2024 Public Programs

Visiting Artist Talks and Panel Discussions were presented both at the museum and virtually, and all were documented and archived online.

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 to improve medical care.

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 forged a new partnership with the Kansas City Art Institute to celebrate one of the most creative blocks in KC. The Block Party, the museum’s largest public event, featured music, art activities, food trucks, and exhibitions at Kemper Museum along with the exceptional work of student artists at the KCAI End of Semester Exhibition + Sale.

Led by Kemper Museum Docent and Italian native Benedetta, each language exchange session begins with a half hour of conversation in Italian followed by a half hour in English about artwork on view in the galleries.

Kemper Museum docents and volunteers encourage visitors to engage with contemporary art and ideas, creating a sense of belonging for people from all backgrounds. Three docent roles offer flexibility to accommodate a variety of schedules and interests.

Professor/artist-led art making workshops for adults occur on the last Thursday of every month with themes inspired by exhibitions. In 2024, these studio style art-making sessions led by local artists engaged over 15 community partners over the course of eight sessions. Every session was sold out! Thank you to our wonderful collaborators that made these workshops possible.

Program Highlight: Collaborative Papermaking Workshop Inspired by the gifts of works on paper from Dieu Donne as a part of the exhibition, New Acquisitions: In Celebration of Thirty Years of Kemper Museum, local artist Kelsey Pike led a handmade papermaking workshop at the museum.

NEW in 2024 On the first Thursday of each month, Kemper Museum offers an evening of community and creativity. Visitors are invited to pick up a stool, drawing board, and provided drawing materials, or bring their own sketchbook and find a spot for open drawing at the museum. Written drawing prompts are provided for inspiration. All levels of experience are welcome. Classical KC joins us onsite to provide music tailored to fit specific themes for each month. 

Program Highlight: In September, the museum hosted a special session of Open Drawing with Monterrey, Mexico-based artist Lucía Vidales. Vidales was onsite working on her forthcoming Atrium Project installation, Hambre, and at the end of each hour Lucia briefly engaged with participants. A special still-life display inspired by Lucia’s work and drawing prompts were available for inspiration.

In 2024, Kemper Museum welcomed 2,806 students and their teachers on 75-minute interactive tours.

Participants sing songs, read books, and make art with a Kemper Museum educator and a Kansas City librarian. Engaging 40 children aged 3–6 each month, the program was held either virtually with free art kits mailed to participant’s homes each or in person outdoors on the museum grounds.

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 at the museum.

Periodically held, the museum opens an hour early to provide a quiet and low-stimulating environment where participants can enjoy a hands-on creative activity while experiencing art. A designated gallery and sensory break room with visual resources, hand fidgets, and other tools are provided. This program caters to families with children on the autism spectrum or people who have sensory sensitivities.

Kemper Museum is a member of the Museum Educator Roundtable and hosted the May 2024 Museum Educator Roundtable meeting. We offer Teacher Appreciation events, teacher professional development workshops, VTS training, and interdisciplinary training for integrating visual arts into the standard curriculum for K-12 educators.

Schmidt presented an interactive workshop titled COLORING OUTSIDE THE LINES: Harnessing the Alchemy of Art and Inquiry to Boost Curiosity, Critical Thinking and Achievement.

Monthly weekend programs for teens designed and promoted by teens in the Teen Arts Council. (Examples have included: Figure Drawing Workshops, Printmaking Workshops)

Occasional Thursday evening programs for teens designed and promoted by teens in the Teen Arts Council. (Examples have included: Careers in Art - Teen Info Night, Art as Therapy - Exploration)

New for 2024, Kemper Museum has partnered with KCAI to launch a new L&E initiative, the Teen Arts Council Coordinator Internship. This paid position provides a unique opportunity for a selected college student to create innovative engagement opportunities for the teen council members and their high school peers in the Kansas City community.

2024’s Juneteenth commemoration welcomed back the Tristian Griffin and Regina Klenjoski Dance Companies as they collaborated once again to present Converge: New Spaces, a performance celebrating accessibility and inclusion.

September also saw an Infinite Regress programming collaboration with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City where the museum co-hosted noted opera singer Renee Fleming’s art and mindfulness program, Music and Mind: This program was co-presented by Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and Lyric Opera of Kansas City in conjunction with the exhibition Infinite Regress: Mystical Abstraction from the Permanent Collection and Beyond, which includes individual works by Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz, and the presentation of The Brightness of Light, an opera that explores the relationship between the two artists.

In addition, the museum partnered with the Kansas City Public Library who created a digital reading list and a Central Library location display inspired by the exhibition, Infinite Regress: Mystical Abstraction from the Permanent Collection and Beyond.

Silent concert, Tracks on the Tracks, was a performance in partnership with KC Streetcar Authority, featuring live musicians celebrating Kemper Museum’s streetcar wrap #802 designed by BarkleyOKRP. In addition, the museum welcomed KCMTA and their student performers once again for their December recital. 

celebrating the Museum’s Anniversary, the Shop collaborated with Learning & Engagement to host a number of “Pop Up Events” featuring local artists and designers such as Viva La Tinta, Opal & Gold, Alyx Jacobs, and Irma Starr.