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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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The Company We Keep: Collecting in Kansas City

The Company We Keep brings together more than fifty works of contemporary art from the personal collections of seven Kansas City-area collectors, some assembled over decades, others still taking shape.

The Company We Keep brings together more than fifty works of contemporary art from the personal collections of seven Kansas City-area collectors, some assembled over decades, others still taking shape. The exhibition opens a window onto the intimate spaces where art is encountered, lived with, and shared, and asks what it means to choose the company we keep, in art as in life. 

Spanning painting, sculpture, textiles, ceramics, photography, and works on paper, the exhibition includes many works appearing in a museum for the first time, and nearly all are shown together for the first time. Artists such as Kerry James Marshall, James Rosenquist, Rose B. Simpson, Mickalene Thomas, and Hung Liu, along with a dynamic generation of emerging voices, are brought into conversation across collections, generations, and geographies.

Collecting is often understood as an acquisition. The Company We Keep proposes something different: collecting is itself a creative practice, shaped by intuition, responsibility, and the belief that living with art can change how we see the world and each other. Collectors become more than custodians of objects; they become cultural stewards, building living archives of curiosity and care. Their homes become places where artists are encountered not as distant figures in history, but as daily companions whose work continues to unfold through sustained engagement. 

This exhibition celebrates the artists who make the work, the collectors who choose to live with and support it, the curators and cultural practitioners who create contexts for its encounter, and the networks of friendships, mentorship, dialogue, and exchange that allow a creative community to flourish. 

Organized by Larry Ossei-Mensah, Independent Curator & Co-Founder of ARTNOIR.  

Raven Halfmoon, Tushka Manahatta (2025). Stoneware glaze. 36 ½ x 26 x 17 ½ inches. Images courtesy of the artist and Salon 94. © Raven Halfmoon. Photography by Kes Efstathiou.

Raven Halfmoon, Scouting the Horizon (2025). Stoneware glaze. 41 x 23 x 20 inches.

Featured Artworks

Photo credit Diego Martinez Chacon and  New Wave Magazine

Larry Ossei-Mensah is a Ghanaian-American curator, cultural critic, and writer whose practice amplifies artists across cultures and geographies and fosters global cultural exchange. He has organized exhibitions in cities including London, Rome, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, and São Paulo, collaborating with artists such as Toyin Ojih Odutola, Sanford Biggers, and Judy Chicago.

He has held key curatorial roles, including Susanne Feld Hilberry Senior Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit and Curator-at-Large at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. He is the co-founder and president of ARTNOIR, a cultural platform dedicated to supporting artists of color through exhibitions, programming, and storytelling.

He has also contributed to Kansas City through No to Prison Life, a 2019 exhibition he guest-curated with artist Stanley Whitney at KCAI Artspace, and in 2026 served on the visual arts jury panel for the Charlotte Street Foundation.

Barbara Takenaga: Parallax at DC Moore Gallery

Your Guide to U.S. Museum and Gallery Openings This Fall

Exhibitions are always free thanks to the generosity of members and other donors. Join or donate today to support free access to contemporary art.

Basil Kincaid (b. 1986, St. Louis, Missouri), Cosmic Blossoming, 2024. Quilted Ghanaian wax block fabrics, Nigerian lace, silk flowers, second-hand sweatshirts, embroidery floss, rayon, and hand-woven Kente cloth, 82 x 65 x 3 inches. Matt and Mandi Strange of the 5M Collection. Courtesy of the artist. © Basil Kincaid.