Event Audio

On the evening of May 20, 1957, an F-5 tornado tore into the communities of Ottawa and Spring Hill, Kansas, and Martin City, Grandview, Hickman Mills, and Ruskin Heights, Missouri. The storm left 39 people dead and 531 injured. More than 840 homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed.

Author Carolyn Brewer tells the story of the tragic event, as well as the rebuilding effort, through a series of first-person narratives collected during a 50-year reunion and memorial rededication.

Public art and its accompanying community participation contribute significantly to the identity of a city. In addition to inspiring dialogue and providing visual appeal, a varied civic public art collection often symbolizes the vitality of the city it inhabits.

Jack Becker, executive director of Minnesota-based Forecast Public Art and publisher of Public Art Review, discusses the complex, beneficial, and sometimes contentious role that art plays in the public realm.

Already an established artist of worldwide fame, Missouri artist Thomas Hart Benton was a natural choice for the Limited Editions Club’s illustrated version of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Likewise, the boy from Mark Twain’s most accessible novel was a perfect subject for Benton, whose influence on the Regionalist movement emphasized a need for works that conveyed a uniquely American character. But Tom Sawyer presented a challenge as the artist strained to translate the humor and ease of the vernacular prose into a modern visual style.

The 2011 Corinthian Hall lecture addresses minority heritage and a museum’s mission, capacity, and duty in this arena.

Nuestra Herencia Americana (Our American Heritage) features Daniel Serda and his findings on immigration, discrimination, and preservation of Hispanic culture. Following Serda’s presentation, Gene Chavez discusses the social and political dynamics that shape how majority and minority communities co-exist and thrive.

Co-sponsored by the Kansas City Museum at Corinthian Hall.