This is shaping up to be a huge year for the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, one that will determine the future of the institution for decades to come. A three-year plan to restructure the museum’s employee benefits programs led to nearly two dozen retirements and early retirements in recent months.

You could almost call it art by accident. Ben Wills and a friend were tossing a paper airplane back and forth in their Atlanta studio. The plane had been constructed by a man in prison. It was sturdy. It flew straight and true. Wills and his friend had been playing catch with the construction for several days in a row.

A batch of kittens found their way into the Lawrence Arts Center this fall, and Ben Ahlvers wasn’t sure what to think about it. Ahlvers is exhibitions program director at Lawrence Arts Center. The kittens were an added feature to “Affectionate Indifference,” a recent group show of artists celebrating our feline companions.