Here are this week’s calendar picks from KC Studio editor, Alice Thorson. The 12th annual Kansas City Fringe Festival opens tonight at the Folly and runs through July 31 at various venues throughout the city. 6pm at Kansas City Library Plaza Branch, Michael Neiberg discusses his book Potsdam: The End of World War II and the Remaking of Europe, winner of the Truman Library Institute’s 2016 Harry S. Truman Book Award. Angela Hagenbach also performs A Walk in Their Shoes, 7pm at the Gem Theatre. Work by renowned artist Nick Cave will be on view at the Nelson-Atkins Museum Project Space beginning Saturday, July 23. And stop by the new Kansas Young Audiences space on 3732 Main for their Project Kick-Off Spectacular. For more ideas this weekend, visit Kansas City’s most comprehensive arts calendar at kcstudio.org/events.
12th Annual Kansas City Fringe Festival
July 21 – July 31
Various venues
The Kansas City Fringe Festival is an annual 11-day performing and visual arts extravaganza that straddles a thin, frayed line between mass appeal and eclectic tastes. Fringe links these two worlds together, showing that it is the bridge you take to be inspired and entertained no matter what your taste may be.
The best way to dive into Fringe is to attend the opening night party, where the public will have an opportunity to sample 2-3 minute teasers of many festival performances and offerings! We roll out the Fringe carpet at 5:30pm for the Fringe Walk and teasers begin at 7:00pm.
This event is free to the public and a must attend event for Fringe!
Potsdam: The End of World War II and the Remaking of Europe
July 21 @ 6:00 pm
Kansas City Kansas Public Library-Plaza Branch
Three months into his presidency in July 1945, Harry S. Truman met with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin in Potsdam, Germany, to negotiate the end of World War II and Europe’s reconstruction. Churchill was replaced after an election loss back home, tilting the power dynamic in favor of the seasoned Stalin.
The outcome, notably the division of Germany and Soviet annexation of Poland, would reflect the uneasy equilibrium between East and West that dominated the 20th century.
Michael S. Neiberg, a history professor and Chair of War Studies at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, goes inside the conference in a discussion of his book Potsdam: The End of World War II and the Remaking of Europe. It won the Truman Library Institute’s 2016 Harry S. Truman Book Award.
Co-presented by the Truman Library Institute.
A Walk in Their Shoes
July 21 @ 7:00 pm | Free
American Jazz Museum – Gem Theater
Angela Hagenbach will lead us to a journey back in time as we explore some of America’s epic Civil Rights moments through the music, creative works, deeds and activism of some of our nation’s heroes of the movement, both sung and unsung. a blending of literature, poetry, history and reenactment with visual reminders of actual events all set to a jazz underscore.
Sculpture by Renowned Artist Nick Cave
July 23, 2016 – December 31, 2016
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Property, a profound sculpture by Nick Cave, one of America’s foremost contemporary artists, has been acquired by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and will be on view in the museum’s Project Space beginning July 23. The sculpture, like Cave’s other celebrated works, explores issues of race, gender, oppression, identity and history. The expansive assemblage incorporates about 1,000 found objects that reference race and racism, recall African American life or hold strong personal meanings for Cave, a Missouri-born artist who attended the Kansas City Art Institute and is now recognized internationally.
Cave seeks to transform problematic objects through reuse and new contexts. The title Property suggests slavery as well as the life cycle of things sold, used and discarded. The most prominent element of the work is a standing figure adjacent to part of a shoeshine chair, which references racial stereotypes. The figure is embellished with flowers, bottles of perfume, beads and ceramic birds, suggesting a tree of life; hope and regeneration envelope oppression. On the floor, vintage mold boxes contain objects left unaltered or modified or enhanced by the artist.
“Nick Cave’s sculptures remind us that objects carry enormous emotional and social meaning,” said Menefee D. and Mary Louise Blackwell CEO & Director of the Julián Zugazagoitia, Nelson-Atkins. “We are honored to add this powerful piece to our collection and to showcase Nick Cave’s work in the museum’s Project Space.”
Project Kick-Off Spectacular
July 23 @ 10:00 am
Kansas City Young Audiences
Join us as we kick off the construction work on our new home at 3732 Main Street! Help us claim the building as a new creative hub in the HEART of THE CITY.
This three ringed circus will featuring student performances and a special announcement of our new resident partner! The 45 minute ceremony will celebrate our new location in midtown and a new era for arts education in Kansas City. Children will be encouraged to draw pictures and write creative words directly on one of the walls as we turn this big box into a creative place and transformational space.
- Student Performances
- Color on the Walls (and learn about our new Tile Wall Project)
- Meet our new partner
- See the space before the transformation begins!
