Exhibits
Dwight D. Eisenhower’s leadership style as president reflected his practical, level-headed Midwestern roots: Work from the middle to accomplish what those on the extremes saw as impossible.
The exhibit Eisenhower’s Middle Road spotlights a prescription for peace and prosperity that guided Ike throughout his eight years in the White House. He sought balance for America—the pursuit and preservation of social gains, for instance, while refraining from government overreach. The exhibit in the Central Library’s Rocky and Gabriella Mountain Gallery explores six key areas reflecting that approach.
Presented in partnership with the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home. Work/research on the exhibit was funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
The exhibit Eisenhower’s Middle Road spotlights a prescription for peace and prosperity that guided Ike throughout his eight years in the White House. He sought balance for America—the pursuit and preservation of social gains, for instance, while refraining from government overreach. The exhibit in the Central Library’s Rocky and Gabriella Mountain Gallery explores six key areas reflecting that approach.
Presented in partnership with the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home. Work/research on the exhibit was funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
Kansas City artist Benjamin Todd Wills has corresponded with thousands of prisoners over the years. When one sent him a paper airplane—
its folds, textual content, and illustrations laden with messages both expressed and implicit—it inspired a unique project.
From an ever-growing collection of inmates’ paper plane submissions, Wills fashioned the exhibit Airplanes. The creations vary in size and design, some made from notebook and drawing paper, others from commissary lists, notices of denied appeals, and behavioral writeups. Their content and tone range from regret to hostility, from bravado to humility, each representing, according to Wills, “a vehicle of escape, missed opportunity, and in some cases rebellion for its creator.”
The exhibit also features Wills’ near-life-size depiction of a solitary-confinement prison cell, constructed according to sketches of those who’ve occupied them.
its folds, textual content, and illustrations laden with messages both expressed and implicit—it inspired a unique project.
From an ever-growing collection of inmates’ paper plane submissions, Wills fashioned the exhibit Airplanes. The creations vary in size and design, some made from notebook and drawing paper, others from commissary lists, notices of denied appeals, and behavioral writeups. Their content and tone range from regret to hostility, from bravado to humility, each representing, according to Wills, “a vehicle of escape, missed opportunity, and in some cases rebellion for its creator.”
The exhibit also features Wills’ near-life-size depiction of a solitary-confinement prison cell, constructed according to sketches of those who’ve occupied them.
For artists, making the cover of Rolling Stone magazine has long been a coveted career achievement. For readers, the images of writers, filmmakers, and musicians have served as a window to rock ’n’ roll’s fantasy realm.
Backstage Pass explores how Rolling Stone—through the work of Baron Wolman, its chief photographer from 1967-70—captured and helped define one of the most important eras in music history. Through 35 framed photographs, contact sheets, and original magazine covers, it offers an opportunity to experience how Wolman and the magazine’s editors and other photographers guided the creation of the “rock star” persona from concert to cover to icon.
The exhibit is curated by Ben Ahlvers, gallery director of the Lawrence Arts Center in Lawrence, Kansas. It is co-presented by ExhibitsUSA, a program of the Mid-America Arts Alliance.
Backstage Pass explores how Rolling Stone—through the work of Baron Wolman, its chief photographer from 1967-70—captured and helped define one of the most important eras in music history. Through 35 framed photographs, contact sheets, and original magazine covers, it offers an opportunity to experience how Wolman and the magazine’s editors and other photographers guided the creation of the “rock star” persona from concert to cover to icon.
The exhibit is curated by Ben Ahlvers, gallery director of the Lawrence Arts Center in Lawrence, Kansas. It is co-presented by ExhibitsUSA, a program of the Mid-America Arts Alliance.
This retrospective exhibit, the last in a yearlong series curated by Kansas City Art Institute students, spotlights selected works from the rarely viewed folk art collection at Kansas City’s westside Mattie Rhodes Center. Objects range from sculpture, ceramics, textiles, and toys to masks from Latin American, Hispanic and Pueblo Indian artists of the Southwestern United States. Included are pieces made by children from the Mattie Rhodes Art Center, where educational material has been developed from pieces in the collection.
The Library’s Genevieve Guldner Gallery becomes a space to examine and explore the techniques and cultural histories revealed in the pieces. The exhibit is curated by Olivia Clanton, a Kansas City-based artist and facilitator who earned a degree in fiber from KCAI with an emphasis on socially engaged art practices.
It is underwritten by the Richard J. Stern Foundation for the Arts and Pam and Gary Gradinger.
The Library’s Genevieve Guldner Gallery becomes a space to examine and explore the techniques and cultural histories revealed in the pieces. The exhibit is curated by Olivia Clanton, a Kansas City-based artist and facilitator who earned a degree in fiber from KCAI with an emphasis on socially engaged art practices.
It is underwritten by the Richard J. Stern Foundation for the Arts and Pam and Gary Gradinger.
