This season of the Mary Atkins Series celebrates civic engagement with the arts and the arrival of a new cultural icon in Kansas City, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art established the Mary Atkins Series in 1995 to invite the finest artistic and cultural leaders to share their perspectives. The 16th season offers a provocative sharing of ideas about the arts in our community and society.
The annual series honors Mary McAfee Atkins, a Kentucky schoolteacher who married a Kansas City businessman. After developing a deep appreciation for the arts in her later years, Atkins bequeathed her estate for the establishment of an art museum. The Nelson-Atkins resulted from the combined generosity of Mary Atkins and William Rockhill Nelson.
The 16th season of the Mary Atkins Series is dedicated to the Kauffman family.
2 0 11 – 2 0 1 2 S e a s o n
6 p.m. Thursday, September 8
Reynold Levy
Recession. What Recession? Why the Arts Can Thrive in the 21st Century
6 p.m. Thursday, February 16
Peter Sellars
6 p.m. Thursday, March 15
Moshe Safdie
Megascale, Order and Complexity
6 p.m. Thursday, March 22
Tom Finkelpearl
Can Art Really Leave the Ivory Tower? Thoughts on Public Art and Social Participation
5:30 p.m. Saturday, April 21
The Kansas City Chorale
Spring Concert
Purchase the full season at a reduced price
Series tickets (Includes four presentations and spring concert)
Members $45 | Nonmembers $70 | Students $20
Individual Program Tickets
Members $10 | Nonmembers $15 | Students $5
All lectures are in the Museum’s Atkins Auditorium. The concert will be performed in Kirkwood Hall. Parking provided free in the Museum garage, which may be entered from Oak Street, just south of 45th Street.
Reynold Levy
Recession. What Recession? Why the Arts Can Thrive in the 21st Century
6 p.m., Thursday, Sept 8
The economic and social challenges to the health of the arts are serious and profound. Who better to address the will to prevail than Reynold Levy, president of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts?
With a background in business, non-profits and higher education, Levy was the perfect man to bring together the 12 artistic organizations that make up Lincoln Center as they undertook a $1.2 billion expansion.
At a time when many arts organizations were closing their doors, Levy’s optimism and belief in the power of the arts enabled explosive growth during an economic downturn.
Peter Sellars
6 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 16
A renowned director of theater, opera and arts festivals throughout the world, Peter Sellars is known for bringing 20th century and contemporary operas to the stage.
Working with composer John Adams, Sellars has been the driving force behind original operas such as Nixon in China, The Death of Klinghoffer, El Niño, Doctor Atomic and A Flowering Tree.
A graduate of Harvard University, Sellars studied in Japan, China and India, and he has directed international festivals, including the 2003 Venice Biennale International Festival of Theater and the 2006 New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna.
Moshe Safdie
Megascale, Order and Complexity
NEW DATE: 6 p.m., Thursday, March 15
Ticket holders for the original date will be issued new tickets.
Call 816.751.1ART (1278) for tickets
Moshe Safdie, the visionary architect for the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, will discuss his recent work, including the Kauffman Center, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, and the United States Institute for Peace in Washington DC.
Embracing a comprehensive and humane design philosophy, Safdie has made lasting contributions to the quality of life in cities and neighborhoods around the world.
For more than 40 years, he has completed a wide range of projects, including cultural and civic institutions, parks, urban centers, airports, and master plans for entire communities.
Tom Finkelpearl
Can Art Really Leave the Ivory Tower? Thoughts on Public Art and Social Participation
6 p.m., Thursday, March 22
Since 2002, Tom Finkelpearl has served as Executive Director of the Queens Museum of Art, where he is working on an expansion that will double the size of the museum.
Finkelpearl worked at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in the 1980s and ‘90s and was Director of New York City’s Percent for Art Program from 1990 to 1996.
Based on his public art experience, he published Dialogues in Public Art in 2000. His new book, The Art of Social Cooperation, is forthcoming from Duke University Press.
Kansas City Chorale
Spring Concert
5:30 p.m., Saturday, April 21
Celebrate spring with Kansas City’s musical pride and joy!
The chorale, featuring the voices of 12 men and 12 women, is a tradition that concludes the Mary Atkins Series on a high note. The distinguished group has recorded eight acclaimed CDs including the 2007 release of Passion Week, which won a 2008 Grammy award.
Since 1988, the Chorale has been led by artistic director Charles Bruffy.
