Stay Informed and Engaged in Uncertain Times

Stay Informed and Engaged in Uncertain Times

In these uncertain times, KC Studio is here for you. Using information provided by local museums, galleries, arts organizations and artists, we’ve curated this page of resources to help our readers continue to enjoy the arts, connect with artists and support the arts organizations that need your help. This page will continue to be updated as we receive new content, so please return often!

Organizations and artists: If you would like to share your own virtual tours, online performances, donation links and more to this page, please send links and information to newsletter@kcstudio.org. Please continue sending us your press releases and information on cancellations. We will do our best to share your news through KC Studio‘s social media feeds.

–Guy Townsend, President and Publisher, KC Studio Magazine


Show your support for the arts in Kansas City with our free Zoom backgrounds.

We’ve collected some of our favorite photos of arts spaces around the Kansas City metro area and are making them available to our readers as Zoom backgrounds. Show your support for the arts in Kansas City from the comfort of your own home! Click here to download our free Zoom backgrounds now!

With the Stay at Home Order in effect, you can still visit many local museums and galleries online.

Did you know you can still visit the American Jazz Museum while social distancing? Thanks to Google Arts & Culture and Google Street View, exhibits are just a click away! Visit the virtual museum HERE.

You can also use the Google Arts & Culture app to explore The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the National WWI Museum and Memorial from home on your phone, as well as many local collections (including KC Studio!) on the Kansas City page.

Take a virtual tour of the Leopold Gallery by visiting their Facebook Watch page.

As part of InterUrban ArtHouses‘s ArtHouse @ Your House series, you can experience a virtual tour of the exhibition Her Art: Who Does She Think She Is?, an exhibition of local women artists, presented in collaboration with UMKC Women’s Center. During the video, click the “i” icon in the top, righthand corner to listen to artist statements recorded by the artists themselves, with more statements below. Click here to visit the exhibition.

Take a private digital tour of “Queen Nerfertari: Eternal Egypt” at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

The Goethe Pop Up Kansas City presents a collection of striking images captured during the course of scientific research from some of the Max Planck Society’s work around the world. The exhibition can be experienced digitally until they reopen their space – hopefully soon! Until then, please follow the link here to experience the exhibit online.

Bring the history of any artwork to your smart device using the free Smartify app! Open and search for The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art to take a tour and browse the collection. Revisit your favorite galleries and gain deeper appreciation for the works you love, no textbook required. LEARN MORE

Enjoy a virtual tour of Heart of America Shakespeare Festival’s education programs. HASF provides year-round programming and summer camps. Widening the reach of our education programs is vital to diversifying the Festival audience and fulfilling the mission of bringing Shakespeare to the largest segment of our community possible. They continue to hone workshops and provide more opportunities for year-round in school and after-school programs as part of the Arts Partners roster. The Festival offers year-round weekend classes to students aged 5 – 18 and acting intensives for adults.

You can also enjoy past Festival production photos and travel with costumed ambassador, “Good Will” through Kansas City in this slideshow. Every summer for the past twenty-seven years, HASF has constructed a stage and theatre space in Southmoreland Park where thousands of visitors come to see FREE professional Shakespeare productions. Families and friends gather under the trees to enjoy a picnic supper and are entertained by the Team Shakespeare’s parody, enriched by Show Talk, or have an enjoyable evening of conversation and community with friends and family before the play begins.

The Leedy-Voulkos Art Center is posting new galleries weekly featuring artists that would have exhibited in Collect Level‘s first group exhibition. Click here to check it out! You can share and support @collectlevel on Instagram, and Facebook.

While the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum is closed to the public, they’re encouraging people to view a video fly through of all the changes that are taking place during the renovation. Plans include a grand reopening later this year and the unveiling of a new 12,000 sq ft, permanent Truman exhibition.

The Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art has a new mini tour of pieces and artists in its Western Collection. Subscribe to the AKMA Youtube channel for more mini tours.

Walk through Anne Austin Pearce’s solo exhibition, “Path”, located at Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art. Take Virtual Tour NOW! Watch more exhibition tours at Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art on YouTube NOW!

State of the Art 2020 VR is a virtual version of the exhibition that allows the exhibition to live on long after it leaves the walls of Crystal Bridges Museum of Art and the Momentary. The project was led by Shane Richey, creative director of production at Crystal Bridges, and produced by Prisma. In State of the Art 2020 VR, users can explore the galleries just as they would if they were visiting Crystal Bridges or the Momentary. Users are able to zoom in and out of artworks to explore details, read wall text, and see artworks in conversation with one another. EXPERIENCE IN VIRTUAL REALITY

Or listen to local musicians online.

Missing your daily dose of JAZZ? American Jazz Museum is now on Spotify! Search AmericanJazzMuseum or click HERE for a growing list of specially curated playlists. From the hottest big bands on the KC scene right now, to swingin’ piano trios, they have your musical needs covered!

Have a listen to MTH Theater at Crown Center‘s spotify playlist featuring tunes from shows in consideration for their 2021 season!

Watch performances or presentations online or listen to a podcast.

Biting Nails, 2018, acrylic on aluminum mesh, 68 x 96 inches. Collection of Bill and Christy Gautreaux, Kansas City, Missouri. Photo: Adam Reich

MTH Theater at Crown Center is using this time to create videos about theater and theater artistry, and hoping you have time to watch them over the next few weeks. You can find the first video HERE, an excerpt from the CAROUSEL ballet on a rooftop overlooking Kansas City. Click here to visit their YouTube channel.

MTH has also started their own podcast, The Peanut Gallery, featuring conversations about professional theater and the performing arts. Listen in as they discuss theater trends, the business of theater, and the power of live theatrical experiences ~ while sharing stories, musings, and anecdotes about life on stage. The Peanut Gallery is hosted by longtime Theater producer, director, and actor Tim Scott, alongside nationally syndicated radio host and New York and Broadway tour guide, George Harter. Click here to listen.

Hear from artists of our time, recorded at Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. Click here to watch now! And be sure to visit their Art Videos page for projects, updated weekly. Share your creations on social media using the hashtags #KCVirtualPlaydates and #KemperMuseum!

InterUrban ArtHouse‘s ArtHouse @ Your House series is a FREE live stream series designed to provide a way to stay inspired and share a sense of community during these uncertain and isolating times! They are regularly adding new events, so check their website for the most up to date calendar. Events will live stream on Facebook at facebook.com/interurbanarthouse.

You can still listen to New Letters on the Air on KCUR 89.3 FM, Sundays at 6:30 a.m. You can also subscribe to the New Letters on the Air free weekly podcast via Apple Podcasts and Stitcher or stream their current show, as well as hundreds of archive programs, on their website.

The National WWI Museum and Memorial has a YouTube channel filled with hundreds of lectures and presentations.

The Kansas City Public Library always offers a variety of popular digital services, giving you access to an extensive collection of eBooks, digital audiobooks, streaming music, movies, and TV, and other great resources. During the current COVID-19 outbreak, the Library is working with providers to not only ensure you can continue to enjoy these services, but to also expand available items, temporarily increase borrowing limits, and more. You can get the things you want to read, watch, listen to, or learn from while responsibly practicing social distancing… all for free with your Library card. Visit the Digital Branch to explore all of the services available to you. They’ve highlighted a few services of note on this page.

Mid-Continent Public Library‘s virtual branch is available 24/7. Some particular MCPL resources that might be of interest:

Join Mesner Puppet Theater online for Puppets at 2!  Every week day (Mon-Fri) at 2pm, you and your family can enjoy videos of fun mini-shows, projects, and other activities. They will post each video on their Facebook page and on their YouTube channel. New videos will be premiering now through mid-April.

Although the Kansas City Zoo remains closed to the public for now, they want to make sure that you still get plenty of time with the animals that call it home. Follow their Facebook page for videos and other daily glimpses of the Zoo to bring you smiles in these challenging times. If those short videos aren’t enough for you, then tune into live animal cams, where you can keep an eye on the animals 24/7.

Powell Gardens, Kansas City’s botanical garden™, has launched a series of new digital content initiatives. To access this new content, follow @PowellGardens on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter and subscribe for biweekly email updates.

Opus 76 has launched a weekly podcast –  The Opus 76 Quartet: Routine Recital. This free Podcast (available now on Apple podcasts and all other platforms) will feature a live recording of a Quartet performance of ours, as well as spoken programme notes written by Classical radio presenter Michael Keelan. Listen and subscribe today on Apple podcasts and all other platforms.

Harmony Project KC‘s Anniversary: 5 Years of Music Access for All, recording of performance from March 7, 2020 with Guest Conductor Jason Seber, KC Symphony and Forte Ensemble Conductor: Selene Hernandez, HPKC, Guest Musicians: KC Symphony, KC Civic Orchestra, KC Jazz Orchestra. Click here to watch/listen!

Local actor R.H. “Holis” Wilhoit has started a podcast in which he contacts other artists in town to discuss how they’re getting through this pandemic. The conversations are loosely based around three questions: Listen/subscribe to Hollis Makes A Phone Call through Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Linda Hall Library is more than just an extensive collection of science and technology resources, they also have some very beautiful images in their collection. Click here to download, print, and share their FREE public domain images for coloring!

Please enjoy this selection from the Lyric Opera archives, from their 2013 production of Jun Kaneko’s The Magic Flute, starring Kathryn Lewek as a fierce Queen of the Night, plus Kansas City’s own Daniel Belcher as Papageno, and featuring Daniel’s daughter Madeline as one of the chicks!

Nothing beats live theatre—but until we can meet again under the stars, we’re thrilled that Neflix, Amazon, PBS and other streaming services and apps are able to satiate our Broadway cravings at home. Starlight Theatre has compiled a list of favorite family-friendly Broadway shows that have been filmed live to stream-there’s truly something for everyone! Click here to watch now!

Hosted by KCAT Director of Development and Marketing, Matt Sameck, Kansas City: Actors, Theatre takes a behind-the-scenes look at the people and processes of bringing artist-led, professional theatre to Kansas City audiences. In the first episode, KCAT Artistic Committee Chair John Rensenhouse talks about the process for selecting a season and what people have to look forward to in Season 16. Check it out, and feel free to send feedback, along with what you might like to hear about in future episodes!

The Midwest Chamber Ensemble is posting new and archived videos 4 to 6 times a week on their Facebook fundraising page.

Watch the Lee’s Summit Symphony Orchestra perform “Morning” from the Peer Gynt Suite by Edvard Grieg. Visit the LS Symphony YouTube channel for more live performance videos!

Please enjoy Bach Aria Soloists‘ Virtual Performance Experiment of Bach’s Presto from Sonata #2 for Violin & Klavier in A Major. And be sure to visit their YouTube channel for even more live performance videos! Bach Aria Soloists are also posting videos of past live performances to their Facebook page.

The Kansas City Ballet has launched KCBallet@Home to share special moments from past performances and other exclusive content via theirsocial media pages. Visit the KCBallet@Home for a full list of resources.

Visit Kansas City Repertory Theatre‘s YouTube page for interviews with cast/crew and more!

Visit Ensemble Iberica artist director Beau Bledsoe’s YouTube page now for performance videos and more.

Kansas City Symphony Orchestra Personnel Manager, Justin White, created a video as an “instrument’ demo to discuss his job. Click here to watch now!

Also: experience exclusive recordings of your Kansas City Symphony plus commentary and interviews with Music Director Michael Stern, guest artists, conductors and members of the orchestra. Host E.J. Becker leads a musical journey you’ll hear nowhere else. LISTEN NOW!

The Kansas City Symphony is also offering a new benefit exclusively for KC Symphony subscribers. MySymphonySeat.org will launch on Sunday, January 17 at 7:00 p.m. (new time!), streaming concerts in HD video with stereo sound.  You’ll even have the ability to watch our concerts and content at MySymphonySeat.org on many Smart TV’s.

In 2019-2020, Park University’s International Center for Music had an amazing five students win top prizes in some the most prestigious international music competitions in the world. This is a success ratio not enjoyed by other music conservatories in the country. It is also the most award winners that Park University has celebrated in a single academic year since it’s inception in 2003. You can watch their performances in the comfort of your home and at your leisure. Watch students’ videos here today!

TeDeum Chamber Choir are thrilled to share their virtual choir project “Great Flowing River,” composed by James Eakin, with lyrics by Charles Anthony Silvestri. Click here to watch NOW.

Sign up for an online class.

This spring and summer The Museum at Prairiefire released STEAM AT HOME educational activities, videos and resources for parents and educators to use with children at home. You can choose activities for ages 3-5, and for ages 6-10. The first three lesson topics include SNEAKY SHADOWS, BEES AND POLLINATION, and THE SCIENCE OF SOAP. STEAM at Home

Keep music an integral part of your at-home learning with resource guides full of activities and suggested listening, learn about instruments of the orchestra, what makes their sound and what different the parts of the instrument are called, have a question, send it to the Kansas City Symphony, and they’ll get you the inside skinny from the right musician, PLUS an all-new podcast will keep you engaged and laughing. Finally, make time for the special short performances  your world-class orchestra has been creating while we’re all at home with the Kansas City Symphony.

Visit the Nelson-Atkins @Home page for at-home activities and more from The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

MTH Theater at Crown Center collaborator Kenny Personett shares a tutorial teaching original choreography set to the Broadway musical, Hadestown. Info on Empire Dance Academy HERE

Over the past few weeks MTH Theater at Crown Center has been diligently working on their virtual classroom to supplement your “education-at-home” efforts. It’s TOTALLY FREE and there’s some fun, creative content for kids of all ages. Check it out!

Kansas City Ballet School is happy to offer live virtual studio classes through Zoom. Studio classes are designed for teens and adults with varying levels or no experience, who are interested in the fun and fitness of dance. Register for a class NOW!

Give your son or daughter *dramatic* license! Join the Coterie Theatre online with their JUST LAUNCHED virtual, process-based drama classes led by trained teaching artists. NOW ENROLLING Age 3 thru Grade 12: www.thecoterie.org

Spanning centuries, styles and places of origin, the Van Ackeren Collection of Religious Art at Rockhurst University is something of a treasure on campus. Explore pieces from the Van Ackeren Collection as part of an ongoing series called Work of Art Wednesdays, a sort of virtual gallery talk hosted by the Center for Arts and Letters over the course of nine weeks. To sign up to receive a Work of Art Wednesday email each week, visit this page. And like the Center for Arts and Letters Facebook page to follow the conversation each week.

Purchase art online from your favorite artists.

A Very Shelfie Coloring Book, from Kate Shroeder Ceramics, is an 8.5” x 11”, 20 page book printed on 32 lb paper. It best for dry media. It was also designed so you can color the cover of the book as well. Like all her work, this book ships for free. Click here to check it out!

Belger Arts Center is launching a regular series of flash sales that will give you the ability to purchase artists’ work at a special price and help keep fuel in the creative engines. Please check “The Shop” portion of their website soon for upcoming flash sale events!

Click here to download the Kemper Museum coloring book page FOR FREE, and get inspired.

The ART CARE PACKAGE is designed to support local visual artists in these difficult times. Cerbera Gallery has partnered with emerging, mid-career and established artists to carefully curate a subscription-based care package containing four small artworks that will be shipped (or hand-delivered) to the patron (YOU!).⁠ The first subscription includes artwork from Laura Nugent, Angie Jennings, Melanie Sherman, and Katherine Bello. After paying participating artists, Cerbera Gallery will DONATE ALL PROCEEDS (minus shipping costs) of its share to the KANSAS CITY ARTISTS COALITION. Subscribe NOW for an ART CARE PACKAGE.

Donate to your favorite arts organizations and help them stay afloat during this tough time and beyond.

Send MTH Theater at Crown Center a special gift at by clicking HERE to help fill the widening gap in revenue.

In these very difficult times, The Folly Theater is asking that those who can give consider becoming a monthly donor. Your monthly donation of $5, $10, or whatever you feel you can give makes a sustainable impact. Click here to donate.

Please consider a financial gift to help Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre through this challenging time. Not everyone can afford $100 right now, but your support in any amount helps keep the lights on as they work to have The Warwick primed and ready to go when the time is right. Better days ARE coming. Click here to donate.

The Living Room Theatre is still raising funds for their transition to The Black Box in the West Bottoms via this online portal. Theatre League has generously offered to match all donations up to $25,000. If you feel that you are able, any few dollars you can contribute would be infinitely appreciated.

As a non-profit, Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey depends on the generosity ofpatrons and supporters to deliver programs that help transform the lives of more than 25,000 each year. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation by clicking here to help them launch dynamic programming when social distancing is past.

Heart of America Shakespeare Festival appreciates continued support from the community. If you are able, please consider a donation. $5, $10, or whatever you can give will be greatly appreciated. Or buy a Charlie Hustle shirt – it’s soft and lets you show your KC Shakes support even from a safe 6’ distance! Click HERE to DONATE. Click HERE to order your SHIRT.

In an effort to help alleviate the COVID-19 related economic strain facing our community, KC Arts Space Fund Coalition has organized a Mutual Aid Fundraiser to support incubators of creativity in Kansas City. DIY, artist-run, and cooperative spaces have been particularly hard hit by the recent closures of businesses, large gatherings, and public events. The goal is to help grassroots arts & culture spaces make ends meet by offering Emergency Relief Grants up to $500. Funding priority will be given to venues/spaces which serve BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, Disabled, and Immigrant Communities. Any donation you are able to make will go a long way in aiding Kansas City’s creative community. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO.

Your donations to the Kansas City Symphony will help sustain the Symphony during this time and allow the Symphony continue operating and planning for the future. >> kcsymphony.org

Looking for ways to help the Kansas City Ballet? Click here to learn more and become a KC Ballet Hero.

Like many arts organizations, Midwest Chamber Ensemble hhad to cancel the remaining concerts in their 2019|20 season with the coronavirus pandemic and they need some help offsetting those costs. They hope that you enjoy the digital performances by MCE musicians and appreciate donations in any amount! Thank you for your support.

Help the American Jazz Museum continue to deliver great digital content, share stories, and celebrate and exhibit the experience of jazz! Your much-needed support makes waves of impact in our local community and beyond. Consider sustaining the American Jazz Museum’s mission with a donation today!

You can donate to the Kansas City Repertory Theatre at https://ticketing.kcrep.org/donate/contribute1?ct=2

Spinning Tree Theatre is more reliant than ever on individual donations. You’re invited to support a planned 10th Anniversary Season featuring Kansas City premieres of plays and musicals that reflect the diversity of Kansas City and feature our city’s brightest stars. Click here to support Spinning Tree Theatre.

For the past 44 years, the Kansas City Artists Coalition has diligently advocated on behalf of the arts AND the artists. KCAC supports artists at every level of their career, connects artists with their audience and works to provide art for all. Over the past four decades, the Artists Coalition has weathered tough times and during these times of uncertainty, there is a fundamental truth that together we can do extraordinary things! DONATE TODAY: Click here and make a one time OR monthly donation to KCAC! Help KCAC keep the doors open and the arts thriving through these unprecedented times.

The Carlsen Center at Johnson County Community College needs your support. During these trying times the arts are being challenged. Please consider making a contribution to help keep the Carlsen Center strong. LEARN MORE

In response to the severe financial impact of the pandemic on Kansas City’s regional artist community, Charlotte Street Foundation, Spencer Museum of Art, and ArtsKC – Regional Arts Council have partnered to provide more than $150,000 in emergency aid provided directly to artists in the form of $1,000 Rocket Relief Emergency Grants to Artists. The Rocket Relief Fund is now working to raise additional funds to support more artists. You can help by donating to their GoFundMe campaign! For every $1,000 raised, another artist in need will receive critical support in this unprecedented time of need. DONATE NOW!

From its beginning, donations to The Epsten Gallery have provided the resources to achieve the vision of communities and generations coming together through the arts and also to sustain the outstanding quality of The Epsten Gallery exhibitions and programming. Donate to The Epsten Gallery today!


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