Permanent Collection

4420 Warwick Boulevard
Kansas City, MO 64111

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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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Five Years and Counting: Expanding the Permanent Collection

Five Years and Counting Exhibition Checklist_FINAL_09-29-2022.pdf

Five Years and Counting features works of art acquired for the Permanent Collection in recent years. Together these works showcase the museum’s remarkable exhibition history and dedication to collecting significant works by women artists and artists of color that reflect the vitality, complexity, and unfolding patterns within modern and contemporary art and culture.

This exhibition invites visitors to engage with new acquisitions, revisiting favorite artists encountered at Kemper Museum during the past half decade – many of whom have become major figures in contemporary art – and learning about how a permanent collection evolves and the role it plays within a museum and for the public it serves.

This exhibition is organized by Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and co-curated by Krista Alba, assistant curator, and Erin Dziedzic, director of curatorial affairs.

Josef Albers

Betty Blayton

Dan Christensen

David Hockney

Liza Lou

Eddie Martinez

Angel Otero

Leonard Pryor

Miguel Rivera

George Timock

Patty Carroll

Rashid Johnson

Joiri Minaya

Paul Anthony Smith

Natalie Frank

Naudline Pierre

Summer Wheat

Dyani White Hawk

Deborah Dancy

Susan Hefuna

Hugh Merrill

Firelei Báez

Angela Dufresne

Jiha Moon

Patrick Quarm

Amy Sherald

Christopher Udemezue

Five Years and Counting: Expanding the Permanent Collection features a selection of works acquired by Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art through purchase or gift for the Permanent Collection over the course of half a decade. This exciting display of paintings, photographs, sculpture, and works on paper demonstrates Kemper Museum’s remarkable exhibition history and dedication to collecting significant works by women artists and artists of color that reflect the vitality, complexity, and unfolding patterns within modern and contemporary art and culture.

Since its inception in 1994, Kemper Museum’s mission has included collecting works of historic, local, and international importance. Founded with a core gift of 320 works of art donated by Crosby Kemper Jr. and Mary “Bebe” Hunt, the Museum has expanded the collection to approximately 1,500 objects within 28 years, essentially quintupling its holdings. Along with this tremendous growth, curatorial staff have developed substantial exhibiting and collecting strategies to affirm diverse perspectives within contemporary art.

To mark the past five years of acquisitions—and to celebrate a shift in institutional perspective—we invite you to engage with five central exhibition themes: Concealing/Revealing; Cosmos; Global Identities; Lineages; and Transformations.

Five Years and Counting: Expanding the Permanent Collection is organized by Kemper Museum and curated by Krista Alba, assistant curator and Erin Dziedzic, director of curatorial affairs.

"When William Thomas Beckford wasn’t looking is when I remember your touch under the palm tree leaves"

Sustaining Sponsors

Additional financial assistance is provided by generous donors and members, especially: William T. Kemper Charitable Trust, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee; Bebe & Crosby Kemper Foundation, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee; Arvin Gottlieb Charitable Foundation, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee; Missouri Arts Council, a state agency; The Family of Mary Beth Smith Docent Program; Christy and Bill Gautreaux; Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation; Matt Smith & Lindsey Patterson Smith; Stanley J. Bushman and Ann Canfield; Charles M. Helzberg and Sandra Baer; Jack and Karen Holland Visiting Artist Fund; Bebe and Graham Hunt; SpecChem / Liz and Greg Maday; Jo Ann and William Sullivan; Jane Voorhees; Richard J. Stern Foundation for the Arts, Commerce Bank, Trustee; Murphy-Hoffman Company; Spencer Fane LLP; Thomas and Sally Wood Family Foundation; Todd and Emily Voth; Copaken Family Fund; JE Dunn Construction; Francis Family Foundation; Kansas City University; Catherine Mead; Virginia and James Moffett; Miller Nichols Charitable Foundation; Bradley and Linda Nicholson Foundation; Harry Portman Charitable Trust, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee; Courtney S. Turner Charitable Trust, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee; UMB Financial Corporation; Judy O. Kirk/Kirk Foundation; RLS Illumination Fund; The Sosland Foundation.

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.

Patrick Quarm (Ghanaian, born 1988), OBAAPA, 2020, mixed media: acrylic, oil on African print fabric, 43 x 33 x 6 inches. Promised gift of Bill and Christy Gautreaux, PG.2021.1. © Patrick Quarm. Photo: Casey Kelbaugh, 2020.