Brian Hearn

Brian Hearn is an interdisciplinary arts writer, curator and consultant active in both film and visual arts. For two decades he has shared his passion and expertise with arts organizations large and small, from art museums to film festivals, galleries to collections. He and his wife Sarah recently collaborated on a new art project, a baby boy.

Kansas City and the Rise of Gay Rights

A small exhibition about an outsized legacy proves that small groups of committed people can change the world in profound ways. “Making History: Kansas City and the Rise of Gay Rights” at the Miller Nichols Library tells the story of how Kansas City became the unlikely site of the first national organizing efforts for LGBT rights more than 50 years ago. The 12 exhibition panels begin by asking the question, “How does change happen?”

“Separate And Not Equal”

“Separate And Not Equal”

If you needed a compelling reason to justify public funding for the arts, look no further than KU’s Spencer Museum of Art this summer. Thanks to a six-figure grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Spencer Museum will offer two in-depth K-12 teacher workshops this summer on the subject of “Native American and African-American Educational Experiences in Kansas, 1830 – 1960.”

“Gerry Trilling: Narrative Atlas,” Studios Inc. Exhibition Space

“Gerry Trilling: Narrative Atlas,” Studios Inc. Exhibition Space

We are a nation of immigrants and refugees. Always have been. Even if we have short memories of who came from where, or for what reasons, countless stories thread in and out and through the families that have come to this country generation after generation. “Narrative Atlas,” Gerry Trilling’s final solo exhibition as a resident […]

Leaning Into Difference: Lynnette Miranda

Leaning Into Difference: Lynnette Miranda

Lynnette Miranda is all about breaking down barriers, kicking doors open, speaking truth to power and making change. Her field of action is the visual arts, but she doesn’t wade in the shallow, fetid pond of pretty pictures or mess with market-driven Zombie Formalism. Art for art’s sake? Who cares? To exhibit art objects, much […]

“Warren Rosser: Loitering with Intent,” “Debra Smith: Recent Work,” “Samara Umbral: She-Bop,” Haw Contemporary

“Warren Rosser: Loitering with Intent,” “Debra Smith: Recent Work,” “Samara Umbral: She-Bop,” Haw Contemporary

When Warren Rosser settled into his enviable Crossroads studio he made sure to get the lighting just right. For a seasoned painter exploring color relationships in depth, the results have been transformative.  “Loitering with Intent,” his first solo exhibition at Haw Contemporary, features more than a dozen new paintings by a masterful abstract colorist at […]

“¿QUE PASA, USA?,” La Esquina

“¿QUE PASA, USA?,” La Esquina

Debates about immigration and citizenship turned into ugly political football in the last election cycle. The truth of the matter, as seen in the exhibition “¿QUE PASA, USA?” is far more familiar, complex and colorful than the public discourse would suggest. Lynnette Miranda, the new curator-in-residence at the Charlotte Street Foundation mirthfully embraces the demographic […]