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.

Kemper Museum of 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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Named for Charlotte Crosby Kemper, an avid collector, arts advocate, and former director of the Kansas City Art Institute, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art opened in 1994 and was founded by the late R. Crosby Kemper Jr. and Bebe Kemper (now Bebe Hunt). It was the first museum established to collect and present contemporary art in the state of Missouri. 

The Kemper Museum Permanent Collection was established with the Bebe and Crosby Kemper Collection, a gift from the museum’s co-founders and the Kemper Family Foundations. In the years since, the Permanent Collection has steadily grown to reflect the museum’s remarkable exhibition history and dedication to collecting significant works by artists from historically excluded backgrounds that reflect the vitality and complexity of modern and contemporary art and culture.

The museum was originally funded by R. Crosby Kemper Jr., then chairman and CEO of UMB Financial Corporation; and several Kemper Family Foundations. When the museum opened, it was part of the Kansas City Art Institute, but it soon formally incorporated as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit museum with an independent board of trustees on September 13, 1995. It now operates as a public charity, which formally acknowledges its broad range of funding and community support.