Exhibits

One Second

A gift from a colleague—a dozen rolls of old-school, 35mm camera film, enough for 372 black-and-white shots—gave photographer B.A. Van Sise an idea. Each day in 2018, he would take a single film photograph. No do-overs. With an average shutter speed of 1/350th of a second, the full year’s work would represent a single collective second in time.

It became one of the most meaningful and meditative experiences of Van Sise’s life.

The results are unveiled in the evocative Library exhibit One Second. For Van Sise, and for us, it serves as a reminder “to always keep an eye out, and to never overlook the small stories of the oversized people that flit through your lives for one half of one half of one half of one half of one second.”

Photographer B.A. Van Sise’s evocative exhibit – premiering here – reveals the results of a unique project. Each day in 2018, he took a single film photo. No do-overs. With an average shutter speed of 1/350th of a second, the full year’s work represents a single collective second in time.
Opens: 
Sat, October 12
Closes: 
Sun, January 5
Central Library

New Democracy Art: A South African Saga of Women, Art, and Identity

Over the course of two decades, the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Adrienne Walker Hoard has taken inspiration from repeated sojourns in South Africa and interaction with the artistic women of the Ndzundza Ndebele. Their colorful beaded and painted works have evolved since their country’s democratization in 1994, influenced by exposure to western images and lifestyles.

Hoard, an artist and professor of fine art and black studies at UMKC, captures that transition in both art and Ndzundza Ndebele life in her exhibit New Democracy Art: A South African Saga of Women, Art, and Identity. Her images, with a selection of Ndzundza Ndebele artwork, reflect the strength and power of these “women warriors” and their multiple cultural perspectives.

Through photographs and a selection of their artwork, the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Adrienne Walker Hoard spotlights the strength, power, and multiple cultural perspectives of the women of South Africa’s Ndzundza Ndebele.
Opens: 
Sat, October 5
Closes: 
Sun, December 29
Central Library

Kansas City's Guadalupe Centers: A Century of Serving the Latino Community

For a century, Kansas City’s westside Guadalupe Center—now Guadalupe Centers, Inc.—has dedicated itself to improving the quality of life and celebrating the cultural heritage of the city’s Latino and immigrant population. Founded in 1919, it’s the longest continuously running Latino-serving organization in the country.

This yearlong exhibit chronicles that rich history and Guadalupe Centers’ role in creating and sustaining a vibrant Latino community. It is curated by Sandra I. Enríquez, an assistant history professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and director of the university’s public history emphasis; Theresa Torres, an associate professor of Latinx and Latin American studies and sociology at UMKC; and UMKC master’s student Hunter Albright. Graduate and undergraduate history students at UMKC are contributing curators.

The exhibit is designed by Daisy Hernandez and Paul Tosh, a UMKC associate professor of studio art.
 

Opens: 
Sun, May 26
Closes: 
Sun, May 31
Central Library