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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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In conjunction with two special exhibitions of photography on view at Kemper Museum, join us for an artist talk with local photographer Lilly McElroy.

Artist Talk: Lilly McElroy

Cash Bar Opens 5:30 p.m.  |  Artist talk and Q&A 6–7:30 p.m.

Join us for an artist talk with local photographer Lilly McElory as she shares more about her process and practice, which focuses on the subject of the American West and its associations. This program is part of the series, Beyond the Lens, a group of artist talks and panels dedicated to the medium of photography, in conjunction with the exhibitions Julie Blackmon: A Life in Frame and Spandita Malik: Jāḷī—Meshes of Resistance.

After the program, enjoy Music for A Life in Frame, composed by Kevin Morby in the Julie Blackmon galleries. 

Click here for information on how to get to the museum and where to find our free parking lots.

Image: Lilly McElroy. Photo by Christopher Carroll.

Lilly McElroy's work reflects her complex relationship with the American West and an exploration of what it means to be an American in a time of diminished expectations. Working as a lens-based artist, McElroy utilizes the landscape symbolically to address issues of power, gender, and eco-anxiety. She performs for the camera, enacting feminist gestures that reflect a sense of quixotic hopefulness as well as a desire for control over subjects as ungovernable as nature. She photographs herself attempting to grasp the sun and  physically manipulates images of the landscape by scratching them until a void is generated.   

McElroy received her M.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her B.F.A. from the University of Arizona. She has been an artist-in-residence at The Charlotte Street Foundation, The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MOCA Tucson, The Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, and Studios INC. Her work has been exhibited internationally, in venues including Figge Art Museum, Modern Art Oxford, The Nelson Atkins Museum, and Southern Exposure Gallery. Her work has also been featured in publications including Aperture, Art Forum, Art Papers,The New York Times, and O: The Oprah Magazine. McElroy lives and works in Lawrence, KS where she is an Assistant Teaching Professor at The University of Kansas. Her work is represented by Rick Wester Fine Art in New York. 

Cash Bar Opens 5:30 p.m.
Artist Talk + Q&A 6–7:30 p.m.