Alice Thorson

October 12, 2015

Collectors Corner: Roberta and Elton Gumbel, Jr.

When Dr. Elton Gumbel died in 2006, he left behind hundreds of paintings and drawings. Many people knew Gumbel as an optometrist. He was the first black optometrist in Kansas City and the first licensed black optometrist in the state of Missouri. But he was also a prolific self-taught artist, who never had an exhibit or any other public exposure of his work.

October 8, 2015

“Don Kottman: Primary Matters,” Todd Weiner Gallery

It looks like a high-end New York gallery show from the street, and things only get better inside. Abstractionist Don Kottmann’s “Primary Matters” exhibit of..

October 6, 2015

Artist Pages: Art Miller – “Transformed”

“In recent years, I’ve noticed an odd marriage (both metaphysical and substantive) between America’s Christian churches and American commerce. Structures originally designed and built as..

September 11, 2015

Whitney Manney Launches a New Line this Fall

Three years out of the Kansas City Art Institute, fiber artist Whitney Manney has racked up an impressive list of exhibitions and fashion events for..

September 1, 2015

No Ordinary Cartoonist

Exhibit at World War I Museum showcases powerful anti-war images of Louis Raemakers. The Belgian poet Maurice Maeterlinck called him “a guardian of justice.” The..

September 1, 2015

Last Glance: Kansas City Artist David Rhoads Heads East

New York lands “A Great One.” David Rhoads, a promising young artist known for his intense small paintings exploring themes of quest and longing, is leaving Kansas..

August 31, 2015

Letter from the Editor, September/October 2015

In 1995, the American art world was still reeling from the culture wars. The National Endowment for the Arts had ceased giving grants to individual..

August 25, 2015

Recent KCAI Grad Lands Video Commission

“It came out better than I had hoped,” says Kansas City artist and musician, Stephen Proski, of the animation Evan Bech created for Proski’s post-..

July 15, 2015

Letter from the Editor, July/August 2015

It’s not all fitness at UMKC’s Swinney Recreation Center. Weekdays, between 6 and 8 a.m., the gym is also a Culture Club, where artists and..

Author: Alice Thorson