Signature Events
Joan Stack
Missouri Valley Sundays
Art historian Joan Stack explores how two 1845 paintings by Missouri artist and politician George Caleb Bingham may have reflected anxiety about President James K. Polk’s expansionist ambitions and pro-war policies.
Kansas City gets a prime view of the celestial event of a lifetime – the first total solar eclipse visible in the contiguous United States since 1979 – and the Library offers one of the best viewing areas and experiences on its fifth-floor Rooftop Terrace.
*** THIS EVENT IS AT CAPACITY AND RSVPS ARE NOW CLOSED ***
*** THIS EVENT IS AT CAPACITY AND RSVPS ARE NOW CLOSED ***
June Carbone
Women's Equality Week
In a discussion of her book Marriage Markets, the University of Minnesota’s June Carbone – a former law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City – examines the role of our country’s growing fiscal inequality in reshaping American families. The event marks Women’ Equality Week.
Sonny Ramaswamy
Sonny Ramaswamy, director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, examines the exquisite paradox of the Monarch butterfly – one of nature’s most delicate creatures and yet one of its hardiest, completing an annual 2,500-mile migration between Canada and Mexico.
Richard Rothstein
In a discussion of his new book The Color of Law, Richard Rothstein makes the case that the racial divide in America’s cities is not just the product of individual prejudices, income disparity, or the actions of developers, banks, and other private institutions, but also federal, state, and local governments.
Jon Kukla
Patrick Henry is a largely forgotten founding father today, his accomplishments overshadowed by his oratory. Historian Jon Kukla, former director of the Red Hill Patrick Henry National Memorial in Brookneal, Virginia, reacquaints us in a discussion of his authoritative new biography.
2017 Off the Wall film series: Misfits, Music, and Mayhem
Doors open: 8 pm • Program: 8:45 pm
As ‘90s Brit supergroup The Spice Girls gear up for the biggest concert of their career, the trappings of fame and their grueling performance schedule are taking a toll. Amid the stress, the pop singers must deal with outside forces conspiring to put the brakes on Girl Power – a tawdry tabloid publisher, an opportunistic documentary crew, a pair of tenacious Hollywood writers, and an eccentric record company owner. Supporting cast includes Roger Moore, George Wendt, Jennifer Saunders, Alan Cumming, and Meat Loaf.
As ‘90s Brit supergroup The Spice Girls gear up for the biggest concert of their career, the trappings of fame and their grueling performance schedule are taking a toll. Amid the stress, the pop singers must deal with outside forces conspiring to put the brakes on Girl Power – a tawdry tabloid publisher, an opportunistic documentary crew, a pair of tenacious Hollywood writers, and an eccentric record company owner. Supporting cast includes Roger Moore, George Wendt, Jennifer Saunders, Alan Cumming, and Meat Loaf.
Adam Miller
Missouri Valley Sundays
Folklorist and historian Adam Miller recalls the frontier-life origins of the folk music of Kansas and Missouri. A singer and autoharp virtuoso, he weaves in a selection of songs and stories.
