Signature Events
Jessica Hische
Nationally renowned lettering artist and illustrator Jessica Hische discusses her work and her newest dear-to-her-heart project: Tomorrow I’ll Be Brave, a picture book that takes young readers through a world filled with positive, beautifully hand-lettered words of wisdom, inspiration, and motivation.
Gates Brown
Victory distant but in view, the U.S. and its World War II allies gathered in Egypt and Iran late in 1943 to map out strategy for the coming year and begin discussing what a postwar world would look like. Gates Brown of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College discusses the progress made – and the strains of self-interest that surfaced.
Bach Aria Soloists
Friday Night Family Fun
The Story of Ferdinand, about a gentle bull who’d rather sit and smell flowers than fight in the bullring, is highlighted in a special Friday Night Family Fun presentation featuring the Bach Aria Soloists. They perform as images from the book are projected onto the big screen. BAS’ Elizabeth Suh Lane then leads a discussion about the social and historical elements of both the story and music. For ages 5 and up.
Michael Cronan
Missouri Valley Sundays
Retired Kansas City attorney Michael Cronan discusses his book on the colorful life and career of James A. Reed, a Pendergast-backed politician who rose to mayor of Kansas City in 1900, went on to two terms in the U.S. Senate, and twice sought the Democratic presidential nomination.
Yael Abouhalkah, Beci Bosley
Former Kansas City Star editorial writer Yael Abouhalkah and his wife Beci Bosley discuss their alternative to retirement: a 16-month (and counting) journey as Peace Corps volunteers in the southwest African nation of Namibia. They’re among the 6% of Peace Corps workers who are over age 50.
Olivia Clanton, Laurie Hamilton, Jenny Mendez
Jenny Mendez, director of cultural arts of the Mattie Rhodes Center, joins Kansas City-based artist and facilitator Olivia Clanton and Laurie Hamilton, a member of Mattie Rhodes’ original Hand-in-Hand Folk Art Collection steering committee, in discussing the long-important role of art at the westside center.
Indie Lens Pop-Up
Efforts to marginalize Native Americans and their culture could not diminish their transformational impact on popular music, from the Delta blues and jazz to hip-hop. Native artists such as electric guitar pioneer Link Wray, whose instrumental hit “Rumble” was banned from radio, and Jimi Hendrix, who was part Cherokee, forever changed the trajectory of rock and roll.
