photo by Jensan Photograpy
The Kansas City Museum’s 10th Annual Día de los Muertos celebration will take place on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, from 5 to 9 p.m. The event will explore the history and cultural traditions of Mexico and will be presented in partnership with the Mattie Rhodes Art Center, Creative City KC, Crossroads Hotel, TICO Productions, Stone Lion Puppet Theatre, Giselles Bridal KC, Mi Mercado Fresh Market, Artists Craftsman KC, and La Mega KC radio. Admission to the event is Pay-What-You-Like, meaning attendees may pay an admission fee of any amount. Space will be limited and reservations for tickets are required. All proceeds directly support the educational and public programming at the Kansas City Museum.
Tickets to Día de los Muertos include the following activities:
- Live music by Mariachi Estrella KC as well as Manuel Paez, Italo Aguilera and Felipe Canales, who will be visiting Kansas City from Frutillar, Chile, as part of a collaboration with Creative City KC, the nonprofit organization that supports and sustains Kansas City’s membership as a City of Music in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.
- Puppetry by Stone Lion Puppet Theatre.
- Live dance performances by Grupo Folklorico Izcalli.
- Face painting by artist Jessica Manco, Kathryn Messick and the Van Horn Art Department.
- Take home arts and crafts for kids by Mattie Rhodes Art Center, Artists Craftsman KC, Consulate of Mexico and Kansas City Museum.
- Participation in the indoor and outdoor community altars by bringing items to add.
In addition to the activities, attendees have access to the following:
- Shop at Wisteria, the museum’s boutique, as well as local vendors such as Tzintzun Clothing, Ollama Coffee, Virginia’s Mexican Arts & Crafts, Shop Veronica Style, Maria’s Closet, Creations by Rosita, Panaderia de las Americas, Artist Hector Perez, and Shop Local KC.
- Purchase food and beverages from food trucks such as La Hamburgesa Local, Snow & Roast, Sancho Streetside, Sugar Skull Mexican Food Truck., PH Coffee, and Yoli Tortillas.
To learn more about the Día de los Muertos celebration at the Kansas City Museum and to purchase tickets, visit kansascitymuseum.org.
Special Feature for the 10th Anniversary Celebration
While they are visiting Kansas City, Chilean musicians Manuel Paez, Italo Aguilera and Felipe Canales will record songs for the Kansas City Museum’s Skyspace Sessions.
To celebrate Kansas City as a City of Music, the Kansas City Museum is partnering with Creative City KC to develop ongoing programs, projects and community engagement. One of their new initiatives is the Skyspace Sessions, launching this year in collaboration with 1900 Building, A Karbank Project.
In 2022, the Kansas City Museum publicly announced that it is working with artist James Turrell to create a Skyspace on the Kansas City Museum property. The Skyspace is being acoustically designed for music performances. The Museum will present live performances and recorded music including music that is composed specifically for the Skyspace.
The Skyspace Sessions will be a series of high-quality audio recordings of songs, instrumental tracks and soundscapes that will be archived and experienced in the future Kansas City Museum Skyspace (slated to open in 2025). The recordings will take place in 1900 Building’s Rose Hall, designed especially for performances. Rose Hall has an audiophile-quality sound system, including McIntosh stereo and surround-sound equipment and Sonus Faber speakers.
The Skyspace Sessions are intended to feature musicians from Kansas City, other UNESCO Cities of Music around the world, and cities that have Turrell Skyspaces. There are more than 85 Skyspaces in the world. Kansas City Museum’s Skyspace will be the first in Missouri or Kansas and aims to be a connector for musical and cultural exchanges.
–Paul Gutiérrez & Anna Marie Tutera
