Design. Recent solo exhibitions include Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri (2020); KMCA, Louisville, Kentucky (2019); Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles (2018); Smack Mellon, New York (2018); Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle (2017); and Oklahoma Contemporary, Oklahoma City (2016). Her work has been featured in recent museum exhibitions, including ICA Collection: Expanding the Field of Painting, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston (2013–14); Paint Things: Beyond the Stretcher, deCordova Museum and Sculpture Park (2013); and Paradox Maintenance Technicians: A Comprehensive Manual to Contemporary Painting from Los Angeles and Beyond, Torrance Art Museum (2013). She is the recipient of the 2016 New York NADA Artadia Award given to one artist exhibiting at NADA New York. She is also the recipient of the 2019 Northern Trust Purchase Prize at EXPO Chicago and is now part of the permanent collection of the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky. Wheat’s work is also in the permanent collections of Pérez Art Museum, Miami; the Dallas Museum of Art, Texas; de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA; The Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington, Seattle; and The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC.

Anne Hardy Biswell and George Moss of Sweete Accordes will create an intimate experience, performing Medieval to late Baroque era lute music, a period referenced in Summer Wheat’s exhibition, Blood, Sweat and Tears.

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https://kempermuseum-music-sweeteaccordes.eventbrite.com

Famous English poet and playwright, William Shakespeare said that the lute had the power to transport listeners into a kind of ecstasy. Artist Summer Wheat is inspired by works throughout art history including paintings from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, which fall during Shakespeare’s life time. Sweete Accordes transports audiences through their lute music to these historic periods, giving audible context to some of the imagery and themes explored in Wheat’s exhibition.

Enjoy coffee and a casual tour of the exhibition with Shawn Bitters, artist and associate professor in the University of Kansas Visual Art Department, as he connects his use of historical imagery with works in the exhibition.

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https://kempermuseum-tour-summerwheat-bitter.eventbrite.com

Shawn Bitters is originally from Orem, Utah, and received his MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2005. He is an associate professor in The University of Kansas Visual Art Department. Solo exhibitions include Allegra LaViola Gallery, New York; Swarm Gallery, Oakland, California; Open Spaces KC, Kansas City; and The Hall of Awa Handmade Japanese Paper and Museum in Japan. He has also exhibited works at Planthouse Gallery, New York; The International Print Center of New York; Dieu Donné Papermill, New York; Icebox Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; The Michener Museum of Art, Doylestown, Pennsylvania; the Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, New Jersey; Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City; and the Visual Art Center at the University of Texas, Austin. He has been an artist-in-residence at Officina Stamperia Del Notaio, Tusa Sicily; Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna, Florida; Frans Masereel Centrum in Kasterlee, Belgium; The Hall of Awa Handmade Japanese Paper and Museum in Japan; and the Danish Council of Artists Residency on Hirsholm Island, Denmark. Bitters was one of three recipients of a 2016 Charlotte Street Foundation Visual Artist Award, Kansas City, Missouri.

A special series hosted inside Kemper Museum galleries with Sat Inder K. Khalsa of KC Kundalini Yoga, participants will be guided through meditation, qigong, breathing instruction, and sound healing. Some blankets will be provided, but participants are encouraged to bring their own yoga mat and small cushion, if possible. No experience necessary. Space is limited.

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https://kempermuseum-guidedmeditation-march.eventbrite.com

Enjoy coffee and a casual tour of the exhibition with Stephanie Lawrence, graduate art history student at University of Kansas City-Missouri, as she highlights art historical narratives in the exhibition, Blood, Sweat, and Tears.

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https://kempermuseum-tour-summerwheat-lawrence.eventbrite.com

Stephanie Lawrence is a second-year graduate student pursuing a Master of Arts degree in Art History at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Her area of interest is contemporary art and photography with a special focus on Latin American studies. During graduate school, Stephanie has served as a curatorial intern at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art assisting in programs related to the museum’s twenty-fifth anniversary year. She received a Bachelor’s of Journalism from the University of Missouri School of Journalism with an emphasis in magazine design, and much of her professional career was spent in New York City at Conde Nast where she worked in the art departments of such influential magazines as Vogue and House & Garden.

Attention all teachers! It’s time to celebrate YOU! Stop by to enjoy complementary appetizers and drinks while making art, meeting other awesome teachers, and learning about how you can creatively incorporate contemporary art into any curriculum. 

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https://kempermuseum-teacher-appreciation.eventbrite.com