PORTFOLIO SAMPLER

Night/Shift at the Nelson-Atkins

A quarterly free-form evening of live art, live acts, mixing labs, and gallery side quests with local artists and 5,000 years of creative culture. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2024-present.

Photos: © The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Digital Production & Preservation | Dana Anderson, Tiffany Matson, Kenny Johnson

Night/Shift: UltraVivid celebrated color and culture across time and place, from historic Mesoamerica to contemporary Kansas City. A full spectrum of experiences explored the properties and personalities of color and how we mark milestones—including the museum's own birthday, which coincided with this edition of Night/Shift. | Pictured here, DJ and music futurist Jon Sabillón taps into the bioelectricity of live plants, generating music that evokes the sights, sounds, and sensations of Mesoamerican jungles.
Night/Shift; UltraVivid | Mixing Lab hosted by M.A.S.A. (Migrating Assembly for Stories and Art) | Guests exchange stories about the lore, legends, and traditions in their lives as M.A.S.A. artists record them live into a codex, the ancient precursor to the modern book format.
Night/Shift: UltraVivid | Drawings of guests' origin stories by members of the M.A.S.A. artist collective.
Night/Shift: UltraVivid | M.A.S.A. artists assemble drawings into a codex.
Night/Shift: UltraVivid | Guests create paper-cut figures for artist Andrea Cira's Community Tree of Life rooted in Aztec and Spanish colonial traditions.
Night/Shift: UltraVivid | Community Tree of Life by artist Andrea Cira (left) and Night/Shift attendees.
Night/Shift: UltraVivid | Greatest Hits Mixing Lab | Guest memories and wishes regarding important milestones are added to a piñata-in-progress.
Night/Shift: UltraVivid | Pequeño Piñatas | Guests explore the Mesoamerican origins of piñatas while making personal piñata ornaments.
Night/Shift: Yes, And tapped into the rules of improv—collaboration, communication, and building on the moment—for a night of spontaneous creativity. Presented in conjunction with the exhibitions More is More: Reinventing Photography Beyond the Frame, Wrapped Walkways, and Water Embodied.
Night/Shift: Yes, And | Puppet Karaoke with What if Puppets and Puppet Pie.
Night/Shift: Yes, And | Puppet Karaoke with What if Puppets and Puppet Pie.
Night/Shift: Yes, And | Puppet Karaoke with What if Puppets and Puppet Pie.
Night/Shift: Yes, And | Sticking Together
Night/Shift: Yes, And | Sticking Together
Night/Shift: Yes, And | Connecting through Comedy Mixing Lab hosted by Truck Noises Improv and Sketch Comedy
Night/Shift: Yes, And | Connecting through Comedy Mixing Lab hosted by Truck Noises Improv and Sketch Comedy
Night/Shift: Yes, And
Night/Shift: Yes, And | Making a move to create a stop-motion animation with KCAI Animation Studio
Night/Shift: Yes, And | Stop-motion Animation with KCAI Animation Studio
Night/Shift: Yes, And | By spinning the "WHEEL OF JASS," the audience selected the setlist and JASS delivered an entirely unscripted performance: land on SWITCH and the drummer becomes the vocalist, the vocalist plays keys, and so on. Land on UP TEMPO and that slow song gets silly with speed. Land on TELL A STORY and go inside the mind of the artist.
Night/Shift: Yes, And | Ongaku Kissa (Listening Cafe), a musical and movement-based meditation on the power of water by Vice Versa Collective
Night/Shift: Yes, And | Ongaku Kissa (Listening Cafe) | A Wishing Net captures guests' ideas about water. Then, Vice Versa artists reinterpret and release them into their performance.
Night/Shift: Yes, And | Gallery Side Quest: Architect of Shadows
Night/Shift: Second Nature set guests on a scenic route through the museum to explore ideas about place—natural, constructed, and simulated, and how our habits impact the habitats we share.
Night/Shift: Second Nature | Gallery Side Quest: The Secret Language of Flowers
Night/Shift: Second Nature | In the Wake of Survival, an exploration of identity, memory, and the triumphs and struggles of the Black Diaspora. Tristian Griffin, choreographer and dancer. The Royal Chief and Pheenix Leeor, music.
Night/Shift: Second Nature | Mixing Lab hosted by Magpie Creative Reuse Collective, a space to make connections and create a growing collaborative sculpture inspired by mycelium, the complex web of underground fungal filaments that transmit messages and nutrients among trees.
Night/Shift: Second Nature | Songbird Session with Kirstie Lynn and Manor Records
Night/Shift: Second Nature | Demo and pop-up installation of migratory birds sculpted in locally harvested clay by artist Kirsten Taylor.
Night/Shift: Second Nature | Nature Journaling Studio Sprint led by artist and naturalist Cydney Ross.
Night/Shift: Second Nature | Postcards from the Middle, a pop-up installation and postcard-writing experience exploring strange and familiar stories about place.
Night/Shift: Second Nature | The Room Plays, a generative sound installation with live trumpet maps the dimensions and resonant frequencies of four galleries to explore the "voice" of architecture. Alber, composer and musician.
Night/Shift/Star-Crossed | Signs from the stars have shaped who we are, guiding our beliefs, navigating us around the world, inspiring us toward a better one. Science and technology have brought us closer than ever before, but they also obscure our view and distance us. Night/Shift: Star-Crossed launched guests on a cosmic quest of love and luck, fate and faith, Black History and Afrofuturism, and dramatic shifts in scale, from the miniature to the Milky Way. | Pictured: DJ Casio McCombs
Night/Shift: Star-Crossed | Calvin Arsenia and Evan Tedlock combine harp, voice, violin, and generative animation, defying genres and gravity to explore an ever-expanding universe of sight and sound.
Night/Shift: Star-Crossed | Camry Ivory and Owen Scott set Nikki Giovanni's Afrofuturist poem Quilting the Black-eyed Pea (We're Going to Mars) against the backdrop of a space-and-soundscape created by Coloratura, a set of musical paintbrushes invented by Ivory.
Night/Shift: Star-Crossed | Kayf haal-ik? How is your heart? Inspired by the Arabic greeting to understand the state of one's heart or inner condition, artist Aimee Hagedorn invited guests to stitch a heart from found fabrics, add to or mend someone else's heart, and take one home or leave one for the taking.
Night/Shift: Star-Crossed | Kayf haal-ik? How is your heart? Inspired by the Arabic greeting to understand the state of one's heart or inner condition, artist Aimee Hagedorn invited guests to stitch a heart from found fabrics, add to or mend someone else's heart, and take one home or leave one for the taking.
Night/Shift: Star-Crossed | A pop-up installation and live demo of Wolfe Brack's miniature portraits celebrate our individual quirks of personality and prompted guests to draw or describe quirks of their own or quirks they observe in others.
Night/Shift: Star-Crossed | A pop-up installation and live demo of Wolfe Brack's miniature portraits celebrate our individual quirks of personality and prompted guests to draw or describe quirks of their own or that they observe in others.
Night/Shift: Star-Crossed | Flash Nail Art by Color Me Bad gave guests a polished interpretation of art on view.
Night/Shift: Star-Crossed | VERSE Mixing Lab hosted by Where To Find Us featured flash presentations and facilitated conversations on love, identity, and the Black Queer lives that have shifted the cultural landscape.
Night/Shift: Star-Crossed | Gallery Side Quest with curators Kim Masteller and Jason Dean.
Night/Shift: Floating Worlds summoned the spirits of the season and showcased historic Japanese print culture and Kansas City's vibrant print culture today— on paper, in poetry, through ghost stories, and as tattoos. Presented in conjunction with the exhibitions Hokusai: Waves of Inspiration, Still Performing, and the Día de los Muertos altar.
Night/Shift: Floating Worlds | Viva la Tinta artists lead a CMYK Stamping experience.
Night/Shift: Floating Worlds | The KU Natural History Museum discusses the origins and facilitates the creation of gyotaku (fish prints) from specimens in their collection.
Night/Shift: Floating Worlds | The KU Natural History Museum discusses the origins and facilitates the creation of gyotaku (fish prints) from specimens in their collection.
Night/Shift: Floating Worlds | The KCAI Printmaking Studio guides guests in creating 4-color/4-block woodcut prints that picture Kansas City in the style and spirit of famed Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai.
Night/Shift: Floating Worlds | Live Tattoo Demo by Tintoretta Tattoo.
Night/Shift: Floating Worlds | LEGO Boat-building Competition.
Night/Shift: Floating Worlds | LEGO Boat-building Competition.
Night/Shift: Floating Worlds | UMKC Conservatory students perform tableau vivant vignettes in dialogue with works of art on view.
Night/Shift at the Nelson-Atkins heralds a new era of experimental programming designed to shift perceptions of the museum experience for a new generation of young adults. The inaugural event amplified themes in the exhibitions Niki de Saint Phalle: Rebellion and Joy and A Layered Presence with live art, live acts, and gallery side quests that explore identity and empowerment.
Sass-a-Brass parades through the museum at the inaugural Night/Shift.
Sass-a-Brass parades through the museum at the inaugural Night/Shift.
Sass-a-Brass parades through the museum at the inaugural Night/Shift.
What symbols of power speak to you? Alyx Jacobs chainstitches guests' chosen symbols onto bandanas in this live demo and bandana distribution at the inaugural Night/Shift.
Gallery Side Quest with artist Vania Soto at the inaugural Night/Shift.
Guided by artist Emily Alvarez, guests create miniature portrait charms at the inaugural Night/Shift.
Guided by artist Carlos Ortiz-Gallo, guests experiment with gel printing at the inaugural Night/Shift.
Guided by artist Carlos Ortiz-Gallo, guests experiment with gel printing at the inaugural Night/Shift.
Gallery Side Quest with artist Emily Alvarez at the inaugural Night/Shift.
Kostas performs Fool at the inaugural Night/Shift.

Portrait of a City

Forty-nine community photographers “get under the skin of the city” in the style and spirt of photographer Evelyn Hofer to create a collaborative portrait of this place we call home. The Kansas City Society for Contemporary Photography and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2024.

Organized in conjunction with the exhibition Evelyn Hofer: Eyes on the City. Photos: © The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Digital Production & Preservation | Dana Anderson

For the Birds

An artist’s-eye-view of our relationship to birds. Presented in three parts: Formation, Migration, Reunion. The UMKC Conservatory and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2024.

Photos: © The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Digital Production & Preservation | Dana Anderson

I. FORMATION | Thirteen Ways, a set of musical miniatures composed by Thomas Albert and inspired by the 1923 Wallace Stevens poem Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.
I. FORMATION | Thirteen Ways, a set of musical miniatures composed by Thomas Albert and inspired by the 1923 Wallace Stevens poem Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.
II. MIGRATION | Concurrent performance vignettes and gallery spotlights | Caged Bird unlocks poet Maya Angelou's words through dance against the backdrop of paintings by Black artists and vistas of the American landscape.
II. MIGRATION | Concurrent performance vignettes and gallery spotlights | Bluebird, White Swan, Black Swan Variations. Wicked spells transform humans into birds in these excerpts from the fairy tale ballets Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake.
II. MIGRATION | Concurrent performance vignettes and gallery spotlights | Samsara, a comic journey of the death and rebirth of the phoenix.
II. MIGRATION | Concurrent performance vignettes and gallery spotlights | A tribute to Charlie Bird Parker, Kansas City's famed jazz saxaphonist, band leader, and composer.
III. REUNION | Ten Thousand Birds, the songs of native Missouri and migratory birds follow the cycle of a day, from dawn chorus to dusk in this aviary of epic proportions. John Luther Adams, composer.
III. REUNION | Ten Thousand Birds, the songs of native Missouri and migratory birds follow the cycle of a day, from dawn chorus to dusk in this aviary of epic proportions. John Luther Adams, composer.
III. REUNION | Ten Thousand Birds, the songs of native Missouri and migratory birds follow the cycle of a day, from dawn chorus to dusk in this aviary of epic proportions. John Luther Adams, composer.
III. REUNION | Ten Thousand Birds, the songs of native Missouri and migratory birds follow the cycle of a day, from dawn chorus to dusk in this aviary of epic proportions. John Luther Adams, composer.
III. REUNION | Ten Thousand Birds, the songs of native Missouri and migratory birds follow the cycle of a day, from dawn chorus to dusk in this aviary of epic proportions. John Luther Adams, composer.
III. REUNION | Ten Thousand Birds, the songs of native Missouri and migratory birds follow the cycle of a day, from dawn chorus to dusk in this aviary of epic proportions. John Luther Adams, composer.
III. REUNION | Ten Thousand Birds, the songs of native Missouri and migratory birds follow the cycle of a day, from dawn chorus to dusk in this aviary of epic proportions. John Luther Adams, composer.
III. REUNION | Ten Thousand Birds, the songs of native Missouri and migratory birds follow the cycle of a day, from dawn chorus to dusk in this aviary of epic proportions. John Luther Adams, composer.

Sight X Sound

A multisensory meeting ground for visual art and music. The UMKC Conservatory and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2024.

Photos: © The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Digital Production & Preservation | Dana Anderson

Pop, Pulse, Pattern, Repeat
Pop, Pulse, Pattern, Repeat
Pop, Pulse, Pattern, Repeat
Pop, Pulse, Pattern, Repeat
Modernisms in the Making
Modernisms in the Making
Modernisms in the Making
Modernisms in the Making
Modernisms in the Making
Monet and his Modern Contemporaries
Monet and his Modern Contemporaries
Monet and his Modern Contemporaries

Talks & Conversations

Leading voices on our enduring and emerging questions about art and the human experience. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

Photos: Except as noted below, © The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Digital Production & Preservation | Dana Anderson

Out Birding: An Evening with Christian Cooper. Presented in conjunction with Pride Month and the exhibition Survival of the Fittest: Picturing Wildlife and Wilderness, 2025. | Photo: © JoLynne Walz Martinez.
Out Birding: An Evening with Christian Cooper. Presented in conjunction with Pride Month and the exhibition Survival of the Fittest: Picturing Wildlife and Wilderness, 2025.
Out Birding: An Evening with Christian Cooper. Presented in conjunction with Pride Month and the exhibition Survival of the Fittest: Picturing Wildlife and Wilderness, 2025.
The scene outside immediately following Out Birding: An Evening with Christian Cooper. Presented in conjunction with Pride Month and the exhibition Survival of the Fittest: Picturing Wildlife and Wilderness, 2025. | Photo: Laurel Hughes.
Linda Hall Library Special Collections viewing | Out Birding: An Evening with Christian Cooper. Presented in conjunction with Pride Month and the exhibition Survival of the Fittest: Picturing Wildlife and Wilderness, 2025.
Spencer Art Reference Library Special Collections viewing | Out Birding: An Evening with Christian Cooper. Presented in conjunction with Pride Month and the exhibition Survival of the Fittest: Picturing Wildlife and Wilderness, 2025.
Out Birding: An Evening with Christian Cooper. Presented in conjunction with Pride Month and the exhibition Survival of the Fittest: Picturing Wildlife and Wilderness, 2025.
Mary Atkins Lecture: An Evening with Cheech Marin: Chicano Art Advocate, 2024.
Who is Cheech Marin? | Mary Atkins Lecture: An Evening with Cheech Marin: Chicano Art Advocate, 2024.
Mary Atkins Lecture: An Evening with Cheech Marin: Chicano Art Advocate, 2024.
Mary Atkins Lecture: An Evening with Cheech Marin: Chicano Art Advocate, 2024.
Mary Atkins Lecture: An Evening with Cheech Marin: Chicano Art Advocate, 2024.
Mary Atkins Lecture: An Evening with Cheech Marin: Chicano Art Advocate, 2024.
Mary Atkins Lecture: An Evening with Cheech Marin: Chicano Art Advocate, 2024.
Ancient Beacons Long for Notice: Screening and Discussion on the backstory and legacy of NASA's Golden Record with filmmaker Dario Robleto. Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Mapping the Heavens: Art, Astronomy, and Exchange between the Islamic Lands and Europe, 2025.
Ancient Beacons Long for Notice: Screening and Discussion on the backstory and legacy of NASA's Golden Record with filmmaker Dario Robleto (second from right), Patricia Cecil (National WWI Museum and Memorial), Jason Dean (Linda Hall Library), and Kimberly Masteller (Nelson-Atkins). Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Mapping the Heavens: Art, Astronomy, and Exchange between the Islamic Lands and Europe, 2025.
Ancient Beacons Long for Notice: Screening and Discussion on the backstory and legacy of NASA's Golden Record with filmmaker Dario Robleto. Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Mapping the Heavens: Art, Astronomy, and Exchange between the Islamic Lands and Europe, 2025.
The Life and Work of Melissa Shook, a conversation with the artist's daughter Kristina Shook, art historian Sally Stein, and Senior Curator of Photography April Watson. Presented in conjunction with the exhibition "To Prove That I Exist": Melissa Shook's Daily Self-Portraits, 1972-1973, 2024.
The Life and Work of Melissa Shook, a conversation with the artist's daughter Kristina Shook, art historian Sally Stein, and Senior Curator of Photography April Watson. Presented in conjunction with the exhibition "To Prove That I Exist": Melissa Shook's Daily Self-Portraits, 1972-1973, 2024.
The Life and Work of Melissa Shook, a conversation with the artist's daughter Kristina Shook, art historian Sally Stein, and Senior Curator of Photography April Watson. Presented in conjunction with the exhibition "To Prove That I Exist": Melissa Shook's Daily Self-Portraits, 1972-1973, 2024.
The Life and Work of Melissa Shook, a conversation with the artist's daughter Kristina Shook, art historian Sally Stein, and Senior Curator of Photography April Watson. Presented in conjunction with the exhibition "To Prove That I Exist": Melissa Shook's Daily Self-Portraits, 1972-1973, 2024.
A Grand Reveal: Elias Crespin's Grand Hexanet. A Nelson-Atkins at 90 Acquisition and Celebration, 2024.
A Grand Reveal: Elias Crespin's Grand Hexanet. A Nelson-Atkins at 90 Acquisition and Celebration, 2024.
A Grand Reveal: Elias Crespin's Grand Hexanet. A Nelson-Atkins at 90 Acquisition and Celebration, 2024.
A Grand Reveal: Elias Crespin's Grand Hexanet. A Nelson-Atkins at 90 Acquisition and Celebration, 2024.
A Grand Reveal: Elias Crespin's Grand Hexanet. A Nelson-Atkins at 90 Acquisition and Celebration, 2024.
A Grand Reveal: Elias Crespin's Grand Hexanet. A Nelson-Atkins at 90 Acquisition and Celebration, 2024.
A Grand Reveal: Elias Crespin's Grand Hexanet. A Nelson-Atkins at 90 Acquisition and Celebration, 2024.
A Grand Reveal: Elias Crespin's Grand Hexanet. A Nelson-Atkins at 90 Acquisition and Celebration, 2024.
Bloch Lecture: The Van Gogh Museum at 50: Emilie Gordenker, Director, 2024.
Bloch Lecture: The Van Gogh Museum at 50: Emilie Gordenker, Director, 2024.
42nd Annual Atha Lecture: Hokusai in America: Sarah Thompson in Conversation with Yayoi Shinoda. Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Hokusai: Waves of Inspiration, 2024.
42nd Annual Atha Lecture: Hokusai in America: Sarah Thompson in Conversation with Yayoi Shinoda. Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Hokusai: Waves of Inspiration, 2024.
42nd Annual Atha Lecture: Hokusai in America: Sarah Thompson in Conversation with Yayoi Shinoda. Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Hokusai: Waves of Inspiration, 2024.
Ritual and Remembrance: Artist Sonam Dolma Braun in Conversation, 2023.
Ritual and Remembrance: Artist Sonam Dolma Braun in Conversation, 2023.
Ritual and Remembrance: Artist Sonam Dolma Braun in Conversation, 2023.
Enrique Chi, La Lulu, and the Rebel Song Academy Band perform at Making Waves: A Deep-Dive on Arts and Health—a series of workshops, a leadership lunch, and Arts Rx Live! multimedia showcase featuring industry innovators and performances | Organized by Art as Mentorship in partnership with The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2025. | Photo: © Scout Tufankjian
Enrique Chi, Julián Zugazagoitia, and Nathalie Bondil in conversation at Making Waves: A Deep-Dive on Arts and Health—a series of workshops, a leadership lunch, and Arts Rx Live! multimedia showcase featuring industry innovators and performances | Organized by Art as Mentorship in partnership with The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2025. | Photo: © Scout Tufankjian
Enrique Chi, Julián Zugazagoitia, and Nathalie Bondil in conversation at Making Waves: A Deep-Dive on Arts and Health—a series of workshops, a leadership lunch, and Arts Rx Live! multimedia showcase featuring industry innovators and performances | Organized by Art as Mentorship in partnership with The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2025. | Photo: © Scout Tufankjian
Clyde Valentín (artist, educator, and co-leader of Arts for Every Body) presents at Making Waves: A Deep-Dive on Arts and Health—a series of workshops, a leadership lunch, and Arts Rx Live! multimedia showcase featuring industry innovators and performances | Organized by Art as Mentorship in partnership with The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2025. | Photo: © Scout Tufankjian
Enrique Chi discusses the brain on art during a live brain scan of musician La Lulu performing at Making Waves: A Deep-Dive on Arts and Health—a series of workshops, a leadership lunch, and Arts Rx Live! multimedia showcase featuring industry innovators and performances | Organized by Art as Mentorship in partnership with The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2025. | Photo: © Scout Tufankjian
Rebel Song Academy performance for Making Waves: A Deep-Dive on Arts and Health—a series of workshops, a leadership lunch, and Arts Rx Live! multimedia showcase featuring industry innovators and performances | Organized by Art as Mentorship in partnership with The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2025. | Photo: © Scout Tufankjian
Alyson Maier-Lokuta (AVP, Arts and Wellbeing, New Jersey Performing Arts Center) discusses social prescribing at Making Waves: A Deep-Dive on Arts and Health—a series of workshops, a leadership lunch, and Arts Rx Live! multimedia showcase featuring industry innovators and performances | Organized by Art as Mentorship in partnership with The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2025. | Photo: © Scout Tufankjian
Verbal Description and Tactile Tour by Jackie Niekamp and Lily Erb for Making Waves: A Deep-Dive on Arts and Health—a series of workshops, a leadership lunch, and Arts Rx Live! multimedia showcase featuring industry innovators and performances | Organized by Art as Mentorship in partnership with The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2025. | Photo: © Scout Tufankjian
Popcorn Songwriting Workshop by Rebel Song Academy Mentors for Making Waves: A Deep-Dive on Arts and Health—a series of workshops, a leadership lunch, and Arts Rx Live! multimedia showcase featuring industry innovators and performances | Organized by Art as Mentorship in partnership with The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2025. | Photo: © Scout Tufankjian
A Beautiful Disruption Workshop by Marla Van Thournout, Bert Dothage, and Museum Docents for Making Waves: A Deep-Dive on Arts and Health—a series of workshops, a leadership lunch, and Arts Rx Live! multimedia showcase featuring industry innovators and performances | Organized by Art as Mentorship in partnership with The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2025. | Photo: © Scout Tufankjian
Meditative Making Workshop by Amy Berridge for Making Waves: A Deep-Dive on Arts and Health—a series of workshops, a leadership lunch, and Arts Rx Live! multimedia showcase featuring industry innovators and performances | Organized by Art as Mentorship in partnership with The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2025. | Photo: © Scout Tufankjian
Joy Through Movement Workshop by Karen Lisondra for Making Waves: A Deep-Dive on Arts and Health—a series of workshops, a leadership lunch, and Arts Rx Live! multimedia showcase featuring industry innovators and performances | Organized by Art as Mentorship in partnership with The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2025. | Photo: © Scout Tufankjian

Director’s Circle

A series of distinctive gatherings for the Spencer Museum of Art’s philanthropic donor group, 2017-2023.

Photos: © Spencer Museum of Art Creative Services | Ryan Waggoner

Hard Hats & Hardwoods renovation preview
Hard Hats & Hardwoods renovation preview
Hard Hats & Hardwoods renovation preview
Hard Hats & Hardwoods renovation preview
Performance by Haley Kostas
Behind-the-Studs Tour with Studio 804 | The Houses on Oak Hill
Behind-the-Studs Tour with Studio 804 | The Houses on Oak Hill

Amorphous Collective

A monthly gathering of and open invitation to improvisors across disciplines. Spencer Museum of Art, 2022.

Photos: © Spencer Museum of Art Creative Services | Ryan Waggoner and Brandon Jessip

Sew & Tell Visible Mending Workshops

A summer series exploring acts of repair in museum collections and in our own closets. Co-organized with Anne Rogers. Spencer Museum of Art, 2022.

Photos: © Spencer Museum of Art Creative Services | Ryan Waggoner and Brandon Jessip, and my own.

Pass Me the Mic: A Black History / Black Futures Storytelling Experience

Featuring B.L.A.C.K. Lawrence and Naomi Madu, MC. Spencer Museum of Art, 2022.

Photos: © Spencer Museum of Art Creative Services | Ryan Waggoner and Brandon Jessip

Video excerpt featuring Barry Barnes

Zine Club Release and Reflection

Disability Justice is a Feminist Issue collaborative zine, organized in collaboration with the KU Emily Taylor Center for Women and Gender Equity, Spencer Museum of Art, 2023.

Photos: © Spencer Museum of Art Creative Services | Ryan Waggoner and Brandon Jessip

Disability Justice is a Feminist Issue collaborative zine
Collaborative zine contributors discuss their work and stories
Gallery discussion on art and disability justice
Zine Club meet-up at the museum
Disability Justice is a Feminist Issue collaborative zine
Zine Club meet-up at the museum
2023 KU Common Work of Art: Harry Bertoia, Sounding Sculpture
Zine Club meet-up at the museum
2023 KU Common Book: Disability Visibility, edited by Alice Wong
Zine Club meet-up at the museum

Understories

A covid-era reimagining of the museum’s Backyard Bash festival into a monthlong series of installations, interventions, and integrations that tell untold stories about place. Created by university students through a juried competition. Marvin Grove, University of Kansas, 2021.

Presented in conjunction with the KU Common Book Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Photos: © Spencer Museum of Art Creative Services | Ryan Waggoner and Brandon Jessip

View one of four Story Tours created by Environmental Studies students in conjunction with Understories.

A Curiosity of Cabinets: Collections Care at Home

A virtual series on the power of preventive conservation and how to apply museum and library practices to personal treasures at home. Sessions included books, photographs, paper ephemera, quilts, clothing, paintings, and digital materials. Co-organized with Jacinta Johnson. Spencer Museum of Art and KU Libraries, 2020-2021.

Read about A Curiosity of Cabinets in Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals

Conference of the Birds

A covid-era reimagining of the museum’s Backyard Bash festival into a monthlong exhibition of sculptural nests created by university students through a juried competition. Marvin Grove, University of Kansas, 2020.

Organized in conjunction with the indoor exhibition Audubon in the Anthropocene. Photos: © Meg Kumin and Spencer Museum of Art Creative Services | Ryan Waggoner and Brandon Jessip

PSST Curious Kids Network

A series of top-secret missions to crack codes, wrestle with riddles, and solve the mysteries of art. Mission Dimension, pictured below, crisscrossed campus to explore four 3-dimensional works of art. Spencer Museum of Art, 2019-2021.

Created in collaboration with Robin Ward, Christy Schneider, Eliza Bullock, and Kristina Walker.

Resonant Vessels

A commissioned seven-site progressive performance by a large a cappella chorus. Forrest Pierce, composer. Spencer Museum of Art, 2016.

Resonant Vessels
I. Grand Staircase
I. Grand Staircase
I. Grand Staircase
Procession
II. Spiral
II. Spiral
Procession
III. Cavern
III. Cavern
III. Cavern
IIII. Cavern
III. Cavern
III. Cavern
Procession
Procession
IV. Corridor
IV. Corridor
IV. Corridor
V. Minaret
V. Minaret
V. Minaret
VI. Colonnade
VI. Colonnade
VI. Colonnade
VII. Gallery
VII. Gallery
VII. Gallery
VII. Gallery

View a short video on the making of Resonant Vessels

Phase I Renovation & Reopening

A 10-day series of reopening celebrations following a major renovation and reinstallation: a fundraising gala; member, faculty/partner, and student previews; and a community-wide event. Spencer Museum of Art, 2016.

Invitation by Design Ranch
Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little
Renowned artist Wendell Castle (left, BFA '58, MFA '61, Honorary Doctor of Arts '13) with guests.
Pareidolia Contortion

Land(un)locked

An interrogation of place with artist Steve Rowell. Spencer Museum of Art, 2016.

Participant meet-up in the moCOLAB (Mobile Collaboratory)
Artist and Guide Steve Rowell
Decommissioned missile silo, DeSoto, Kansas
Decommissioned missile silo, DeSoto, Kansas
The Caves, Meritex Executive Park, Lenexa, Kansas
Atop the Caves, Meritex Executive Park, Lenexa, Kansas
Mini-Cinema featuring short films by Steve Rowell

Backyard Bash

A celebration of nature, culture, and community in the museum’s backyard, historic Marvin Grove. Spencer Museum of Art, 2015-2019.

Backyard Smash: pinatas by artist Juniper Tangpuz
Inuksuit, composition for 9 to 99 percussionists by John Luther Adams, performed by KU Percussion Studio, director: Michael Compitello
Giant Mancala created in collaboration with KU sculpture students, carved from a fallen tree
WaterWorks game with Douglas County Resource and Conservation Services
NuPenny's Last Stand lands at Backyard Bash..."It’s unclear how many NuPenny Toy Stores were in existence, or if there were ever more than one. Whatever the facts, one remains. Conceived in actuality more as a stand than a store, this model of portable toy display and sales endeavor is nomadic....Throughout history there have been documented sightings of a NuPenny Toy Store in Maine, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, and Arkansas." - artist Randy Regier
Repurposed Putt-Putt by artist Charlie Mylie
Get Inked! walnut ink and vegetable printmaking with walnut ink harvested from the grove's historic walnut trees, in collaboration with KU Field Ecology and Visual Art faculty and students
Gyotaku, Japanese fish prints with KU Natural History Museum
A la Poupee and the Chine Colles sing the printmaking blues
Tree Stories with Dr. Robert Hagen and KU Field Ecology Students
Henna: Nature's Jewelry
Four Freedoms sign-making activity
Junkyard Orchestra by Karen Lisondra and Amado Espinoza
Block Party! with KU Print Club
ADEKU African Drum Ensemble of KU

Soundwall

A concert featuring the premiere of Little Structures commissioned in conjunction with Wall Drawing 519 by Sol LeWitt. Kip Haaheim, composer. KU Percussion Studio, Ji Hye Jung, director. Spencer Museum of Art, 2014.

Kip Haaheim research visit
KU Percussion Studio premieres Little Structures

Read my essay "Little Structures" about this composition and performance

PORTFOLIO SAMPLER

Night/Shift at the Nelson-Atkins

Night/Shift; UltraVivid | Mixing Lab hosted by M.A.S.A. (Migrating Assembly for Stories and Art) | Guests exchange stories about the lore, legends, and traditions in their lives as M.A.S.A. artists record them live into a codex, the ancient precursor to the modern book format.

Night/Shift: UltraVivid | Drawings of guests' origin stories by members of the M.A.S.A. artist collective.

Night/Shift: UltraVivid | M.A.S.A. artists assemble drawings into a codex.

Night/Shift: UltraVivid | Guests create paper-cut figures for artist Andrea Cira's Community Tree of Life rooted in Aztec and Spanish colonial traditions.

Night/Shift: UltraVivid | Community Tree of Life by artist Andrea Cira (left) and Night/Shift attendees.

Night/Shift: UltraVivid | Greatest Hits Mixing Lab | Guest memories and wishes regarding important milestones are added to a piñata-in-progress.

Night/Shift: UltraVivid | Pequeño Piñatas | Guests explore the Mesoamerican origins of piñatas while making personal piñata ornaments.

Night/Shift: Yes, And tapped into the rules of improv—collaboration, communication, and building on the moment—for a night of spontaneous creativity. Presented in conjunction with the exhibitions More is More: Reinventing Photography Beyond the Frame, Wrapped Walkways, and Water Embodied.

Night/Shift: Yes, And | Puppet Karaoke with What if Puppets and Puppet Pie.

Night/Shift: Yes, And | Puppet Karaoke with What if Puppets and Puppet Pie.

Night/Shift: Yes, And | Puppet Karaoke with What if Puppets and Puppet Pie.

Night/Shift: Yes, And | Sticking Together

Night/Shift: Yes, And | Sticking Together

Night/Shift: Yes, And | Connecting through Comedy Mixing Lab hosted by Truck Noises Improv and Sketch Comedy

Night/Shift: Yes, And | Connecting through Comedy Mixing Lab hosted by Truck Noises Improv and Sketch Comedy

Night/Shift: Yes, And

Night/Shift: Yes, And | Making a move to create a stop-motion animation with KCAI Animation Studio

Night/Shift: Yes, And | Stop-motion Animation with KCAI Animation Studio

Night/Shift: Yes, And | Ongaku Kissa (Listening Cafe), a musical and movement-based meditation on the power of water by Vice Versa Collective

Night/Shift: Yes, And | Ongaku Kissa (Listening Cafe) | A Wishing Net captures guests' ideas about water. Then, Vice Versa artists reinterpret and release them into their performance.

Night/Shift: Yes, And | Gallery Side Quest: Architect of Shadows

Night/Shift: Second Nature set guests on a scenic route through the museum to explore ideas about place—natural, constructed, and simulated, and how our habits impact the habitats we share.

Night/Shift: Second Nature | Gallery Side Quest: The Secret Language of Flowers

Night/Shift: Second Nature | In the Wake of Survival, an exploration of identity, memory, and the triumphs and struggles of the Black Diaspora. Tristian Griffin, choreographer and dancer. The Royal Chief and Pheenix Leeor, music.

Night/Shift: Second Nature | Mixing Lab hosted by Magpie Creative Reuse Collective, a space to make connections and create a growing collaborative sculpture inspired by mycelium, the complex web of underground fungal filaments that transmit messages and nutrients among trees.

Night/Shift: Second Nature | Songbird Session with Kirstie Lynn and Manor Records

Night/Shift: Second Nature | Demo and pop-up installation of migratory birds sculpted in locally harvested clay by artist Kirsten Taylor.

Night/Shift: Second Nature | Nature Journaling Studio Sprint led by artist and naturalist Cydney Ross.

Night/Shift: Second Nature | Postcards from the Middle, a pop-up installation and postcard-writing experience exploring strange and familiar stories about place.

Night/Shift: Second Nature | The Room Plays, a generative sound installation with live trumpet maps the dimensions and resonant frequencies of four galleries to explore the "voice" of architecture. Alber, composer and musician.

Night/Shift: Star-Crossed | Calvin Arsenia and Evan Tedlock combine harp, voice, violin, and generative animation, defying genres and gravity to explore an ever-expanding universe of sight and sound.

Night/Shift: Star-Crossed | Camry Ivory and Owen Scott set Nikki Giovanni's Afrofuturist poem Quilting the Black-eyed Pea (We're Going to Mars) against the backdrop of a space-and-soundscape created by Coloratura, a set of musical paintbrushes invented by Ivory.

Night/Shift: Star-Crossed | A pop-up installation and live demo of Wolfe Brack's miniature portraits celebrate our individual quirks of personality and prompted guests to draw or describe quirks of their own or quirks they observe in others.

Night/Shift: Star-Crossed | A pop-up installation and live demo of Wolfe Brack's miniature portraits celebrate our individual quirks of personality and prompted guests to draw or describe quirks of their own or that they observe in others.

Night/Shift: Star-Crossed | Flash Nail Art by Color Me Bad gave guests a polished interpretation of art on view.

Night/Shift: Star-Crossed | VERSE Mixing Lab hosted by Where To Find Us featured flash presentations and facilitated conversations on love, identity, and the Black Queer lives that have shifted the cultural landscape.

Night/Shift: Star-Crossed | Gallery Side Quest with curators Kim Masteller and Jason Dean.

Night/Shift: Floating Worlds | Viva la Tinta artists lead a CMYK Stamping experience.

Night/Shift: Floating Worlds | The KU Natural History Museum discusses the origins and facilitates the creation of gyotaku (fish prints) from specimens in their collection.

Night/Shift: Floating Worlds | The KU Natural History Museum discusses the origins and facilitates the creation of gyotaku (fish prints) from specimens in their collection.

Night/Shift: Floating Worlds | The KCAI Printmaking Studio guides guests in creating 4-color/4-block woodcut prints that picture Kansas City in the style and spirit of famed Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai.

Night/Shift: Floating Worlds | Live Tattoo Demo by Tintoretta Tattoo.

Night/Shift: Floating Worlds | LEGO Boat-building Competition.

Night/Shift: Floating Worlds | LEGO Boat-building Competition.

Night/Shift: Floating Worlds | UMKC Conservatory students perform tableau vivant vignettes in dialogue with works of art on view.

Sass-a-Brass parades through the museum at the inaugural Night/Shift.

Sass-a-Brass parades through the museum at the inaugural Night/Shift.

Sass-a-Brass parades through the museum at the inaugural Night/Shift.

What symbols of power speak to you? Alyx Jacobs chainstitches guests' chosen symbols onto bandanas in this live demo and bandana distribution at the inaugural Night/Shift.

Gallery Side Quest with artist Vania Soto at the inaugural Night/Shift.

Guided by artist Emily Alvarez, guests create miniature portrait charms at the inaugural Night/Shift.

Guided by artist Carlos Ortiz-Gallo, guests experiment with gel printing at the inaugural Night/Shift.

Guided by artist Carlos Ortiz-Gallo, guests experiment with gel printing at the inaugural Night/Shift.

Gallery Side Quest with artist Emily Alvarez at the inaugural Night/Shift.

Kostas performs Fool at the inaugural Night/Shift.

Portrait of a City

For the Birds

I. FORMATION | Thirteen Ways, a set of musical miniatures composed by Thomas Albert and inspired by the 1923 Wallace Stevens poem Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.

I. FORMATION | Thirteen Ways, a set of musical miniatures composed by Thomas Albert and inspired by the 1923 Wallace Stevens poem Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.

II. MIGRATION | Concurrent performance vignettes and gallery spotlights | Caged Bird unlocks poet Maya Angelou's words through dance against the backdrop of paintings by Black artists and vistas of the American landscape.

II. MIGRATION | Concurrent performance vignettes and gallery spotlights | Bluebird, White Swan, Black Swan Variations. Wicked spells transform humans into birds in these excerpts from the fairy tale ballets Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake.

II. MIGRATION | Concurrent performance vignettes and gallery spotlights | Samsara, a comic journey of the death and rebirth of the phoenix.

II. MIGRATION | Concurrent performance vignettes and gallery spotlights | A tribute to Charlie Bird Parker, Kansas City's famed jazz saxaphonist, band leader, and composer.

III. REUNION | Ten Thousand Birds, the songs of native Missouri and migratory birds follow the cycle of a day, from dawn chorus to dusk in this aviary of epic proportions. John Luther Adams, composer.

III. REUNION | Ten Thousand Birds, the songs of native Missouri and migratory birds follow the cycle of a day, from dawn chorus to dusk in this aviary of epic proportions. John Luther Adams, composer.

III. REUNION | Ten Thousand Birds, the songs of native Missouri and migratory birds follow the cycle of a day, from dawn chorus to dusk in this aviary of epic proportions. John Luther Adams, composer.

III. REUNION | Ten Thousand Birds, the songs of native Missouri and migratory birds follow the cycle of a day, from dawn chorus to dusk in this aviary of epic proportions. John Luther Adams, composer.

III. REUNION | Ten Thousand Birds, the songs of native Missouri and migratory birds follow the cycle of a day, from dawn chorus to dusk in this aviary of epic proportions. John Luther Adams, composer.

III. REUNION | Ten Thousand Birds, the songs of native Missouri and migratory birds follow the cycle of a day, from dawn chorus to dusk in this aviary of epic proportions. John Luther Adams, composer.

III. REUNION | Ten Thousand Birds, the songs of native Missouri and migratory birds follow the cycle of a day, from dawn chorus to dusk in this aviary of epic proportions. John Luther Adams, composer.

III. REUNION | Ten Thousand Birds, the songs of native Missouri and migratory birds follow the cycle of a day, from dawn chorus to dusk in this aviary of epic proportions. John Luther Adams, composer.

Sight X Sound

Pop, Pulse, Pattern, Repeat

Pop, Pulse, Pattern, Repeat

Pop, Pulse, Pattern, Repeat

Pop, Pulse, Pattern, Repeat

Modernisms in the Making

Modernisms in the Making