Matthew Thompson

Matthew Thompson

Matthew Thompson is an educator, historian, and writer who has lived in Kansas since 2005. His research interests include Progressivism and the Socialist Party of America, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War. He enjoys studying visual arts to help make the world and its history accessible and exciting to others.

Artist to Watch: Nazanin Amiri Meers

Artist to Watch: Nazanin Amiri Meers

“So, you make clothes, right?” is a question that fiber artist Nazanin Amiri Meers is accustomed to hearing. And the answer is always the same. “No,” she says, with a hint of patient bemusement. “I don’t even know how to sew.

“Ryan Wilks: Heaven,” The Smalter Gallery

“Ryan Wilks: Heaven,” The Smalter Gallery

Ryan Wilks’s new exhibition, “Heaven,” at the Smalter Gallery, is awash in flesh. One part indictment of organized religion and another part an exploration of the mythology of the afterlife, “Heaven” is a brooding meditation on Christianity’s obsession with the human body and a lamentation of institutionalized religion’s frequent marginalization of the LGBTQ community, a […]

“Christine Buchholtz: Clash of Civilizations, presented by Todd Weiner Gallery,” Leedy-Voulkos Art Center

“Christine Buchholtz: Clash of Civilizations, presented by Todd Weiner Gallery,” Leedy-Voulkos Art Center

According to the late Ruth Bader Ginsberg, “women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.” In a project of timely and provocative clarity, Danish artist Christine Buchholtz has created an alternate universe of global power that channels the Supreme Court Justice’s sentiment. Transforming the Todd […]

Arts News: Without Limits

From a streetcar wrapped in a rendition of a poppy field to kiosks adorned with paintings and animations, this summer’s Art in the Loop project promises a visual cornucopia to residents and visitors of the downtown Kansas City area. Now in its seventh year, Art in the Loop has partnered with the KC Streetcar Authority […]

“1009 Arts: /wilt/,” Vulpes Bastille

“1009 Arts: /wilt/,” Vulpes Bastille

In the new era of social distancing, performance art seems at once both anachronistic and a symbol of the human desire for connection and intimacy. It was thus a bittersweet occasion when on March 6, the 1009 Arts organization unveiled the performance piece “/wilt/” at the Vulpes Bastille Gallery in the East Crossroads. Conceived as […]