Blog @ the Nelson-Atkins

A few weeks ago, students (ages 6-12) along with a parent/adult took part in Happy Birthday Nelson-Atkins!, a workshop held in the Ford Learning Center.

Taught by Kreshaun McKinney, the class visited the Magnificent Gifts for the 75th exhibition. The children especially liked seeing the fiberglass chair Black Widow by Wendell Castle.

Returning to the classroom, it was time to create! Participants built impressive, multi-tiered cake sculptures and painted them however they wished. The class especially liked using corrugated paper and paint in squeeze bottles as a way to “frost” their cake sculptures.

The workshop concluded with real cake and punch served out of William Rockhill Nelson’s “Hoosier” punch bowl.

By: Lisa Schlagle

The Museum's 75th anniversary has been the cause for much research by various staff members. Every time someone finds something interesting, it is circulated or added to a folder in case someone else has a need for it.

As I was looking through the file today, I found this image from 1979 of Water Lilies by Monet. The Nelson-Atkins owns the right-hand panel in this massive triptych painting (one of four such sets that Monet completed). The other two panels are at the Cleveland Museum of Art and the St. Louis Art Museum.

In 1979, the three panels were reunited for a special display. I have no idea what gallery this is but the addition of the plants is very interesting. The Museum today has a strict policy on plants and flowers in the galleries due to conservation issues. I am sure those flowers were properly treated to prevent bugs from crawling around the works of art.

Last night was the dazzling kick off to our year-long celebration of the Museum's 75th anniversary. More than 1,200 of our closest friends and supporters were on hand to clink champagne glasses and hear inspirational words about both the past and the future.

Morton Sosland, longtime Museum supporter, spoke about the first 75 years of the Museum's history and how things have changed at both the Nelson-Atkins and for Kansas City. He was present as a young child on opening day in 1933.

Museum Director Marc Wilson spoke next and announced the launch of a major, year-long initiative to collect 75 significant works of art. So far, 34 donors have given or pledged works of art to the Nelson-Atkins.

Eleven of those works were on view in Kirkwood Hall including a sculpture by George Segal, a photography by Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison, a breathtaking glass and silver vase, a painting by Raphaelle Peale and an intriguing chair called Black Widow by Wendell Castle, an artist born in Emporia, KS, now working in Rochester, NY.

The 11 works in Kirkwood Hall will be on view through the weekend. After Sunday, you will have to wait until 2010 for an exhibition of all the new acquisitions.

To celebrate our 75th anniversary, we have created a fun little online feature called 365 Days of Art.

Each day for the next year (actually, it will be through January of 2010) you can come to our website and see a different work of art from one of our collections. You can get there two ways. From the home page, click the graphic on the right-hand side (see above) or from our 75th anniversary section.

If you click the image of the artwork, you can use our fancy viewer that allows you to zoom in and get up close and personal. Much closer than you can actually get to the work in the gallery.

Of course, we would love for you to come see the works in person but this is a great way to visit some of your favorites that may not be on view right now.

As we go, the archive will build to show all of the works that have been featured.

This week, the Nelson-Atkins celebrates the momentous occassion of our 75th anniversary.

Even though it was cold and blustery on opening day Dec. 11, 1933, nearly 8,000 people waited in line to tour the Nelson-Atkins.

This weekend, Dec. 13 and 14, may be cold and blustery again but we've got lots of fun activities to keep you warm inside the Museum including FREE CUPCAKES!

If you haven't seen our fantastic exhibition Art in the Age of Steam: Europe, America and the Railway, 1830-1960, take advantage of free admission this Saturday and Sunday. The exhibition closes on Jan. 18.

Stay tuned for an announcement about a special online feature to celebrate our anniversary.

On December 11, the Nelson-Atkins will celebrate its 75th anniversary. I have always thought the story of the Museum's collection was interesting so I did a little bit of research.

Most museums are built around an existing collection or promised works of art. This was not the case with the Nelson-Atkins. The combined estates of two families provided for the construction of a building and the acquisition of a collection but neither one owned what would have been considered museum-quality works of art.

As construction of the Nelson-Atkins began in the early 1930s, so did the construction of our collection. Many people were instrumental in building the collection but no one individual made his mark as deeply as Laurence Sickman.

Among the many exquisite pieces of art that Sickman acquired for the Museum was the Ming temple ceiling that continues to amaze visitors in the Chinese Temple Gallery, several handscroll paintings that were acquired directly from China’s last emperor who was living in exile in Japan, as well as a jade Ritual Disc with Dragon Motif (above) that has been described as the “single most famous jade carving” in existence.

Because of the foresight of the Museum's first trustees, the western half of the original building was left unfinished, allowing curators and leaders to create a truly comprehensive collection that rivals many top American museums.

Click here to read more about the history of the Nelson-Atkins.