Weekend Art Museum Excursions

The completion and opening of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art's Bloch Building is a huge milestone for the Kansas City Art scene. The Bloch Building, which has been under construction since 2005, casts a luminous glow on the east side of the Nelson, adding to it's wonder and mystique of what's being shown inside. Surprising to most is that much of the collection is underground.

The Bloch Building also promises to bring Kansas City some of the most talked about and most treasured collections and exhibitions that are not to be missed. The Bloch Building opened beginning on June 9th, 2007.

Inaugural Collections and Exhibitions::

The Bloch Building will feature two inaugural collections:
Developing Greatness: The Origins of American Photography, 1839-1885 June 9—December 30, 2007

Manet to Matisse: Impressionist Masters from the Marion and Henry Bloch Collection June 9—September 9, 2007

Bloch Building Architect

In 1999, six architects were selected as finalists for the Nelson-Atkins expansion project. They were encouraged to view the north side of the Museum as the best site for the expansion, and most presented preliminary designs that followed that suggestion, with large buildings that used the original Nelson-Atkins as a backdrop.
One architectural firm, however, broke all the rules. Steven Holl Architects presented a design that ran along the east side of the Museum, tumbling into the Kansas City Sculpture Park and incorporating landscape and light as key elements in his overall plan. Rather than block the grand north façade of the original building, Holl’s design found its own space along the gently sloping eastern edge of the Museum’s 22-acre campus.
His design was a daring and unexpected solution to the Museum’s needs, balancing innovation with respect for the beloved Nelson-Atkins neoclassical building. Steven Holl Architects was the clear choice of the Architectural Selection Committee and was selected as the Bloch Building architect in July 1999. Considered one of America’s most important architects, Steven Holl is recognized for his ability to blend space and light with great sensitivity. He specializes in seamlessly integrating new projects into contexts with particular cultural and historic importance.

Steven Holl Architects has designed cultural, civic, academic and residential projects in both the United States and internationally. The Kiasma Museum of Contemporary is generally considered to be his masterpiece. Most recently, The School of Art & Art History at the University of Iowa received the AIA’s 2007 Institute Honor Award, their highest award for architecture.
Steven Holl Architects continues to work on a variety of projects such as the Linked Hybrid (Beijing, China); The Nanjing Museum of Art & Architecture (Nanjing, China); Herning Center of the Arts (Herning, Denmark), Cité du Surf et de l’Océan (Biarritz, France), Sail Hybrid (Knokke-Heist, Belgium), Vanke Center (Shenzhen, China); and the NYU Department of Philosophy in New York City.

The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art opened October 2, 1994. At the core of the permanent collection is the Bebe and Crosby Kemper Collection, a gift by the Museum’s donors R. Crosby Kemper and his wife Bebe Kemper, and the Kemper Foundations. The collection includes works by such artists as Louise Bourgeois, Christian Boltanski, Manuel Neri, Jasper Johns, Helen Frankenthaler, Frank Stella, Joan Mitchell, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Hung Liu, Robert Motherwell, Deborah Butterfield, Fairfield Porter, Wayne Thiebaud, Grace Hartigan, William Wegman, Red Grooms, Georgia O’Keeffe, Christopher Brown, Willem de Kooning, and Robert Mapplethorpe.

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is dedicated to the enjoyment and understanding of the visual arts and the varied cultures they represent. It is committed through its collections and programs to being a vital partner in the educational and cultural life of Kansas City and a preeminent institution both nationally and internationally. The Nelson-Atkins strives to achieve this goal by adherence to the highest professional standards in the collection, preservation, exhibition and interpretation of works of art.

Welcome Julián Zugazagoitia, a man whose passion for the arts has taken him around the globe, has been named the fifth director of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and will assume his post September 1. The news was announced at a March 5 press conference. Born in Mexico and educated at the Sorbonne Paris IV in France, Julián speaks six languages and has worked in the Americas, Europe and Africa. On his visits to Kansas City, he has been struck by the vibrancy of the area, especially the synergy between the arts culture, the university, business and scientific communities, and the overall commitment to philanthropy.

For the past seven years, Julián has been the Director/CEO of El Museo del Barrio in New York, a leading institution in the field of Latin American and Latino art. He led the institution through a $44 million renovation project that resulted in new gallery spaces, a refurbished facility and a popular restaurant. Jim Luce with the Huffington Post wrote about the opening: “Last week on a cold, windy night, over 1,600 New Yorkers arrived to welcome the opening of the Museum. The place was so alive, so hot – so on fire.” Julián is known for his high-energy leadership and his collaborations with other institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art, the National Portrait Gallery and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Before leading El Museo, Julián worked at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York as Executive Assistant to the Director. As a consultant and curator, he also worked with UNESCO and the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles, organizing exhibitions, events and conferences internationally. He also curated exhibitions for the international art fair ARCO 2005, the 25th Sao Paulo Biennale in Brazil in 2002 and as Director of Visual Arts with the Spoleto Festival in Italy.

2010 marks the 100th anniversary of Corinthian Hall, the residence of Robert A. Long and his family, and the historic home of the Kansas City Museum. The Corinthian Hall Centennial will be celebrated all year long with special events, programs and activities.

The Kansas City Museum will be celebrating the “century mark” each month with a dynamic series of lectures, workshops, books, films and seminars that highlight Corinthian Hall’s unique architecture and the Long family’s deep and abiding commitment to the civic well-being of Kansas City.

This is just a sampling of great things to do in Kansas City. Truly a surprising and enchanting city to visit

Images and information courtesy of the above Museums and Galleries