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Summer Destinations: Shows to See at KC Museums

Installation view of “Redlined: Cities, Suburbs and Segregation” at the Johnson County Museum (Johnson County Museum)

REDLINED: CITIES, SUBURBS, AND SEGREGATION
Johnson County Museum
8788 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park
through Jan. 7, 2023
jcprd.com/330/museum

We needn’t look any further than our own backyard to find a devastating example of systemic racism. “Redlined” is the subject of a deeply researched exhibition and series of public programs on “redlining,” a decades-old policy of intentional disinvestment from urban communities in favor of suburban development.

Sharif Bey, “Nazarite” (2020), earthenware and mixed media (photo courtesy of Sharif Bey)

NEW ARRIVALS
Belger Arts Center
2100 Walnut St.
through Aug. 6
belgerarts.org

“New Arrivals” includes recent additions to the Belger Collection by local, national and international contemporary ceramic artists created in the last three years: John Balistreri, Sharif Bey, Elaine Buss, Amanda Bury, Paul S. Briggs, Selena Buckner, Jonathan Christensen Caballero, Pierce Haley, Joseph Hutchins, Paul Maloney, Chandler Martin, Jada Patterson, Lilly Powell, Joann Quiñones, Kate Schroeder, Rae Stern, ChengOu Yu.

SHINIQUE SMITH: STARGAZERS
Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art
12345 College Blvd., Overland Park
through July 31
nermanmuseum.org

Brooklyn-based Shinique Smith unveils a new multidisciplinary body of work for her solo exhibition and debuts a new time-based work that evolved out of her 2018 performance at Open Spaces KC.

Installation view of “The Regional” during its run at the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati (photo by Wes Battoclette)

THE REGIONAL
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
4420 Warwick Blvd.
June 3–Sept. 11
kemperart.org

The artistic and cultural complexity of the Midwest gets some serious and welcome attention in “The Regional,” co-organized by the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati and Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, exhibiting diverse artists from more than 10 cities.

Charlotte Street’s executive/artistic director, Amy Kligman, curator of “Joy, and Other Feats of Strength” (photo by Jim Barcus)

JOY, AND OTHER FEATS OF STRENGTH
Charlotte Street Foundation
3333 Wyoming St.
June 10–July 23
charlottestreet.org

Charlotte Street’s executive/artistic director, Amy Kligman, curates this group exhibition of 20 artists celebrating life’s smile-inducing moments, some simple, some surprising — but also a frank acknowledgement that most often joy doesn’t come easily, and if it did, would it even be the same amazing, awe-inspiring experience?

THE HISTORY BEHIND THE SHEETS, an exhibit by Michel Mirabal
Kansas City Museum
3218 Gladstone Blvd.
June 16–Sept. 25
kansascitymuseum.org

“The history behind the sheets,” an exhibit of large paintings by Cuban artist Michel Mirabal (see Arts News, p. 30), “expresses the feelings of the common Cubans who wash their clothes and hang them on the balcony,” the artist says, “and behind these sheets exist the dramas and experiences of everyday life, with their colors, smells, flavors, music and their dreams.”

Ariel Bowman’s “Megaloceros Wall Clock” (2021) in ceramic and mixed media (Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art)

ARIEL BOWMAN
Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art
2818 Frederick Ave., St. Joseph
June 17–Sept. 11
albrecht-kemper.org

Ariel Bowman’s ceramic sculptures of prehistoric creatures mashed up with 18th-century European decorative arts make for playful “Paleoart” viewing.

AMERICAN ART DECO: DESIGNING FOR THE PEOPLE, 1918-1939
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
4525 Oak. St.
July 9–Jan. 8, 2023
nelson-atkins.org

Sourced largely from Midwestern institutions, this traveling exhibition revisits the century-old design revolution that influenced fine and decorative arts as well as fashion, architecture and industrial design.

Brian Hearn

Brian Hearn is an art advisor, appraiser, curator and writer interested in all things art, cave painting to contemporary.

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