Events

Founded in 1993, the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival is dedicated to bringing the Bard’s great plays free of charge to Kansas City audiences.

The season kicks off on June 19 in Southmoreland Park with the magic-and-comedy-filled romance A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The next night, June 20, marks the opening of Antony and Cleopatra, a tragedy inspired by the famous romance between a Roman warrior and the Queen of Egypt.

Check out the following free presentations inspired by this year’s Heart of America Shakespeare Festival.

Kids Cafe at Central Youth Services

Free Lunch served everyday, Monday thru Friday, Noon– 12:45 pm
Beginning June 4, 2012

All youth ages 0-18 welcome

*Meals served ONLY to those 18 years of age and younger.
*ALL food must be consumed during the program on the premises

During the Civil War Missouri was a state divided, suffering from a fractured identity and caught up in a struggle of no quarter between its battling factions. That violent period of near-anarchy is examined in the traveling exhibit A State Divided: The Civil War in Missouri, a joint effort of the Missouri Humanities Council and the Missouri History Museum.

This colorful and informative exhibit follows the “bushwhackers” and “Jayhawkers” whose bitter enmity continues to color the relations between Missourians and Kansans.

Fred Geary (1894-1955) attended the Kansas City Art Institute and worked as a commercial artist for the Fred Harvey Company in Union Station. Geary became caught up in the wood engraving movement that became popular in the U.S. in the 1930s and in his spare time produced exquisite depictions of small-town life and Missouri landscapes and landmarks.

Easily and cheaply reproduced, woodcuts put art into the hands of working-class Americans.

The newest exhibition of the Orval Hixon Gallery, New Compositions: The Dance Portraiture of Orval Hixon, is on display from June 11, 2011 through 2013 at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St. The exhibit features a rich selection of Hixon’s portraits, including images of some of the best-known dancers of his time.

To most local landscape architects, Hare & Hare is a household name. The firm has left an indelible mark on some of the most iconic and often-visited areas of Kansas City—the Country Club Plaza, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Loose Park, Ward Parkway, and Mission Hills among them.

Learn more about getting around on your computer in this class, which will offer insights into hardware and software components and their uses. Call 816-701-3481 to register, or click here.

Come join us for thirty minutes of fun stories, songs, and learning activities!

Julius and his friends discover that they can have all sorts of adventures in their dreams.

Little kids and big enjoy songs and stories, fingerplays and rhymes, occasional guest visitors, videos in the vault and simple crafts, puzzles and games for all ages. Parking is free!

Come join us for lots of great stories, songs, fun learning activities and even a short movie - all geared for three and four-year-olds.

Learn more about getting around on your computer in this class, which offers insights into hardware and software components.

Youtube director Stellabelle will be teaching a class about the power of Youtube and your place within this dynamic world. During the class, you will take a personal inventory and learn how to create videos for YouTube that explore your authentic self, solve problems or highlight issues in your community or society at large. By going through the stages of self-discovery, you will come to a greater understanding of your role in your community, your world and then learn how to document these discoveries via the creation of a Youtube channel.

Teen Gaming has a Wii console, a PlayStation2 and a XBOX 360 plus an array of board games for you to enjoy. A chess board is always available for some great competitive games. Bring your own video games and share the joy of playing with all your mates.

Join us every Tuesday and Thursday at 5:30pm for dinner and a movie! This free event is open to children ages 3-18. For more information, contact Christy at 816-701-3489.

Biographer Douglas Brinkley looks at the life and career of CBS newsman Walter Cronkite, the St. Joseph native who became the most trusted man in America. Drawing on newly disclosed letters, diaries and interviews with nearly 200 of Cronkite’s friends and colleagues, Cronkite reveals not an icon but a real human with passions, loves, and occasional enmities.