2023 Public Programs

This is an art day-camp for children ages 6–12 with several sessions throughout the year that offer opportunities for children to learn about and make art while learning about the artwork and ideas on view.

In 2023, Kemper Museum welcomed approximately 3,605 K-12 students for tours. Docent-led school tours are student-focused, interactive, and encourage flexible, creative thinking.

The monthly program for children ages 3–6 to Friday mornings when the museum is open! The program invited participants Sing songs, read books, and make art with a Kemper Museum educator and a Kansas City librarian.

Teen Arts Council is a teen-driven leadership program for high school students who are interested in contemporary art and community engagement. Selected through an application process open to all high school students in the Kansas City metro, members of the Teen Arts Council organize public programs for local teens, design engagement spaces for exhibitions, participate in workshops with local artists and professionals, and more.

2023 Teen Arts Council Members

L Abbott, Rishabh Barve, Hadiyah Bayan, Will Brown, Andrew Cho, Ellie Glickman, Bella Hernandez-Lusk, Davis Hoffman, Aurora Nicol, Ysabella Olsen, Sally Panis, Lidia McReynolds, Julia Schnittker, Riley Strait, Rem Ye

Kemper Museum’s largest annual public program returned to the museum and celebrated the opening of the 2023 Atrium Project, Sarah Zapata: So the roots be known.

Engagement spaces broadened understanding of the exhibitions, Denzil Forrester: Duppy Conqueror and Julie Blackmon: A Life in Frame through interactive activities for all ages.

Kemper Museum partnered with the local contemporary music ensemble New Ear on three public performances inspired by the exhibition, Virginia Jaramillo: Principle of Equivalence.

Themed scavenger hunts were created and updated throughout the year with clues to find works on view and prompts to engage with the works.

Concerts inspired by exhibitions on view featured multiple musicians, including vocals, electronically wired to a sound system that allows you to control your experience and hear the full production from anywhere in the museum only while wearing, wireless headphones.

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and Classical KC have joined forces to create a multi-sensory experience when viewing artwork in the museum's permanent collection. Take a listen!

A new series of monthly guided life drawing sessions engaged exhibitions on view and more than 25 local creative partners. At each session, a different local artist introduced participants to their practice and led them through a series of drawing exercises, most often featuring local dancers and musicians as the models.

Curator, Docent, and Special Guest-led Tours activated exhibitions and artwork on view for visitors.

Art for Medicine is a program for medical students and professionals dedicated to the capacity of visual art exploration to improve medical care.

Talks and panel discussions by artists with work on view in 2023 exhibitions were presented at both at the museum and virtually, and all were documented and archived online.

This series of local artist talks was inspired by two photography exhibitions on view, Spandita Malik: Jāḷī—Meshes of Resistance and Julie Blackmon: A Life in Frame.

Inspired by Virginia Jaramillo: Principles of Equivalence, local artist Kelsey Pike led a handmade papermaking workshop at the museum.

In celebration of Juneteenth, Kemper Museum presented Converge, a collaboration between the Tristian Griffin Dance Company and Regina Klenjoski Dance Company that engaged the progression towards equality and diversity.

This program offers a range of volunteer roles to accommodate a variety of schedules and interests. Docent volunteers encourage visitors to engage with contemporary art and ideas, creating a sense of belonging for people from all backgrounds.

This public program is led by a native Italian speaking docent who facilitates weekly explorations of current exhibitions in both Italian and English with a range of Italian language learners and provides post-visit resources to reinforce each session's learning.

Music for A Life in Frame was a collaboration with musician Kevin Morby who created an original score for the exhibition that was played at four weekly “sound sessions” in the galleries throughout the run of the exhibition and available via QR code.

Two themed trivia nights challenged teams to expand on ideas related to exhibitions in a fun and casual atmosphere.