Considering the history, present, and future of artist-driven pioneering in Kansas City, and the changing nature of our city’s “frontiers”…
Paragraph & Project Space / 21-23 East 12th St., KCMO April 20-July 7, 2012
Opening: Friday, April 20, 6-9pm
Additional Third Friday receptions with new projects,
new work & new performances: Friday, May 18, 6-9pm + Friday, June 15, 6-9pm
Weekly hours: Wed, Fri, Sat 12-5pm; Thurs 11-6
The Frontier is a Charlotte Street Foundation 15 year anniversary project considering “frontiers” as related to the history, evolution, and future of artistic practice, culture-making, and creative opportunity in Kansas City. Interested in the changing nature of Kansas City’s urban environment and cultural ecosystem, The Frontier seeks to examine this changing landscape and to explore how it might inform and give rise to new artist-driven and artist-centered pioneering efforts in our city.
The Frontier will be an evolving exhibition comprised of a series of artist and curator-driven projects that take the idea of “the frontier” as their starting point. These projects, each involving a team of collaborators, will unfold at Charlotte Street’s Paragraph and Project Space venues, 21-23 East 12 Street, KCMO, April 20-July 7. The exhibition is divided into two “phases,” with Phase I projects to be presented April 20-May 19, and Phase II projects to be presented May 22-July 7. Throughout the exhibition run, the gallery will remain an active site, in a continual state of flux, as new project components and responses to these components are developed and added.
The Frontier will also include a “Living Archive” and series of related public programs. The Living Archive is focused on the history of artist-run initiatives and artist-run spaces in Kansas City, the roles these efforts and individuals involved have played in shaping our arts ecosystem and our city, and the manner in which these histories and experiences can inform future efforts.
During The Frontier, the gallery will serve as a hub for research, collection, and presentation of Living Archive components. The public will be invited to contribute personal testimonials, to be captured as audio recordings and added to the archive. Interviews with arts community figures and a series of related public programs will also be conducted, video documented, and added to the archive. In addition, the gallery will include a “living timeline” inviting public participation, as well as a work station for documenting and archiving relevant materials. Components of the archive will be made accessible during and following the exhibition via the project website, http://thefrontierkc.wordpress.com.
The Frontier Phase I curators are Jonah Criswell, Julia Cole, Jane Gotch, Nicole Mauser, Mike Sinclair, and Michael Schonhoff. Their collaborators include Jim Woodfill, Michael Frisch, Laura Isaac, Drew Roth + Amos Leager, Charlie Mylie, Jamie Burkart, Travis Shaffer, Laura Frank, Tiffany Sisemore, Abbe Findley, Katie Ford, Deanna Dikeman, Ahram Park, Kevin Sisemore, James Woodfill, Emily Henson, Luke Firle, Dennis Helsel, Lyndsey Ogle and others. Phase II curators are Robert Josiah Bingaman, Heather Lustfeldt, Molly Kaderka, and Erika Lynne Hanson, with collaborators to be announced.
