Event Calendar
Join us for artist talks, performances, lectures, concerts, workshops, and other creative programs for all ages.
Watch recordings of past public programs here.
Programming is generously supported by the Jack and Karen Holland Visiting Artist Program.
Sunday, May 1, 2022
Drag Queen Story Time
Join the queens and sisters of Drag Queen Storytime KC for dramatic readings of the original tales by the Brothers Grimm in the galleries of Natalie Frank: Unbound.
Parental discretion advised! The tales will be read unedited, as written by the Brothers Grimm, so this reading may not be appropriate for all children.
Image: Natalie Frank, American, born 1980, Detail of Cinderella I, 2011–14, from Tales of the Brothers Grimm, gouache and chalk pastel on paper, 30 x 22 inches. Collection of Kathleen and Chris Loughlin. © Natalie Frank. Photo: Farzad Owrang.
Thursday, May 5, 2022
Gallery Guided Meditation
Participants will be guided through meditation, qigong, breathing instruction, and sound healing from the Natalie Frank: Unbound galleries. No experience necessary and classes vary.
Image: Natalie Frank, American, born 1980, Finette Cendron IV, 2019–20, from Madame d’Aulnoy, gouache and chalk pastel on paper, 30 x 22 inches. Collection of Kathleen and Chris Loughlin. © Natalie Frank. Photo: Farzad Owrang.
Thursday, May 12, 2022
Virtual Artist Talk: Natalie Frank
Brooklyn, New York-based artist Natalie Frank (American, born 1980) discusses her creative practice and exhibition of drawings inspired by some of the best-known and most controversial literary narratives.
Image: Natalie Frank. Photo by Daniel Kunitz.
Natalie Frank Artist Talk – AT CAPACITY
Join us at Kemper Museum as Brooklyn, New York-based artist Natalie Frank (American, born 1980) discusses her creative practice and exhibition of drawings inspired by some of the best-known and most controversial literary narratives.
After the talk, guests will have the opportunity to view Natalie Frank: Unbound and celebrate the exhibition at an outdoor reception.
Seating begins at 5:45 p.m. Talk begins at 6 p.m.
Image: Natalie Frank, American, born 1980, All Fur III, 2011–14, from Tales of the Brothers Grimm, gouache and chalk pastel on paper, 30 x 22 inches. Private Collection. © Natalie Frank. Photo: Farzad Owrang.
"Natalie Frank: Unbound" Closing Celebration
Join the artist at Kemper Museum to view Natalie Frank: Unbound and celebrate the exhibition at an outdoor reception.
Image: Natalie Frank, American, born 1980, All Fur III, 2011–14, from Tales of the Brothers Grimm, gouache and chalk pastel on paper, 30 x 22 inches. Private Collection. © Natalie Frank. Photo: Farzad Owrang.
Saturday, May 14, 2022
Spring Camp Kemper: Storytelling Through Art
Save your spot for this one-day outdoor art camp. Inspired by the exhibition Natalie Frank: Unbound, activities will explore storytelling through art.
All art materials will be provided at no cost. To register, email eclosen@kemperart,org by May 7.
Tuesday, May 17, 2022
TOTs on Tuesday
TOTs on Tuesday is back at the museum for the summer! Sing songs, read books, explore art, and make your own art with a Kemper Museum educator and Kansas City librarian. Each TOTs on Tuesday session will be held outdoors.
Thursday, May 19, 2022
Artist Talk: Paul Anthony Smith
Join artist Paul Anthony Smith (Jamaican, born 1988) for an artist talk in conjunction with his solo exhibition, Searching, on view at Kemper Museum from May 6–October 30, 2022.
Bar opens at 5 p.m.
Artist talk begins at 6 p.m.
Smith creates paintings and unique picotage on pigment prints that explore the artist’s autobiography, as well as issues of identity within the African diaspora. Referencing both W.E.B. Du Bois’ concept of double consciousness and Franz Fanon’s theory of cultural confusions caused by colonialism, Smith alludes to diasporic rituals of adorning the body. Trained in ceramics with a B.F.A. from the Kansas City Art Institute, Smith uses sharp, hand-crafted wooden and metal tools to pick away at the surfaces of photographs he has taken, obscuring and altering his subjects.
Smith’s practice celebrates the rich and complex histories of the post-colonial Caribbean and its people. Memory, migration, and home are central to Smith’s work, which probes questions of hybrid identities between worlds old and new. Smith’s layered picotage is often patterned in the style of Caribbean breeze block fences and modernist architectural elements that function as veils, meant both to obscure and to protect Smith’s subjects from external gaze. While photography typically functions as a way in which to reveal and share information, Smith’s picotage has a concealing and purposefully perplexing effect. Forcing these nuanced diasporic histories into a singular picture plane, Smith encourages layers of unease within these outwardly jovial portraits. Picotage serves as an access point as Smith interrogates which elements of identity are allowed to pass through the complexities of borders and migration. Amidst tensions and misidentifying gazes remains the power of community assembly – a reminder of the Jamaican coat of arms, which reads: “Out of many, one people.”
Paul Anthony Smith (Jamaican, born 1988), Untitled (STYLE PON DEM), 2021–22, picotage on inkjet print, acrylic gouache and spray paint on museum board mounted on Dibond, 60 x 40 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Art and photo © Paul Anthony Smith. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
Thursday, May 26, 2022
Studio Night: Bringing Art to Life (Figure Drawing) – AT CAPACITY
Join us for a guided figure drawing session at the museum, inspired by Aliza Nisenbaum: Aquí Se Puede (Here You Can), an installation of large-scale portraits picturing individuals connected to Kansas City salsa music and dance communities. The live models for this session are Dálida T. Pupo Barrios and Michael McClintock, the subjects of Nisenbaum's portrait Dálida and Michael (Serenata del Tres Cubano). Materials will be provided. Drawing sessions will take place at Kemper Museum. All levels of experience are welcome.
Email eclosen@kemperart.org to register.
Image: Aliza Nisenbaum (Mexican-American, born 1977), Dálida and Michael (Serenata del Tres Cubano), 2021, oil on canvas, 64 x 57 x 1¼ inches. Art and image © Aliza Nisenbaum.