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Kemper Museum is a free art museum in Kansas City, Missouri that presents global contemporary art.

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Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art acknowledges it resides on the ancestral territory of the Osage, Kaw, and Otoe-Missouria, among other tribal nations forcibly moved to the region such as the Shawnee, Wyandot, Delaware, Potawatomi, Sac and Fox and Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo) nations. We recognize and support the continued vibrancy of Native communities and cultures today who continue to thrive, as well as the inherent sovereignty of tribal nations. We are compelled to serve and advocate for these communities in accordance with our public mission.

Kemper Museum acknowledges and respects the diversity of Native people connected to this land today. Many recognize the land and all beings who live within it as relatives. We acknowledge the earth we inhabit, the waters of the Blue River, the Kansas River, the Missouri River, and the plants, animals, and people supported by them. 

We acknowledge our responsibility to be good caretakers of the land we occupy. 

Click here to learn more about our land acknowledgment process.

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On view at Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Andrea Carlson: Shimmer on Horizons considers how landscapes are shaped by history, relationships, and power.

Andrea Carlson: Shimmer on Horizons

Andrea Carlson (Grand Portage Ojibwe/European descent, b. 1979; based in northern Minnesota and Chicago, IL) considers how landscapes are shaped by history, relationships, and power. Her artworks imagine places that are “everywhere and nowhere,” visualizing these shifting yet ever-present dynamics. Grounded in Anishinaabe understandings of space and time, the works in this exhibition reflect on how land carries memories of colonial expansion and violence, as well as Indigenous presence and resistance.

Across painting, video, and sculpture, Carlson organizes imagined landscapes around one constant—the horizon. This line is reminiscent of her homelands on Lake Superior. It is also a significant art historical trope that artists have employed to depict territories as vast and vacant, ripe for the taking. Carlson’s prismatic works are not empty: they are densely layered with an abundance of motifs, making reference to the tactics of colonialism as well as her family and peers, Ojibwe culture, and Indigenous sovereignty. Confronting ongoing histories of erasure and dispossession, Carlson proposes that what appears to be lost can be remade, reimagined, or otherwise regained.

Andrea Carlson: Shimmer on Horizons is curated by Iris Colburn, Curatorial Associate at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. The Kansas City presentation is organized by Jessica S. Hong, Chief Curator, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. 

Artist Talk | Andrea Carlson

Andrea Carlson, Exit, 2019. Screenprint; 33 1/2 × 47 3/4 in. (85.1 × 121.3 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Bockley Gallery. © Andrea Carlson. Edition of 20 screenprints published by Highpoint Editions.

Andrea Carlson, Cast a Shadow, 2021. Oil, acrylic, gouache, ink, color pencil, and graphite on paper; each: 11 1/2 × 30 in. (29.2 × 76.2 cm), overall: 46 × 182 in. (116.8 × 462.3 cm). Forge Project Collection, traditional lands of the Moh-He-Con-Nuck. © Andrea Carlson. Courtesy of the artist and Bockley Gallery.

Featured Works

Meet artist Andrea Carlson at Kemper Museum.

Andrea Carlson: Shimmer on Horizons | Artist Talk & Opening Celebration

Discover connections between artist Andrea Carlson’s time-based work and local Indigenous land stewardship, wetlands rematriation, preservation, and challenges posed by carbon banking.

Regional Spotlight: Indigenous Stewardship of the Haskell Wetlands 

Sing songs, read books, explore art, and make your own art with a Kemper Museum educator and Kansas City librarian.

Totally Tots featuring "Stories in Spotlight"

Join us for a studio night led by featured artist and Kemper Museum docent, Kayla Traxel!

Studio Night: Stories We Carry

Join Chief Curator Jessica S. Hong for a casual gallery talk focused on Andrea Carlson: Shimmer on Horizons, and stay for lunch at the museum's new restaurant, Oil on Linen.

Curator's Gallery Spotlight

Experience the Kemper Museum’s collections through the unique perspectives of Kansas City contemporary artists.

Beyond the Studio: Heehyun Choi

8 Artists Having a Breakout Moment This Fall

A Preview of Kansas City’s 2025-2026 Arts Season

In addition to her visual work, Andrea Carlson has published numerous essays, statements, 
and interviews about the histories and themes that inform her practice. Kemper Museum has curated a selection of these writings as supplementary reading materials for the exhibition.

Further Reading Resources:
Andrea Carlson

The Bebe and Crosby Kemper Foundation for the Arts, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee; William T. Kemper Charitable Trust, UMB Bank, n.a.; Muriel McBrien Kauffman Family Foundation; the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency; and Visionaries Members of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. 

Andrea Carlson: Shimmer on Horizons is organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Lead support for the Chicago presentation of Andrea Carlson: Shimmer on Horizons is provided by R. H. Defares and the Zell Family Foundation.

Major support is provided by Newcity, Charlotte R. Cramer Wagner and Herbert S. Wagner III of Wagner Foundation, and the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Generous support is provided by the Sandra and Jack Guthman Chicago Works Exhibition Fund. Additional support is provided by Bockley Gallery, the Jessica Silverman Gallery, and D. Elizabeth Price and Lou Yecies.

Generous contributions of all sizes help keep the Museum FREE for all visitors.

At Kemper Museum there is no charge for admission, parking, special exhibitions, or programs. Your donation underwrites these expenses and inspires many thousands with contemporary art each year.

Installation view, Andrea Carlson: Shimmer on Horizons, August 29, 2025 - February 16, 2026, Sally Kemper Wood Gallery and Barbara and Paul Ulhmann Gallery, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Photo: E.G. Schempf, 2025.