To mark Missouri’s Bicentennial, Kemper Museum invited an advisory group of 13 civic partners comprising curators, educators, artists, and cultural leaders to identify themes and through lines related to the state’s history and select works of art from the museum’s Permanent Collection that can illuminate these ideas.

The exhibition spoke broadly to the issues that have affected and continue to affect our state as we enter Missouri’s next century. The works on view contributed to discussions around honoring ancestral histories; exploring and reflecting on relationships between Indigenous Peoples and cultures of the Missouri landscape; human’s impact on the Missouri River; the surreal descriptors of nature veiling issues of inequality; the people and experiences less widely known, recognized, and understood in the Midwest region; and the global connections created and sustained by jazz music and its deep roots in Kansas City. Themes put forth by Advisory Partners were explored through more than 50 works by artists including Frederick James, Wilbur Niewald, Bisa Butler, Alvin Eli Amason, Elizabeth Layton, and Romare Bearden. Collectively, these works inspired visitors to bring new perspectives to our understanding of Missouri’s unique history as well as to consider the ways that the themes and issues at play in our state fit into a more global framework.

Contemporary Art and the Missouri Bicentennial was organized by Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and curated by Erin Dziedzic, director of curatorial affairs; Jade Powers, assistant curator; and the following advisory partners:

Dr. Dina Bennett | Director of Collections & Curatorial Affairs
American Jazz Museum

Gaylene Crouser | Executive Director
Kansas City Indian Center

Anne Ducey | Former Senior Graphic Designer & Exhibit Coordinator
Kansas City Public Library

Paul Gutierrez | Director of Visitor Experience & Public Programming
Kansas City Museum

Kimi Kitada | Jedel Family Foundation Curatorial Fellow
Charlotte Street Foundation

Kathy Liao | Artist, Artist INC Program Specialist
Mid-America Arts Alliance

Toya Like | Associate Professor and Interim Chair of Race, Ethnic and Gender Studies
University of Missouri–Kansas City

Eleanor Lim-Midyett, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor
Kansas City Art Institute

Lee Wong Medina | Former Second Secretary Associated Consul
Consulate of Mexico in Kansas City

Glenn North | Director of Inclusive Learning & Creative Impact
Kansas City Museum

Joey Orr | Andrew W. Mellon Curator for Research
Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas

Daniel Wildcat | Indigenous and American Indian Studies Faculty
Haskell Indian Nations University

Dr. Carmaletta Williams | Chief Executive Officer
Black Archives of Mid-America

Lead Corporate Sponsor

Premiere Benefactor Sponsor

Copaken Family Fund