Blog @ the Nelson-Atkins

Venice. 3 Visions in Glass is the first exhibition of glass at the Nelson-Atkins in our 75+ year history. It features the objects of three of the leading artists working in glass today, Cristiano Bianchin, Yoichi Ohira and Laura de Santillana.

Venice is a city associated with water so it is fitting that the exhibit has numerous aquatic connotations. When I walked into gallery L8, my first thought was of floating islands of glass. Unlike paintings hung on the wall, this is very much a three-dimensional exhibition. As you move from one display to another, you must navigate your path through these islands.

My attention was immediately drawn to three of de Santillana’s Flags. The flattened, minimal forms are sophisticated and elegant. Undulating fields of color float on top of one another reminding me of Mark Rothko’s color field paintings. As sculptures, de Santillana’s works add the three-dimensional quality that Rothko’s paintings are unable to capture. The Flags are simply stunning.

Another group of works by de Santillana, called Bodhis, were inspired by the prayer stance of Buddhist monks. These objects sit directly in a bed of sand. They are short and squat with rounded bottoms that would seem to rock back and forth as if they are bending low in prayer. For me, they resembled figures bobbing in water.

Clearly, (no pun intended) I was quite taken with de Santillana’s works. Her other figures, called Meteors, felt a little more organic than the Flags and Bodhis. The globular shape evokes a dynamic form that seems to be inflating and deflating, perhaps even breathing.

The works of Yoichi Ohira are located mainly in the Contemporary Decorative Art cases along the gallery walk. His objects begin with a traditional vase structure but he gives it a modern twist softening the form with bends and curves in the silhouette. Many of them are clear glass with beautiful incised (inciso in Italian) details but the ones that caught my eye were his Calle vases.

The Calles are rendered in brilliant colors that imitate semi-precious stones. At first, I thought the pieces were clear glass that had been painted with vivid, impressionistic brushstrokes of yellow, blue, red and green. Then I began to notice the textures and surfaces of the colors and realized they are facets of the glass.

I found the works by Cristiano Bianchin to be less ethereal and more functional. His repeated use of the urn shape made me think of furniture or decorative household items.

Some are covered with fabric; others are nestled in a bed of peat. For me, his work was interesting but less about the beauty of the glass than how he transforms it.

Be sure to see the exhibition and decide for yourself. Vencie. 3 Visions in Glass is on view through August 15. Admission is free.

From Greek tragedies to modern-day musicals, the theater has been a part of the arts for centuries. All the World’s a Stage: Theater and Costume, a new exhibition of works on paper, explores theater’s impact on artists of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The walls of Gallery P27 are graced by prints and drawings by artists such as Eduoard Manet, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Marc Chagall and James Ensor.

A large two-piece set by León Bakst dominates the space (see above). Measuring 4 x 6 feet each, the two panels are placed on opposing walls. Each one contains three characters in exotic costumes from The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian by Gabriele d’ Annunzio. The play opened at the Théâtre Châtelet in Paris in 1911 with music by Claude Debussy and costumes by Bakst. Bakst made more than 500 costumes for this production alone.

The other works of art in the gallery may not be as large, but they are full of compelling details. The two that intrigued me the most were Polichinelle by Eduoard Manet and The Vengeance of Hop-Frog by James Ensor.

Polichinelle (right) immediately caught my eye with his colorful clownish costume, including a big floppy hat and ruffled collar. As I looked closer, I noticed the stick behind his back and the stern look on his face. I wanted to find out who this interesting character really was, so I began to read the label.

Polichinelle is derived from the Italian Commedia dell’arte character Pulcinella who was associated with deceit and duplicity. Manet has dressed his version as Marshall MacMahon, the president of the French Third Republic. MacMahon was nicknamed “Marshall Baton” for his brutal suppression of the Paris Commune of 1871, which fought against the exploitation of the working class and for a more egalitarian system.

One final tidbit explained that Polichinelle was actually the model for Punch, the English puppet from the Punch and Judy show. Like MacMahon, Punch was known for using his baton at every opportunity.

The other image I found interesting (in a disturbing sort of way) was The Vengeance of Hop-Frog by James Ensor (left). This etching illustrates a scene from Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, Hop Frog.

In Poe’s story, Hop-Frog is a dwarf court jester who avenges the mistreatment that he has suffered at the hands of the king and his entourage. Hop-Frog convinces the royal band to wear orangutan costumes, chains them together like wild beasts, and leads them into a grand masquerade ball, where they gleefully terrify the guests. At the climactic moment, he hoists them to the ceiling, climbs up to “discover” their identities, and “accidentally” sets them afire with his torch.

As engrossed as I was in the story, I noticed something that wasn’t mentioned on the label. A figure stands in the foreground with his back to us. He wears a sash inscribed with the artist’s name. Ensor used theatrical metaphors to criticize the world around him but that didn't mean he hid behind a costume.

Works on paper rotate about every six months. Because of their sensitivity to light, they may be displayed for only six months at a time before they are stored away for at least five years.

FIRST Léon Bakst, The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, 1911, Color-lithographed poster in two parts. Purchase: acquired through the generosity of the Leawood Women’s Club, Richard Shields, and Felice Stampfle in memory of her uncle Arthur J. Suiter, F85-9 B. SECOND Eduoard Manet, French (1823-1883). Polichinelle, 1874. Seven colored crayon, lithograph. Purchase: Nelson Gallery Foundation, F87-9. THIRD James Ensor, Belgian, 1860-1949. The Vengeance of Hop-Frog, 1898. Hand-colored etching. Purchase: William Rockhill Trust, 73-17.

One of the luxuries of working at the Museum is the opportunity to daily challenge my preconceived notions of art. In the interest of cracking the "code" of ceramics, I made it one of my missions this week to seriously consider the ceramic works of art in the featured exhibition, Asian Influence on American Ceramics.

Kenneth Ferguson’s Four-Legged Vessel, 2004 is prominently placed. It is large, green and contains rabbit and turtle imagery. Rabbit heads face upward and their ears cover the vessel legs. I am aware that rabbits play an important role in Asian mythology, and are assigned complex personalities. They can be kind, sensitive, artistic, but can also be moody and superficial. The presence of a turtle perching on the vessel lid’s handle must also be considered. Turtles can be interpreted to symbolize the water element in Chinese mythology. They can also be symbols of longevity and good fortune. The rabbits look up to the turtle, perhaps for good fortune or recognizing in him wisdom that comes with longevity. Or a multitude of other possibilities from a multitude of definitions for the cultural symbols of other Asian groups.

Adding layers of color, clay type, slip, size and function further complicate an interpretation. A lidded vessel could be used to store food. It could hold a religious offering. The color green could refer to wealth or the Earth. Or the entire construction could be purely experimental.

I moved forward into L7 and was immediately drawn to Victor Babu's Canister, 1983. Canister, 1983 is smooth, graceful in contour. Vibrant and engaging, yet elegant, in color selection. A delicate butterfly rests just in sight. Flower heads lean heavily down. Perhaps I am sentimental, but in this ceramic object I see calm. I did, nonetheless, walk away from this object wondering about the historical trajectory of ceramic art: what motivated American artists to adopt or be influenced by Asian ceramics? What did they see or experience when viewing these objects? Why were they compelled to experiment?

I left Ferguson’s vessel and Babu's canister with more questions than answers—which opens for me a realm of continued evolution and opportunities which I had previously not considered.

Taking a moment to consider the current Nelson-Atkins textiles exhibition Worldy Luxuries: Repetition in Renaissance Textiles was a rewarding part of my week.

Gallery P6, or The Treasury, is small and securely tucked into the European galleries and P7’s Cloister.

The objects in Gallery P6, including the current exhibition's textiles, embody a piece of glitz and glamour 15th-17th century style. Many of the objects are religiously oriented, and all objects are delicately engraved and embossed. Visitors are transported to a period of elaborate reverence and given access to objects that few people of the time were able to view up-close.

The textiles shown are fragments. A moment of pause allowed me to appreciate seeing the textiles out of context. Take the Italian panel to the right. The dates of creation are placed between 1575 and 1625. The material is silk.

The panel's small size invites me to consider craftsmanship and the history of the piece. During the Renaissance, Middle Eastern influences abounded, including in textile production. In the panel of Italian silk, a visually pleasing pattern of strong male lions is repeated. The lion pattern is raised, dynamic, and soft. The photo to the right does not do justice to the texture of the fabric.

The production process is another layer worth unpacking. Until the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, weaving and textile production was a cottage industry. Textile production was lucrative, but there may not have been large numbers of artisans trained to produce such high-quality textiles. I envision the process was slow, intimate and complexly artistic. Each delicate silk, velvet or linen thread was individually placed, touched and guided by a weaver’s hands. All movements were completed thousands of times over. Multiply those threads seen in a fragment by the thousands of threads likely required for a man's full garment or feet-long drapery and add to the equation potentially "primitive" equipment--the total workload is quite staggering.

Because these textiles were luxury items, the people able to purchase them were members of elite and highly select groups: royalty, aristocracy, wealthy merchants. Even today’s average viewer would be in a social class far below theirs and thereby unable to access such finery. This exhibition invites all viewers into an exclusive realm and to consider the possibilities of a place and time of which we have only glimpses.

As a child, I am quite certain I spent a substantial portion of my time creating marvelous messes, exploring unsafe terrain and contributing to the graying of my father's hair. Yet I have difficulty precisely remembering the details of many of my childhood experiences, and my memory may be unreliable in some instances. Looking back as an adult, idealizing and even trivializing childhood is an easy move to make. Any of my childhood nervousness, discovery, pain or sense of wonder and amazement about the world seems so innocent, even quaint, from my current vantage point.

However, I sense that this attitude is inaccurate, perhaps even inappropriate. The internal and external worlds of children are complex, multi-dimensional, and beautiful in an infinite number of ways. Children are constantly learning, adapting, shaping and being shaped by their surroundings. As adults, there seems to be room to interrogate our complicity in this process.

The Nelson-Atkins’ latest photography exhibition, Hide & Seek: Picturing Childhood, provides an opportunity for such exploration. In multiple ways, the photographers' images of children “emphasize the many elusive constructions of childhood that fall somewhere between innocence and knowing, nature and nurture, metaphor and fact.” They give viewers an opportunity to step into moments of childhood and to contemplate the wonder, clarity and fogginess, tenderness, possibility and sometimes even the contradictions that are so much a part of growing.

Images displayed on this blog (and part of the exhibition)
Sage Sohier Girl being prepared for a horse show, Sandwich, NH, 2004. Gift of the Hall Family Foundation, 2009.37.14.
Jocelyn Lee Untitled (Mimi in Nightgown), 1999. Gift of the Hall Family Foundation, 2009.40.7

An image that has stayed with me since I first viewed the photographs in this exhibition a week ago is Robert Lyons’ Young Girl Outside Manhiya Palace, Kumasi, Kenya, 1997. Unfortunately, this photograph is under copyright restrictions but I absolutely recommend making a trip to the museum to view it! With this photograph, I am unable to be a casual observer, but am compelled to consider my relation to the girl’s world, as well as the choices that she will be required to make. I see her youth, her beauty, and her gentle hand resting atop a spotless white dress and over her heart. My initial reactions were: I want to protect her, to smooth her paths, to share in her excitement but prevent any pain. But when I am able to move beyond those knee-jerk reactions, I see the bravery in her facial expression. I see her hopefulness, her strength and determination. I step back and listen to her.

The photographs in this exhibition present to viewers moments frozen in time. We are given a luxurious pause and maybe also a chance to contemplate what we might learn from the children around us.

What do you see in this exhibition?

Hide & Seek: Picturing Childhood
September 26, 2009— February 21, 2010

Location: Bloch Building, Gallery L11
Free Admission.

Walking into a white room filled with thousands of mounds of white rice definitely sets a tone of reflection and mystery.

Wolfgang Laib: Without Place—Without Time—Without Body is an installation of thousands of mounds of rice, with five mounds of luminous yellow pollen at the center.

Laib lives and works in seclusion in his native Germany and in southern India, which he considers his spiritual home.

He studies philosphy and religion and finds the spiritual traditions of India most relevant for his work. He is especially drawn to Hindu ritual offerings of flowers, foods and other substances placed on altars, and to milk poured as a form of libation.

The five mounds of pollen in the center were handpicked by Laib who believes it is a sacred substance. He has displayed jars of pollen before in other installations which is conserved and reused. The pollen in our installation arrived on an art shuttle in a well secured crate.

The installation took about 3 1/2 days of 4 people working in shifts. Curator Leesa Fanning participated in the installation and describes it as experiencing time in a new way. Not having done this before, she created several practice mounds before she felt confident. By the end, the movement became meditative and automatic.

Overall, there are 4,315 mounds of rice. The installation is a challenge to maintain. For now, the air vents in that gallery have been turned off and the floor is swept twice a day to contain any errant grains. At the end of the exhibition, the rice will be collected by a compost company.

Fanning was able to speak with Wolfgang about the installation. To hear that interview and learn more about other works of art by Laib, click here.

One of my favorite parts of working at an art museum is discovering new interests. Today, I finally walked all the way over to the Museum (about two blocks from my office) to see a new exhibition of works on paper.

Nature Morte/Still Life is part of our rotation of 19th and 20th centrury prints and works on paper. Side note: It is called a rotation because it is part of our collection but we change (or rotate) the works in the gallery on a regular basis. Works on paper are rotated every six months because they are so sensitive to light. Once they go back into storage, they remain there for five years before they can be exhibited again.

The exhibition contains around 12 works on paper with one half devoted to the 19th century and the other half representing the 20th century. The 19th century focuses mainly on prints of flowers. As the public became interested in botany, artists decided to get in on the trend. The result was gorgeous floral prints.

The beauty is obvious but what I thought was even more interesting were the added details. Artists used their backgrounds to give connections to the flower's habitat or cultivation or give clues to the flowers' characteristics. For instance, dutch canals and windmills imply a tulip's heritage from The Netherlands.

Other artists use the background as a way to create mood and mystery. Richard Dunkarton's The Night-Blowing Cereus from 1800, includes a clock tower in the background. The minute hand shows 3 minutes past midnight. The hint of a bright, full moon and misty clouds would have added to the mystique of this exotic flower that blooms in Cuba and Jamaica for English viewers of the early 19th century.

The second half of the exhibition covers the 20th century and includes artists such as Manet, Chagall, Leger, Braque and Picasso. My favorite print would be Chagall's Basket of Fruit and Pineapples because of it's happy, vibrant colors. It is the story that goes with it that makes it even more meaningful. After having endured wars, persecution, and personal loss, Chagall created this delicate composition. He is quoted as saying, "in our life there is a single color, as on an artist's palette, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the color of love."

At first glance, Beloved Daughters: Photographs by Fazal Sheikh is a beautiful exhibition. Black and white images of women and children are simply framed. Large, dark eyes and chubby round faces fill the walls. Upon closer inspection, the exhibition is haunting, heartwrenching and thoroughly moving.

Divided into two sections, Beloved Daughters unites two recent projects by artist-activist Fazal Sheikh which explore the challenges facing women in certain sectors of contemporary Indian society. Challenges such as living and breathing.

The first section, Ladli (which means Beloved Daughter) attacks the complexity of social problems in India such as selective abortion, girls abandonned in orphanages, arranged marriages, forced prostitution and homeless children.

Many of the images are taken straight on with the subject staring directly into the camera giving the viewer a sense of the relationship with the artist. Many are accompanied by testimonials from the women. They are stories of pain, suffering and injustice.

"There's a name to every face and a story behind every portrait," said Associate Curator April Watson. This is not a voyeuristic relationship.

Sheikh was very concerned with the "rush-in, rush-out" mentality of journalists when he worked in northern Africa in the early 1990s. While the media "plunged in, worked swiftly, and departed," Sheikh stayed and began photographing what was left of shattered communities and families living in refugee camps.

Ladli was the same approach. Sheikh worked with activist groups to gain first-hand stories from these women and children. Any money he makes is given back to the communities he has worked in or is used for his next project.

The second half of Beloved Daughters is called Moksha which means Heaven. Moskha concerns dispossessed widows who move to the holy city of Vrindavan to live out their lives in devotion to the Hindu god Krishna. These women who no longer have an association with a husband are cast out by society and many times by their remaining family often under threat of violence.

The images in this section are slightly less disturbing than in Ladli but the stories of loss and pain remain. The translation of "heaven" has a different meaning than the western tradition. Heaven means a release of the cycle of rebirth and reincarnation into lives of desperation. There is small comfort knowing that these women have been set free from their earthly pain.

Beloved Daughters is on view until Sept. 13 in gallery L11. Admission is free. Sheikh will give a free lecture at the Museum on Sept. 10.

Complete online editions of Moksha and Ladli are available at the artist's website, fazalsheikh.org.

This past weekend brought stares and awe-struck amazement at our performing artists on the corner of Baltimore and 19th streets during this month's First Fridays in the Crossroads.

As I waited for the performers to arrive I was surprised to see two ghostly figures approaching covered in white from head to toe! They mimicked the white sculptures from our current exhibition George Segal: Street Scenes by applying white makeup (even on their eyelashes) and wearing white clothes-down to their shoe laces. I asked one of them how he got his shoes on because his laces were painted tied and he said, “painfully.”

People of all ages stopped to observe the all-white figures and soon realized he was holding a card. The card had information about Street Scenes and each person had to come grab it from his hand and then he would wave back. It was fun to see how they interacted with the crowd.

Some of the folks on the street even got in on the scene themselves as did this woman who posed like a mannequin so realistically it was eery.

I was a newbie to the First Fridays scene in the Crossroads district before I started working at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art this summer. After this past weekend, I now know all the adventures a street corner can bring.

As you exit the current exhibition George Segal: Street Scenes, you might notice a table with black construction paper and chalk. This is an opportunity for visitors to share their thoughts about the exhibition through drawings or notes.

I stopped on this one because the figures seem to be based on Japanese Couple against Brick Wall from the exhibition.

Something else that caught my eye was an inscription next to the drawing that read: "If only they could open their eyes and see the life they are living."

It is hard to tell if that is a positive comment or a negative one. I guess as is the same with art, it is subjective.

There are other ways to comment on your experience with Street Scenes. Check out our website to view photos that people have uploaded. You may be inspired to create your own.

Shuttlecocks created a lot of controversy when they first appeared on the Museum's lawn in 1994. Outraged citizens wrote letters to the editor of the Kansas City Star and editorial cartoons popped up about what a waste of money the four sculptures were.

In the 15 years since, they have become an icon for the Nelson-Atkins and Kansas City. This summer, the Museum celebrates the anniversary with a special exhibition Inventing the Shuttlecocks.

The gallery contains drawings, sketches, mock ups and even blue prints showing how Shuttlecocks were created from inspiration to installation.

One of the things I don't think anyone anticipated was how important Shuttlecocks would become for Kansas City. They have appeared on professional football broadcasts and in advertisements for state tourism.

One of my favorites was an image that was published in mutliple newspapers of a nun about to whack a birdie during a badminton tournament (this is not Photoshopped, I swear).

On almost any day, there is a lot of activity physically surrounding the Shuttleocks including school kids frolicking, families picnicking and especially, people taking pictures of themselves with the giant badminton birdies.

Those pictures end up on personal blogs and other social networking sites. We thought since you have so much fun with the sculptures, we would have some fun and ask you to upload those photos to our website.

Click here to see images that have been uploaded and add your own!

Today I got my first look at two new exhibitions opening this weekend, George Segal: Street Scenes and Inventing the Shuttlecocks.

These exhibitions are part of the All-American Summer which celebrate many things including the 20th anniversary of the Kansas City Sculpture Park and the 15th anniversary of the Shuttlecocks sculptures.

Street Scenes is in the featured exhibition space at the very southern tip of the Bloch Building. As you approach through the serenity of Noguchi Court, you are confronted by a wall emblazened with red paint. This wall leads you into the exhibition where the first work of art you see is Chance Meeting (above is a bronze version which is currently in the main lobby of the Bloch Building).

The exhibition spans 40 years of Segal's career, however it focuses on one theme: the city. Segal was a native New Yorker but moved to New Jersey as a teenager when his parents decided to try their hand at chicken farming. Segal remained in New York to finish his education but eventually moved to New Jersey to help the family when his brother left for World War II.

Eventually, the chicken farming was abandoned but the Segal family remained in New Jersey. George spent the rest of his life commuting to New York on a regular basis to find inspiration in the people and neighborhoods of the city.

The 13 life-size works in Street Scenes are thoroughly urban in nature yet universal at the same time. Subjects such as homelessness and hunger, isolation and emotional tension are pervasive. That may sound like some pretty depressing stuff but Segal's use of ordinary people for his models and everyday situations such as people at a Diner or Bus Passengers gives the exhibition a sense of authenticity.

Segal isn't judgemental in his views of the Homeless or sentimental in Depression Bread Line. Instead, Street Scenes gives us the unflinching view of a city dweller who observed the human condition with a keen eye.

Street Scenes opens on Saturday, May 9.

One of the things I like best about the new exhibition From the Land of the Taj Mahal is how easy it is for visitors of all ages and backgrounds to enjoy. It might seem hard to believe that paintings completed hundreds of years ago and calligraphies written in languages many of our visitors can’t read could be made easy and fun to understand, but our exhibition team has done everything possible to make this happen.

The paintings and calligraphies in the exhibition are incredibly vibrant and beautiful, but it’s easy to miss tiny details like insects, flower petals, and whiskers on the emperors’ beards. Mughal imperial painters often worked with brushes made from only a bird quill and one or two bristles from squirrel or kitten tails, so unless you stand so close your nose touches the painting, you probably won’t see everything with the naked eye.

Our gallery attendants probably won’t let you get that close to these priceless works, but there is a solution. At the entrance and several other areas in the exhibition, you’ll find plastic magnifying glasses with a handy string to wear around your neck or wrap around your wrist. If you hold the magnifying glass at different angles, you’ll be able to see things like the shimmer of the gold paint and the texture of the 400-year-old paper. If the paintings are too high up to look closely, there are kid-friendly footstools available throughout the galleries.

Once you can get a good look at the art, there are lots of resources in the galleries to help you understand it better. Almost all of the pieces have extensive explanatory labels that discuss the artist’s intent, unusual techniques, why the image was made, or the history behind it. There are also hints about specific details to examine, and the room of calligraphies even has a reproduction of an illuminated manuscript you can look through for yourself.

As this short exhibition continues, I’ll be sure to give you more updates on this great art, but hopefully after reading this you can see how our educators and curators have made it even greater by offering an interactive, fun experience for all.

Over the weekend, something exciting happened at the Nelson-Atkins. After months of anticipation, the new exhibition From the Land of the Taj Mahal: Paintings for India’s Mughal Emperors in the Chester Beatty Library opened to the public. Last week I got a behind-the-scenes tour of the exhibition led by the Museum’s new Curator of South and Southeast Asian Art, Kimberly Masteller, and I was blown away by the quality of these paintings and calligraphies.

A phrase you will see in the exhibition is “beauty is in the details,” a completely appropriate description of nearly 80 works of art commissioned by the Mughal emperors of 17th-century India. The paintings are on a small scale, almost miniature, but they show in perfect detail images of the emperors’ life at court, the Indian landscape, and folklore traditions.

Every room (there are six!) follows a different theme, and the rich red, purple, and green walls bring out the vivid, shimmering tones of the art. It’s really impossible to describe how beautiful and bright these pieces are, in part because the Mughal imperial painters were using materials we rarely get to see today.

Real gold dust, ground lapis lazuli, and even an occasional pearl make their way into paintings made for rulers like Shah Jahan, who also commissioned the much larger but equally opulent Taj Mahal. The yellow dye seen in many of the paintings was even made using the urine of cows fed only mango leaves!

The natural ingredients in the Mughal artists’s media transfer especially well to images of the natural world and the landscape, which was clearly glorified by emperors who pictured heaven as a lush garden. One of my favorite paintings in the entire exhibition is a relatively simple one that features a single animal. A Mountain Sheep shows just that, a sheep standing on a rocky cliff in front of a glorious red sunset. Still, the sheep does have a gold necklace, so we know its life as a royal animal couldn’t have been too hard.

These paintings have traveled all the way from the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, and they’re only here for a few weeks until the exhibition closes on June 14. Since the paintings are rarely on public display and might not travel again for decades, be sure to see them here while you can!

With close to 100 photographs, there is a lot to see in the new exhibition The Photographs of Homer Page: The Guggenheim Year, New York, 1949-1950. I was struck by how many different moments and different kinds of people Page chose to include in his work. Together, all of these moments show the many possibilities of the city’s dark corners and bustling intersections.

The exhibition website points out that “in recording the city so intently, Page had a larger goal in mind: to suggest nothing less than the emotional tenor of life at that time and place.” Because of Page’s work during this one year, we get to look back at a sliver of life in post-World War II New York. Lots of the photographs feature icons of the late 1940s and early 1950s—shiny Cadillacs, fashionable clothing, tongue-in-cheek advertisements. Page makes each image more meaningful by capturing how men and women interacted with these objects in their everyday lives.

I was especially interested in the ways Page shows that the city can speak to its inhabitants. Several of the photographs have graffiti or billboards in them. In one photograph, a movie usher stands in front of an advertisement featuring a beautiful blonde woman. It appears as if the woman in the ad is looking at the man, but he is oblivious. Rather than showing someone staring at the ad, Page turns the tables and shows us that the city can observe us even as we observe it.

This exhibition reveals Page’s talent for showing us familiar images in a whole new way. When you visit, let us know which images stand out to you!

One of my favorite things about working at the Nelson-Atkins is the chance to be introduced to and learn about new artists. The newest addition to my collection is the American photographer Homer Page who is featured in our new exhibtion The Photographs of Homer Page: The Guggenheim Year, New York, 1949-50.

As I read through the exhibition's acompanying catalog, I learned the usual information. Page was born in the early 1900s in California and lived through the Great Depression as a child. His family lost most of their money in the Depression which may have been one reason he turned away from the business world to a life of creative independence.

The better story though is that his interest in photography was sparked by a promotional campaign done by the Eastman Kodak company. To celebrate the company's 50th anniversary in 1930, hundreds of thousands of American children received a free Brownie box camera, an inexpensive camera made by Kodak that was portable and easy to use.

As Page began his career in the San Francisco area, he was fortunate to come into contact with the great American photographer Dorothea Lange whose work with the Farm Security Administration produced iconic images of suffering and dispair such as Migrant Mother.

During World War II, Page worked in the shipyards which became a natural subject to photograph. However, concerns about espionage meant that cameras were strictly regulated in that area so Page turned to the city streets focusing on scenes of daily life. He was particulary interested in capturing images of commuters and their time-clock existence.

The Museum's exhibition focuses solely on one year of his career. Thanks to a fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation, Page was able to pursue this vision without concern for a day job that would pay the bills.

What strikes me most about his work is the fascinating juxtapositions he captured. His images range from lyrical scenes of couples to heartbreaking views of the homeless. This image of a woman on the street (above) at first is quite beautiful. I love that she is standing at profile echoing the columns behind her. However, the title I found with the image was "Wary Woman on the Street." I don't know if that is an official title or just a convention for us to recognize the file name but it made me re-examine the picture and discover another level to it.

I plan to spend much more time with this exhibition and share other aspects of this new discovery.

As a new intern at the Nelson-Atkins, I was excited today to get a behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming exhibition The Photographs of Homer Page: The Guggenheim Year, New York, 1949-1950. The show will be open to the public this Saturday, February 14, but today our exhibition staff arrived on the scene to install the photographs and labels. They didn’t waste any time, either—by the time I got there at 10 a.m. they were almost done hanging the photographs!

Watching the installation, it struck me how much effort goes into deciding the precise order and placement of the works of art in an exhibition. Photographs waiting to be hung sat on foam cushions on the gallery floor, with blue tape to mark the space between them. Some of the photographs are grouped together in pairs or trios, showing different aspects of city life. Since the labels weren’t up yet to give me any clues, I had to look carefully at each group to decide what the photographs might have in common or what stories they might tell.

One of the reasons I love the Bloch Building galleries so much is that the windows and skylights let in natural light. Page took almost all of these photographs outdoors, and it was nice to be reminded of that environment as I looked at his work. Making my way around carts of installation materials, stepladders, and the photographs themselves, for a moment I even felt like I was one of Page’s subjects walking along a busy city street.

I’m looking forward to another visit to the finished exhibition and to attending Curator Keith Davis’s opening lecture on Sunday, February 22, for an expert’s perspective on this great photographer.

...or, to put it more accurately, the galleries. Art in the Age of Steam: Europe, America and the Railway, 1830-1960 comes to a close on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009. Kansas City is the only U.S. stop for this impressive exhibition, and it may be the last time some of these beautiful paintings will be on view this side of the Atlantic. It originated in England at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.

Age of Steam has garnered numerous accolades from art critics far and wide. However, I often find the most rewarding compliments come from our visitors. A fellow co-worker struck up a conversation with one gentleman who had come to see Age of Steam via Amtrak from Philadelphia. It was his first time in Kansas City and he called his arrival at Union State, stay at Crown Center and the exhibition “absolutely fantastic.”

He also met a couple who made their way to our fair city from San Antonio, TX after reading about Age of Steam in a train-related magazine. They, too, had never been to Kansas City and exclaimed, “We had no idea you had such a museum. We’re coming back tomorrow to see the rest.”

Visit soon and leave your own parting thoughts on the exhibition message board. Hurry though—it won’t be long before Age of Steam, like the locomotives it celebrates, is only a memory.

The magic of working in a large general museum is that you can wander into almost any gallery and discover a new object that you have never seen before or may have not been on view for a very long time. Most of the collections rotate works on a regular basis for a variety of reasons.

Works on paper are probably the most often rotated objects in the collection because of their sensitivity to light. Currently, we have two galleries that display works on paper that are rotated about every six months. One of those galleries contains a case that displays works from the Museum's Starr Miniature Collection. The collection contains more than 300 examples of European and American miniature portraits from the late-16th to 19th centuries.

Currently, 14 miniatures are on view in Gallery P27. The theme is The Image and the Object which focuses not only on the portraits but on their armature as well. The display includes several of the typical locket-type portrait. There are also three rings, three cases and even a bracelet. Two of the rings contain images of a woman's eyes. They are very curious but at the same time mesmerizing.

The most interesting part of the display are the small mirrors underneath a few of the objects that allow you to see the decoration on the back of the object. Many of them are decorated with precious gems, gold, pearls, inlaid initials and even human hair.

Miniatures held portraits of people who were important to the owner whether through personal relationships or perhaps public admiration. It is obvious that these small treasures were very precious. I have to say, though, the hair is a bit creepy.

Here is the front of Portrait of a Lady by John Smart from 1785.

The back of the object shows the decorative elements. A detail follows.

Yesterday afternoon I paid a visit to Gallery P27, currently home to the exhibition Animalia: 19th and 20th Century European Prints and Drawings. While viewing the images of colorfully plumed birds and fantastic beasts, I was struck by the number of prints, six out of the 14 to be exact, that feature horses. Not that I’m surprised. I had a bit of an equine obsession myself as a child. Horse-themed sketches filled my room, a collection of lifelike models lined the shelves and many an afternoon was spent riding Cocoa, my beloved black Quarter Horse, around the family farm.

So, what is it then about the horse that artists find so alluring? Perhaps it is an appreciation of their strength and beauty as demonstrated in the Géricault (Horses Going to a Fair) and de Chirico (Castore, shown above) lithographs. In these works the artist’s equine subjects showcase powerful, defined hindquarters and graceful, arched necks. Their nostrils are flared and their ears alert, projecting an air of confidence and majesty.

Or, is it the spiritual qualities of the horse that draw the artist in? I, for one, believe horses are sentient creatures—possessing the ability to perceive and feel, to empathize with their human companions. The idea of animals as spiritual beings is beautifully illustrated in the colorful Expressionist work Sleeping Animal by Franz Marc—the color blue signifying the horse’s heightened spiritual state.

The attraction, no doubt, is a combination of these and many more. After all, the horse did play a significant role in the evolution of human culture and defined it for many centuries. They offered man faster communication, travel, advantages in combat, status and companionship.

It is this idea of companionship, of cooperation between humans and horses, of which I am particularly fond. And the simple yet poignant print by Marino Marini, Acrobat with Two Horses, sums it up beautifully. Here a man stands triumphantly between his two steeds while all three take in the cheers and accolades of the adoring crowd. Man and beast as equals.

Over the weekend, the Nelson-Atkins was abuzz with visitors. There were many people from out of town and lots of locals who brought their family and friends who were here for Thanksgiving.

My family and I came for the tree lighting and concert by the Kansas City Chorale. The tree was beautiful and the concert was lovely. The kids enjoyed singing along to "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."

Of course we had to stop in to see Resting Places Living Things. It is definitely the most popular attraction right now.

Kids love it for obvious reasons but grown ups are intrigued with it as well. I came up to the table where a family was observing the indendations (the "resting places" part) that Michael Cross created with his elbows into the surface of the table. I placed my hand on the table to feel the pulse of the table (the "living things" part). The mother looked at me strangely so I explained what I was doing. She thought that was so neat.

There wasn't enough snow this weekend for real sledding so these kids decided to do a little bit indoors.

We ended our afternoon with a quick visit to Art in the Age of Steam. My 8-year-old daughter has been in it several times so she just wanted to check out a few of her favorites. She really likes Donner Lake from the Summit by Alfred Bierstadt and the gallery called States of Mind which includes Time Transfixed by Rene Magritte.

It was so nice to get to experience the Museum as a visitor and share it with my loved ones. We even got a nice family portrait in front of the tree.

On Saturday, I attended a program at the Museum called Conversation with Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison. Works by the ParkeHarrisons are featured in the current photography exhibition Restoration: Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison.

The ParkeHarrisons met at the Kansas City Art Institute and spent plenty of time at the Nelson-Atkins which is right across the street.

The discussion was fascinating as they explained their process. They explained that they don't really consider themselves photographers. Her background is in painting and choreography while his comes out of drawing. They discovered that what they really enjoy is the manipulating of mutliple genres including dance, theatre and painting through photography.

Their process is very labor intensive. They do tons and tons of research as they approach each series such as The Architect's Brother which makes up a large part of the exhibition. Once they feel they have a direction, they build elaborate sets and props. They always work outside which creates its own set of issues including weather and sometimes permissions.

Their works are sometimes whimsical, sometimes despondent. They are intentionally ambiguous but always open to interpretation.

I thought it was interesting when someone in the audience asked how they decide who has the better idea or which direction they will take with a series. The answer was that they are in constant conversation with one another whether they are working or just living as husband and wife. When they have disagreements, they try it both ways and the better idea always becomes evident.

Restoration is on view through Feb. 8. Admission is free.

If you've been in the Bloch Building recently and heard squeals and giggles, you were probably in the general vicinity of Resting Places Living Things: Designs by Michael Cross in the Contemporary Project Space.

The gallery contains a floor that has hills and valleys which this group was enjoying on a recent afternoon. In addition to the floor, there is a table with glass jars full of colored wires and light bulbs. There are tree branches on the walls that act as shelves and a table that has a pulse.

Even if you don't have kids, it is such a refreshing change to walk into a museum gallery where you are invited to touch and interact with the art.

The new works on paper rotation, Caricature, Fashion and Fantasy features a group of prints from Goya's series Los Caprichos (The Caprices).

The series was a not-so-subtle critique of the foolishness of Spanish society during the late 18th century but the messages are universal dealing with issues such as the horrors of war, vanity, superstition and general stupidity.

The eight prints on view are amusing but also telling about what that society considered most important: money, fashion and status. Something that I'm sure us enlightened 21st centurians can find hard to relate to.

In All Plucked (above), Goya shows several women chasing a group of chickens with their brooms. The chickens have been newly plucked of their feathers and have the heads of men. The inscription on the print explains that once a woman has got a hold of a man's money, he can be discarded.

Another print, Until Death, shows an old woman primping in front of a mirror while her relatives fawn over her waiting for her untimely death when they might stand to inherit a great sum of money.

If you're not interested in the messages of the prints, you've got to appreciate the work of an artist who was considered one of the last great old masters. Plus, these works are not on view very often because they are highly sensitive to light. Either way, it is a valuable lesson.

The featured exhibition Art in the Age of Steam: Europe, America and the Railway: 1830-1960 is so large that it takes up all the Museum's exhibition space. It is filled with more than 100 paintings, photographs, prints and drawings by artists including Claude Monet, Rene Magritte, Alfred Bierstadt and Thomas Hart Benton.

Among all the amazing works of art, there are lots of little stories. For instance, some paintings were used to romanticize and advertise train travel while others make a comment on the disruptive nature of trains. Some paintings convey personal traumas of the artists while others show the artists' passion for capturing light, air and color.

One of my favorite stories is about a painting called The Great Marquess by Terence Cuneo. It is from 1967 and therfore represents the "1960s" in the exhibition title. The painting is very nostalgic portraying an old retired locomotive that has been restored to its original glory by a train society in Britain.

I guess that is a more common practice in Britain because the curator commented that the painting isn't really considered that great. It is the sense of nostalgia and the amount of care and time that people put into restoring these trains that made it a perfect fit for the exhibition. He had thought about trying to find one of these paintings and was quite happy to receive a phone call from a friend who told him that his "mum" had one of these paintings in her house and she would be happy to lend it.

Not that the painting isn't worthy of being in the exhibition or nice to see. In fact, if you look closely enough, you may find a small mouse that the artist hid somewhere in it. He was known to do that in his paintings as a sort of trademark. Whenever I see a tour of school children around this painting, they are all eagerly searching for the mouse.

The concept of Resting Places Living Things: Designs by Michael Cross may seem a bit foreign for an art museum. Basically, the exhibition is about furniture but I think the real subject is about approach.

In several interviews I've heard Michael explain his approach to objects is very childlike. As a designer, his objects are meant to be functional. But as an artist, there is no reason they can't be fun.

I took my 8-year-old daughter to see the gallery today and she loved it! She ran up and down the hills, she sat at the table, and she was very interested in the piece called Flood which consists of wires and light bulbs in glass jars filled with water (by the way, there is no danger of electrocution). Her favorite piece was the shelves which look like tree branches attached to the wall. They come in very handy if you need a spot for your stuffed alligator.

The exhibition opens tomorrow but you may get a sneak peek tonight if you attend Michael's lecture at 7 p.m.

British designer Michael Cross is still in the building installing his American debut Resting Places Living Things: Designs by Michael Cross.

The floor is finally finished and it sounds like it was quite a feat to get the wood to curve and bend exactly the way he wanted it but that is part of the experimental nature of Michael's work.

Today he is installing Flood which requires unraveling a bunch of colorful wires so that they can be "re-raveled" into the glass containers. The containers will be placed on a table and all the wires will be connected underneath the floor. On the other end, the wires are connected to light bulbs. The catch is when the glass jars are filled with water. One of the preparators told me he had no idea how it worked without electrocuting everyone. I'll have to look into that.

You can find out more about how Michael works at his lecture Resting, Living, Making, Being: Michael Cross and Contemporary Design at 7 p.m., Friday, Oct. 17.

Tomorrow is opening day for our newest photography exhibition, Restoration: Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison. I had a chance to tour the exhibition this morning with curator Jane Aspinwall. As usual, I learned something I hadn't known and I'm here to share it with you.

Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison are local artists who have made good. Robert is a graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute and Shana has local ties as well. The couple have officially been collaborating since 2000, and they currently have an exhibition at the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York.

I have to admit from what I had seen previously, I considered their work to be a bit dreary. I'm happy to say I have changed my tune. Their work is very much about hope for the future and the good inside everyone of us.

Restoration contains 15 photographs from the ParkeHarrison's recent series ranging in date from 1998 to the present. The artists use found and handmade objects to create elaborate images that draw you into their ongoing tale of "the Everyman." This character is the sole inhabitant of a damaged world who works tirelessly to restore the soil, clean up debris and even reteach the birds to fly.

In some images, we see Everyman with enormous tools including a hammer, wrench and rake. He is seen trying to accomplish mammoth tasks such as cleaning up a huge mountain of debris or build a wooden bridge across an open body of water. The scales of the tools indicate the enormity of his task.

In other images, Everyman uses technology to help reinvigorate the earth. One image called Night Garden shows him planting flowers in a field. Planted alongside each flower are decorative lights (the kind you would find on a string of Christmas lights). With the mess of wires strewn among the flowers, the question seems to be in using technology, is Everyman doing more harm than help?

There is a logical sequence as Everyman continues to work day in and day out to accomplish his overwhelming task in ways that are more than inefficient. Eventually, he becomes worn down to the point where he is sitting in a drab room that looks like a prison cell (Mourning Cloak, above). He sits with his back to the viewer without a shirt. He is hunched over looking at his hands. His pasty white skin is almost glowing from the one source of light in the room - a small sliver of window at the top of the ceiling.

The turning point is that his head, back and arms are covered with vibrant butterflies. As curator Jane explained, this is an image where the tables have turned on the Everyman. Instead of him trying to rejuvenate the earth, nature is trying to reinvigorate him.

The ParkeHarrisons will visit the Museum on Nov. 22 for a discussion of their work.

Installation of Resting Places Living Things: Designs by Michael Cross has been going on for more than a week now. I stopped in today to check the progress and found the floor still under heavy construction. It is fairly easy to see what the finished product will look like but it seemed that there were some issues as to how to get there. Click here to read about Michael and his current project at the Nelson-Atkins.

For those of you on Facebook, you can check out a short (and not so high quality) video of this afternoon's progress and a few more installation shots on the event page for the Artists' Talk happening Oct. 17. You may reserve your tickets to hear Michael talk about his new installation and get a sneak peek on the Museum's calendar.

If you've been in the Bloch Building in the past week, you may have heard banging and whirring noises coming from the Project Space. All the commotion is being caused by the installation of British designer Michael Cross's upcoming exhibition Resting Places Living Things.

Michael Cross will be at the Nelson-Atkins for the next few weeks to guide the installation of his American debut. He is known as an industrial designer who presents every day materials and objects in new ways. I had the chance to sit in on an interview with Michael by KCUR's Laura Spencer. I will be sure to let you know when that airs but for now, I can share a little bit about who Michael Cross is and what the exhibition means.

One of the main points I got from Michael is that he is a designer and not an artist. He is not interested in any one material or type of object or technique. He describes his approach to work as "Idea first, material second."

The works he creates are essentially domestic objects: tables, chairs, bookshelves, etc. Michael's approach is to make the most adventurous works he can so while the objects may not be suitable for everyone's home, they could still be functional household objects (with some tweaking).

His approach to the exhibition is that the gallery serves more as a laboratory (please use your British pronounciation) than a space to hang objects on a wall or display in a case. In a gallery, he has much more freedom to interpret items that he could never do in a real house or a shop. He described Resting Places as "one big experiment with furniture." The first object you will see is the floor which is not flat. It is landscaped with hills and valleys. Visitors will be able to walk on the object and to interact with all the objects.

The installation will continue for the next few weeks and I will be sure to keep you updated. I also hope to have a few guest blogs by Michael if time permits.

The Spencer Art Reference Library is a wonderful resource for scholars, students and visitors. The library's Reading Room on the second floor of the Bloch Building, is a lovely spot to look at beautiful art books and read the latest art-world publications. If you don't have a specific need, it is always fun to check out the library's ongoing special displays.

The current display goes hand in hand with the Museum's latest featured exhibition, Art in the Age of Steam: Europe, America and the Railway, 1830-1960.

The display is called "Rails, Trains and Stations: The Railroad in Art and Architecture" and contains 27 books about different topics related to the railroad including photography, history, travel, films and literature.

I only had a few minutes to look through the display. The book that I spent the most time with was T.C. McLuhan's Dream Tracks: The Railroad and the American Indian. This book tells the story of how the great marketing machine of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway turned the great American Southwest into a tourist attraction and how that affected the American Indians of that region.

The reproductions of "railroad art" (advertising posters) is quite telling. One of the main passenger lines on the Santa Fe was called The Super Chief. The posters include slogans such as "The Chief is still Chief. Extra fast. Extra fare. Extra Fine" along with images of Native Americans and the rugged southwestern terrain. The Santa Fe was innovative in many ways providing passengers with car or bus service that would take travelers into areas that were inaccesible by the train. This was known as "The Indian Detour." Many of the posters promoting this service included the incentive of "More Indians."

The book also contains photographs of American Indians that were taken along "the detour" showing their every day life and how they lived. Two photographs that were particularly interesting show how the railroad had changed their existence.

One showed a group of men at the Grand Canyon train station dressed in native clothing. Their job was to welcome visitors coming off the trains and entice them to rent a car to travel into the Indian villages.

The other image was of Albert Einstein and his wife with Hopi Indians at the Grand Canyon. The couple are standing in the middle of a family with Mr. Einstein holding the hand of one of the Indian children. The thing that gets me is that Einstein is wearing a native headress and holding a pipe. Looking at it from the 21 century, it smacks of mockery as tourists (even well educated ones) played "dress up" with the American "savages."

Other books were just as fascinating, and I plan to spend more time with them in the future. The library display will be on view through January 18, which is also the last day for Art in the Age of Steam.

Opening weekend for Art in the Age of Steam was a grand success despite the threat of tornadoes and torrential rain brought about by Hurricane Ike (yes, in Kansas City!). More than 3,000 people attended the member preview days and public opening.

In addition to public approval of the exhibition, the Museum has received support from a list of community partners who are celebrating with their own railroad-related exhibitions and events including the Museum's Spencer Art Reference Library, The National World War I Museum and Kansas City's Union Station.

One event I'll be sure to put on my calendar is at the Toy & Miniature Museum of Kansas City on Jan. 10, 2009 when they will pull out all their steam engine toys.

By the way, the weather is supposed to be much nicer this week.

On my tour of Art in the Age of Steam yesterday, I noticed an interesting combination in the last gallery which covers the Machine Age.

Part of a wall is dedicated to prints that were used to promote train travel. There are two Russian posters from the early 20th century that caught my eye. One is called The Development of Transportation, The Five-Year Plan and the other is The Transport Worker Uses Technical Knowledge as a Weapon and Strives for the Reconstruction of Transport.

The first Five Year Plan was introduced by Joseph Stalin in 1928 and concentrated on the development of iron and steel, machine-tools, electric power and transportation in the young Soviet Union.

The theme of transportation was used as a metaphor for progress toward a Utopian society and a dominating world power. These types of posters were plastered on the walls of factories and plants throughout the country along with reports that monitored the worker's production levels. Individuals who did not make their quotas would be publicly humiliated and criticized. Many were sent to work in labor camps in Siberia. Even under such harsh conditions, the First Five-Year plan was sucessfully completed in only four years. Ironically, it is very possible that without this type of plan, Russia would have been unable to defeat Nazi Germany in World War II.

Directly opposite these posters are two photographs by William H. Rau. He was the official photographer for the Pennsylvania Railroad which was established in 1846 and was the largest railroad in the United States until the end of the 20th century.

The American railroad had a precarious start in the 19th century. Without adequate supplies of iron, many of the first tracks were constructed of wood, with metal strips on the top. The rails were unstable and would split frequently causing accidents, injuries and deaths.

Rau had worked as a western expeditionary photographer and was commissioned to create photographs of the railroad in the 1890s by the head of the railroad's advertising department. The project was meant to increase passenger traffic by romancing riders with beautiful vistas and modern conveniences.

Of the two photographs, one shows the main line at Parkersburg, PA. The picture was shot looking directly down the tracks which run straight and true into the horizon. The second picture was taken from the viewpoint of a passenger looking out the window onto the Susquehanna River. The tracks can be seen ahead as the train travels past a scenic hillside along the river.

This juxtaposition of cultural themes gave me a new perspective and background on just how important the railroad was not just to the art world but to the modern world as well.

I finally got to preview the Museum's new exhibition Art in the Age of Steam: Europe, America and the Railway, 1830-1960. It is fantastic! The whole exhibition is wonderful but of course I have my favorites including four Monets, a Magritte, two Hoppers, two Bentons and an amazing Manet. I think I have more to blog about than I can possibly handle during the exhibition but I will do my best to keep it up.

I thought I would start today with a general overview. The exhibition is organized into six sections that help you maneuver through the massive collection of paintings, prints, photographs and other assorted goodies.

The first section is The Formative Years which focuses on the development of the railroad, especially in Britain and France. It includes prints and drawings that depict feats of engineering such as tunnels, bridges and embankments. These pictures were used to make the new concept of train travel more familiar and acceptable to the public.

The next section is called Human Drama. It adds the element of narrative based on novels, stories and perhaps even myths about what really happened on the railroad. Scenes depict the division of classes including drawings by Honore Daumier that comment on the varying degrees of comfort and differences in passenger behavior. Three large paintings by Abraham Solomon were considered to be the soap operas of the day broaching the subject of vulnerable middle-class women traveling unsupervised and the development of relationships while traveling.

The next section crosses the Atlantic to focus on the development of the railroad in America. Crossing Continents portrays the railroad as sometimes in harmony with landscape and sometimes at odds with the pristine frontier. The dominating image in this gallery is Albert Bierstadt's large painting of the Donner Pass. As usual, the larger than life canvas depicts an idyllic landscape with mountains, forest and water. It takes a minute to find the train but once you do, it completely shifts the focus to the heroic conquest of harsh terrain in the name of progress.

The next gallery is dedicated to the Impressionists and Post Impressionists and contains some of the most famous railroad scenes from the 19th century inclulding Gare Saint Lazare by Monet and The Railway by Manet. These paintings show different views of the railroad with some artists commenting on the intrusion of rural life and the changes in society while others focused on the hope of progress.

States of Mind covers the late 19th and early 20th centuries by artists who used the railroad to evoke feelings and ideas associated with journeys, both physically and mentally. Of course the masterpiece in this gallery is Rene Magritte's Time Transfixed. In his typical style, Magritte juxtaposes two incongruent ideas: a train and a fireplace. There is plenty to analyze in this gallery and I recommend taking some extra time here.

The final section is The Machine Age and contains paintings, photographs and prints. The period between the First and Second World Wars depicted trains as a symbol of prosperity and productivity. The exhibition closes with some interesting comments on the future (post 1960) and the use of the railroad as propaganda.

The big news going on this week at the Nelson-Atkins is the opening of the exhibition Art in the Age of Steam: Europe, America and the Railway, 1830-1960. The fun kicks off Thursday and Friday with member preview days. The public opening is Saturday.

Once you have filled your soul with art, take some time to focus on your body. On Sunday, there is a fun event on the Museum's south lawn.

In honor of National Yoga Month, you can take a yoga-spin class surrounded by the beauty of the Kansas City Sculpture Park. The class begins with a bike ride at 1 p.m. followed by a one-hour yoga practice designed for cyclists at 2:15 p.m. To pre-register, e-mail info@kcfitnesslink.com.

The Museum's featured exhibition galleries are being transformed once more. This time the stage is being set for Art in the Age of Steam: Europe, America and the Railway, 1830-1960. Even with paper mock ups in place, it looks amazing. This exhibition will take up the entire exhibition space in the Bloch Building. If you saw Developing Greatness last year, imagine that on steriods.

Installation will continue for about a week so I hope to be able to show you some of that. Security is pretty tight on this exhibition because there are works of art coming from museums all over the world including the Museum of Modern Art (NY), the Whitney Museum of American Art (NY), the National Railway Museum (London), the National Gallery in both London and Washington D.C., Musee d'Orsay (Paris), the Walters Art Museum and Baltimore Museum of Art (Baltimore), the St. Louis Art Museum, the Chicago Art Institute, the National Gallery of Canada and of course, the Union Pacific Railroad Museum, all the way from Council Bluffs, IA.

For now, the art waits patiently in these crates that were shipped from the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool where the exhibition debuted in April. The exhibition opens Sept. 13 so its good to know that the wait won't be much longer.

One sign that we are a step closer to the international exhibition Art in the Age of Steam: Europe, America and the Railway: 1830-1960 is that the Museum's website has been updated.

The newly expanded online version mimics the installation planned for the galleries by dividing the information into 6 categories. Each category has examples of the art you will see in the exhibition if you are lucky enough to visit it in person.

For instance, States of Mind includes Time Transfixed by Rene Magritte (above).

Another section, called Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, features three of my all-time favorite paintings, The Railway by Eduoard Manet, Gare Saint-Lazare by Monet and On the Pont de L'Europe by Gustave Caillebotte.

The exhibition will contain more than 100 paintings, drawings, photographs and prints drawn from 64 museums and private collections.

The Nelson-Atkins is the only scheduled stop for the United States. If you can't make it to KC, book your flight today for Liverpool, England. Art in the Age of Steam is on view at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool through Aug. 10.

The recent exhibitions Sparks! and Print Lovers at 30 closed this past Sunday. Yesterday, I peeked into the gallery to watch the prep staff take it all apart. Unfortunately, I got there a little too late. This was all that I found:

The good news is that some of the works from Sparks! will return to the contemporary galleries.

In a few short weeks, the prep crew will be very busy installing more than 100 works for Art in the Age of Steam: Europe, America and the Railway, 1830-1960. Artists in the exhibition include Claude Monet, Charles Sheeler, Thomas Hart Benton and Rene Magritte.

I'll be sure to keep you updated.

Upstate by Stanley Whitney

Ekphrasis: ek ‘out’ + phrasis ‘speak’ = to speak out…which is exactly what happened at last night’s Sparks! Out Loud Alive Poetry Slam and Jam as literary artists gave dramatic vocal life to the exhibition’s works.

Bob Holman, founder of Bowery Poetry Club in New York City; Glenn North, poet-in-residence at the American Jazz Museum, and many other local, talented writers gave fantastic ekphrastic performances to a near full Atkins Auditorium. From an answer-call between original visual works, spoken word response and musical elaboration, came an inspiring evening of fused artistic media that kept this audience member on the edge of her seat.

The guitarist, whom I remembered from my last visit to a favorite KC music nest, The Mutual Musicians Foundation, blended silky, echoic tones with the bongo and saxophone players—the overall impression of which seamlessly wove into performers’ words.

Each writer picked a piece from the Sparks! exhibition, wrote an original poem based on that work, then performed the artistic birth on stage.

Faith Scott had the audience moving in “Stanley’s Bebop,” a poem inspired by Stanley Whitney’s bold, quilt-like Upstate. Scott gave smooth, climaxing praise to Whitney’s own rhythm, teasing that the artist already slips “on to the next riff” while others become “just another square in the room,” as playful shouts and applause rose from the spirited audience.

On a more serious note, Stanley Banks’ “After Katrina: The Bodies are Rising” (based on Kerry James Marshall’s Memento #5), touched upon the country’s open wounds, speaking not only of the importance of remembrance, but of the nation’s continued forward movement.

My personal favorite was The Recipe’s (poets 337 and Priest) performance on El Anatsui’s Dusasa I. The symbiotic verse was as impressive as the tremendous tapestry on which it was based. Bound of discarded liquor caps and metal labels from Anatsui’s Ghanian homeland, the reflecting Dusasa I laboriously weaves the tiny reminders of commodification, historic enslavement and global capitalist expansionism into an ironically majestic and elegant amalgamation of materials. All of these themes found illumination in the joined, penetrating vocal accents of The Recipe.

The winning prize, however, went to the poet "Lou" who gave a performance inspired by Alex Hay’s pop art piece Paper Bag. At times, the artist had the crowd laughing out loud, and at others, quietly nodding in profound agreement, hanging on every syllable as a nearness seemed to crest in the room. The crowd favorite received a standing ovation and later returned to the stage with his son (also named Lou) who, filled with child-certitude, accepted the award on his father’s behalf.

Sprinkled with velvety sax solos, Holman eventually brought the evening down in an affectionate sing-speak decrescendo: “There’s got to be a way to add this all up together—the personal, the political, the art…”

You sang it, Bob.

Sadly, the Sparks! exhibit will soon be closing. I hadn’t had a chance to visit it again since it opened, so I spoiled myself a bit and took some time to experience it again this morning. I even decided to treat myself to an audio guide tour, which was very interesting and added a little extra something to my visit. There are two pieces that really caught my attention this trip through the exhibit. The audio guides offered some further information than the wall label, and they also have a touch of music that is quite fun for each piece.

I know a lot of people don’t necessarily understand pop art or at least some pieces of the genre, but I have to admit – I love it! For example, Alex Hay’s Paper Bag is a featured work in Sparks! Perhaps you’re wondering what this work of art looks like. Well, close your eyes and imagine a big paper bag. I mean really big. That’s pretty much it. I like to hear the comments people make regarding work of art such as this, but I have to say the ideas behind pop art are pretty darn interesting.

Pop artists are typically celebrating and critiquing society’s consumerism at the same time. I think the pop artists wanted people to take a look at all the items that you consume throughout the day. Can you imagine what these pop artists from the 1960s would think about society today? Pop art always offers an element of surprise for me, and it also often makes me laugh. Paper Bag seems very relevant still today with all the talk of “going green” and focus on the environment and recycling. This piece questions the ideas of convenience and how society is constantly buying more and more of bigger and bigger products. Who knew a monstrous paper bag made out of fiberglass could say all that?

The second work that I’ve always really admired is by Felix Gonzalez-Torres. Untitled (March 5th) #2 is a fairly unassuming work. In fact, many people may not even acknowledge it as art. This piece consists of two light bulbs simply hanging on the wall together. This may not sound like much, but the meaning of the work is truly powerful. Gonzalez-Torres was an AIDS activist until his death in 1996. The date of the work is in honor of his late partner’s birthday, who passed away in 1991.

The work is symbolic of their relationship. It represents one point of illumination for both their lives. I really appreciate how subtle Gonzalez-Torres’ political message is because it makes it so much more personal and intense. The light bulbs reflect the transience of human relationships and the fleetingness of life. I’ve always been intrigued by art that is considered to constantly be in progress. Once the bulbs burn out, they are replaced and the artwork begins anew.

Sparks! will close on July 20th, so if you haven’t had a chance to see this impressive collection of modern and contemporary art - make time!

As I was reading my colleague's recent entry about the new photography exhibition Human/Nature: Recent European Landscapes, I was moved to write a response. I would like to say up front, that I don't discount her sentiments; I just had a different reaction to the works of art, which after all is what art should do.

The specific line I would comment on is her description of Verdun 1916, Le Mort Homme by Bart Michiels. She says: "It makes me want to jump inside and experience for a day...the vivid green grass and fog-soaked sky that are the photograph’s only subjects." Literally, the landscape is the subject however, the title indicates that there is much more to it.

On the surface, this photograph and the other two by Michiels (Passchendael 1917, Goudberg and Passchendaele 1917, Ravebeek), are verdant landscapes that range from the mysterious to the ordinary (a field of pumpkins). However, I had a very different reaction once I read the label and realized that more than 1.5 million people had lost thier lives in these locations during World War I.

The overall theme of the exhibition is exploring the complex relationship between human beings and the natural world. In this case, the artist has documented the natural reclamation of places that were once a source of much misery and pain. The comparison between the idyllic appearance in the present and the knowledge of the past brutality reminded me of the the old saying that the past will come back to haunt you. In this case, I think that is a good thing.

I am officially in love with Bart Michiels’ Verdun 1916, Le Mort Homme. It makes me want to jump inside and experience for a day (or two or three or 10) the vivid green grass and fog-soaked sky that are the photograph’s only subjects. The saturation of color in the lower half of the piece and the complete lack of it in the upper thrills my minimalist-starved soul and if ever there was a piece of art that I would marry, this one would be it.

Okay I hyperbolize (a bit), but suffice it to say that Human Nature: Recent European Landscape Photography is a very fine exhibit indeed. Curators at The Nelson-Atkins have brought together an enticing feast of landscape photography by artists like Michiels, Marc Räder and Massimo Vitali. But the subjects are not just of scenery alone. Several of these large-scale pieces are of populated landscapes, and visitors to the exhibit will be hard-pressed not to wish they were sunning themselves on the beach or trekking through a snow-covered mountain along with the people in the photographs. How could they not when gazing at such beautifully represented pieces of the world?

Take Vitali’s Viareggio Tuffo, for example. Sunbathers on a sandy beach is a sight many of us have seen and or experienced before (though perhaps not on a gorgeous Italian sandy beach populated with gorgeous Italians). But there is a dreamyness to this landscape that is absolute perfection. The cloudless sky complements the 50s Technicolor look of bathing suits and umbrellas and bronzed skin crowding the beach underneath. From afar the photo looks digitally-enhanced, but up close it seems just possible that Northern Italians are lucky enough to experience days that look exactly like this one. Oh, to be them!

One of the inscriptions on the cornice of the Nelson-Atkins Building is "It is by the real that we exist, it is by the ideal that we live." Another one that I like is "The soul has greater need of the ideal than of the real." They were both said or written by Victor Hugo.

I think it is very fitting that within that same building, there is an exhibition of works on paper that encompasses both of those philosphies. Reality and Fantasy: Land, Town and Sea contains 24 landscapes that run the gamut from bucolic scenes of peasants and country life to a series on the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

It struck me as I was viewing the works that the ones I thought were true life locations, often were not and ones that seemed made up, were actually real. For example, one called Alpine Landscape by Pieter Brueghel the Elder is most likely imaginary. In the scene, a small mountain side village is perched next to altitude-sickness inducing cliffs. There are people walking, riding horses and working in the fields. It looked pretty realistic to me. The label informed me that even though the artist had actually crossed the Alps, this scene was probably fictional.

Another example was the series I mentioned earlier of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that includes the Colosseum at Rome, the Pyramids of Egypt and the Lighthouse at Alexandria. These sites did exist, however, by the time the artists were creating the prints in the 15th and 16th centuries, the real locations were long gone. In fact, the artists may have never even visited the remains of the seven wonders as evident by the engraving of the Pyramids in Egypt. These pyramids are none that I have ever found in the many books or on the multitude of Discovery Channel shows I have seen over the years on the great pyramids.

Another of the seven wonders that was obviously made up is the Walls of Babylon by Philip Gall. It was nicely crafted, however, it looked as though Gall had incorporated every convention he could think of to convey the antiquity of the scene. There was a man on a horse shooting a lion with a bow and arrow; statues of naked women at the every entrance; as well as soldiers, arches and palatial buildings at every turn. I guess that's why Babylon was so wonderful.

Many of the works have titles that suggest a certain genericness in location. There is Wooded Landscape with Figures, Riverbank and Landscape with Castle. I found that even those these scenes were obviously not real locations, the details and ordinariness of the people and buildings made these works more real to me. Go figure.

As part of the Museum's featured exhibition Sparks! The William T. Kemper Collecting Initiative, Kerry James Marshall’s Memento #5 pays homage to the civil rights movement of the 1960s. In the 9x13’ larger-than-life piece, a glittery curtain draws close above the words “What a Time, What a Time.” However, the spirit of the era is far from dead. It finds form and breath in contemporary freedom struggles throughout the world and in works by artists like Marshall. During his free lecture at the Museum—to which I had the pleasure of attending—Marshall described his visionary process as one born of synthesized components used to create something new. “I’m working towards something,” he said.

As perceptible as his paintings, there is little mystery as to the inspiration for Marshall’s subject matter. Born in 1950’s Birmingham, Alabama, the artist’s family moved to the vicinity of the Black Panther Party headquarters in South Central, Los Angeles and to the Watts neighborhood in 1963—two years prior to the infamous rebellion. In Watts 1963, Marshall depicts a seemingly romantic scene in the Nickerson Gardens public housing project. Three children stand, kneel and lay among their own irrational shadows—each making acute, intense eye contact with the viewer. Upon closer inspection, the viewer notices that one child is clutching his stomach. In the sunny, blue-skied field, under the banner “Here We Rest,” the children are anything but carefree.

Author Martin Glaberman wrote of the 1965 rebellion, “The events showed the instant mobilisation of a working-class community in a serious struggle against reactionary police, against the business community and against the war in Vietnam, a community acting in unison with the discipline of long association with common problems.”

Suddenly, the unsettling tone makes sense.

This and other works were personally illuminated by the artist to whom the audience responded with an overflow of questions. On challenging stereotypical black depictions within statistically racially disparate art institutions and “making it” as an African American artist, Marshall explained, “You can leave it to chance and hope you are one of the select few or you can think strategically. I think the stakes are too high.” The crowd echoed with their own inspired testimony and bursting applause. After the lecture, some listeners “rushed the stage” with t-shirts and other items to be signed. I even had the chance to speak with the artist one-on-one.

Since that evening, I have revisited Memento #5. I remember Marshall’s closing statement. “Is that it?” he asked, smiling. “I don’t think so.”

I look forward to the artist's future syntheses.

Pieces of art like those found in the Musuem's collection of Wedgwood have not, in the past, been my cup of tea (pun intended). My range of artistic interest is usually relegated to those pieces you will find at your typical modern art museum – you know, screen prints by Andy Warhol; paint-splattered canvases by Jackson Pollock. Thankfully, the handmade ceramic tea sets and dishes are there to show me how limited that range is.

The Wedgwood collection is part of the Museums collection of Decorative Arts. Each piece of Wedgwood is extraordinary in its detail. Many new additions have recently been added to Gallery P12 in conjunction with this week’s Wedgwood International Seminar being held here in Kansas City. Observe a charming tea set (see example above). The cups, teapot and saucers are all saturated with the colors pink and a smattering of orange. Placed around the tea set are several other matching pieces one might use at an afternoon tea party, like a tureen and a potpourri jar. All the pieces are shell-like. Some are actually in the shape of a shell and all of them are glazed to a brilliant shine as if the ocean itself had weathered away the dull outer parts and left a few shiny pieces in the shape of a tea set sitting amiably on the beach. While looking at this collection, a thought came into my head that has never entered it before: Wouldn’t it be fun to have a tea party?

Another of my favorites was a Pair of Plaques. The plaques are made of plaster with glaze and their shine factor could rival the tea set’s. They have a three-dimensional quality to them with raised patterns of grapes that look good enough to eat and a lemon and lime that look good enough to use as a garnish on an evening cocktail. Yes, I have been converted into someone who adores pottery and hand-crafted tea sets as works of art. Undeniably, these pieces are lovely to look at and any artwork that makes me think of food and cocktails is the artwork for me.

The Museum recently announced an exhibition by British designer and artist Michael Cross to open in October. This will be Cross's first American exhibition and I have to say I'm quite intrigued. According to the press release, "visitors...will enter a space unlike any other in the Museum."

Specifically, the space in question is the contemporary Project Space in the Bloch Building. So far, it has contained three exhibitions of works by contemporary artists: Kiki Smith's Constellation; Tapping Currents: Contemporary African Art and the Diaspora; and currently, Siah Armajani: Dialogue with Democracy.

The new exhibition, Resting Places, Living Things: Designs by Michael Cross, will be the first time the Project Space will be used to exhibit contemporary decorative arts.

Trained as a product designer, all of Cross’ experimental designs can be industrially manufactured and then used in everyday situations. He uses the gallery as a design laboratory, an environment where experimental forms of objects can be nurtured into life and then studied for characteristics that can be transplanted into the wider world.

According to Mr. Cross, the exhibition can be summed up under one meta-message: "Everything can be seen differently - imagine, dream, play." I'm looking forward to it.

Last night, I attended a free lecture by artist Kerry James Marshall (featured in the current Sparks! exhibition). He was amazing. He spoke at length about his career but also about what it takes (in his opinion) to be a succesful artist. He talked a lot about why he creates the works he does. Surprisingly, it has little to do with a need for "self expression" or having a a sudden inspiration.

Marshall grew up in the 1960s in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. He remembered knowing at a very young age that he wanted to "make pictures." His first trip to a museum came in elementary school when his class visited the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Marshall noticed right away that there was a lack of black figures in the art works as well as an absence of black artists in the collection. He made it his goal to rectify that situation. One way of doing that is to create very large canvases that contain prominent images of black people. Small works, he said, can be easily missed. Some of his canvases are 10 feet by 10 1/2 feet or larger.

In talking about the progression of his art work, Marshall mentioned the various series and groups of objects that he has created. I was interested to hear him talk about his Memento series, of which the Museum owns Memento #5 (above). The series deals with the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and the importance of the time in American history. Memento #5 is the final painting in the series. Marshall said he wanted a way to close the group so he painted the angel closing the silver curtain to give closure to himself as an artist but also to put closure on that time period. He also mentioned that the setting in the painting is his mother's living room. In fact, the settings in all five of the paintings are houses of relatives or close family friends. The reason for this is that they were all adults during the 1960s and would have experienced that time in a "real way." What was happening literally determined where they would be able to live, what kind of jobs were available to them and what they could aspire to achieve in the future.

It amazed me to hear him talk about this painting that I have seen so many times. I have read the label next to it in the gallery and I've heard docents and curators speak about it on many occassions. Now that I know the personal story behind it, I don't think I'll ever look at it (or perhaps any other work of art) the same way again.

The Bloch Building is the only place in Kansas City where you will find The Beatles, Charlie Chaplin and Ernest Hemingway all hanging out in the same room. Well, portraits of them that is. In the Public Eye: Photography and Fame invites you to gaze at these and other well-known faces as envisioned by the likes of Irving Penn and Annie Leibovitz – both of whom have shot extensively for some of my favorite magazines, like Vogue and The New Yorker. But the exhibit closes June 15, so you will have to hurry.

The walls enclosing In the Public Eye comprise a veritable landscape of celebrities, authors, musicians, politicians and the list goes on. The two things each of these portraits have in common is, one, the subjects are famous and, two, the photographers are famous as well. And if you can recognize every portrait and photographer in the exhibit, you will be better off than I was. After a recent visit, I had to berate myself a bit for not knowing a few of the names noted on the white information cards, like early 20th century starlet Evelyn Nesbit (below) and famous portraitist Yousuf Karsh (note to self: Read more!!).

On one wall you will find a familiar aesthetic representation: A single shot displayed in a pattern of four that can only be Andy Warhol. An aged but still beautiful Lana Turner was his subject and Warhol meticulously sewed the four black and white photographs together with thread. Next door is a portrait of author William S. Burroughs as shot by Richard Avedon. In a very effective use of the rule of thirds, Avedon placed Burroughs to the extreme left of the photograph against a stark white background. I liked this photograph of Burroughs a lot for its simplicity and because his well-worn face (Burroughs is an older man in this photograph) draws you in. Burroughs' expression is almost as blank as the background and you wonder what he’s thinking about.

Another wall gives you a stunning portrait of Ernest Hemingway (top), circa 1957, shot by Yousuf Karsh. In this picture Hemingway definitely looks the way he feels (perhaps a bit sad and run down?) but he also exudes a remarkable larger-than-life persona, helped along by the fact that the portrait is the largest frame on the wall. Further down the wall are a couple of shots done by Irving Penn of Spencer Tracy and Duke Ellington, both shot in a bare corner of Penn's studio. Ellington's tall frame looks too big for the space, but the expression on his face says that his good nature makes him game for anything. Penn has always been excellent at bringing out his subjects' personalities through the use of simple framing techniques and that amazing photographer's "eye" of his.

Throughout the exhibit you will find Hedy Lamarr, Greta Garbo, and even Richard Nixon. Posed images are mixed with photojournalistic entries, one of the most memorable of these being a portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr (above). Photojournalist James Karales deviated from the more well-known repertoire of King images by giving us a charming view of the activist at home with his young daughter. King did a lot of great things for the Civil Rights movement in his public life, but it is this view of him in his private one that is the most powerful portrait of King I've seen yet.

With all the talk of cutting vacations this summer, I was happy to find a new focus exhibition from our prints collection that features a variety of locations to transport you at absolutely no cost.

Landscapes: Real and Imagined includes classical ancient ruins, mysterious Egyptian remains and idyllic European pastorals.

There were several that I really enjoyed. An engraving by Samuel Palmer called The Lonely Tower looks like something out of an illustrated book from the turn of the century. In fact, it was inspired by a poem by John Milton called Il Penserosa. I was mesmerized by the depiction of the sky. The engraved lines create a sense of vivid movement in an otherwise calm depiction of the countryside. The twinkling stars and crescent moon behind layers of misty clouds give the picture a mysterious quality.

I also loved Johan Barthold Jongkind's Windmill Near Rotterdam (above). Having lived in Germany as a child, it reminded me of trips my family took to Holland. Jongkind lived in Paris during the 1860s and became very influential to the Impressionists. Jongkind was concerned with capturing rapidly changing light and atmospheric effects. The loose, free brushstrokes and simple outlines of boats and people clearly indicate an early Impressionist style. He was a mentor to Claude Monet, who actually called Jongkind his "true master."

One more that intrigued me was by Andre Lhote and is simply called Landscape. The label told me that it depicts a minimalist style of "delicate and poetic cubism." What I liked best about it is that it reminded me of a style used in Japanese scrolls. The perspective appears as if you are floating above looking down through the clouds into this village.

There were several others that were just amazing in this intimate exhibition in Gallery P27. Since admision is free to the Museum every day, you owe it to yourself to come take a quick mental get away.

As a way to get to know each other, the Museum's monthly all-staff meeting features a brief conversation with one employee. Everyone is asked the same seven questions. My favorite question is "If you could hang one work of art from the Museum's collection in your living room, which would it be and why?" Of course, it is assumed that there would be no consequences to removing the said work of art from the gallery and walking out the door with it.

Until recently, I would have answered with one of my top faves, such as the Chinese Guanyin or perhaps Monet's Water Lilies (not that it would fit in my living room, mind you). However, since the exhibition Print Lovers at 30 opened earlier this month, I have to add Art, by Robert Cottingham to that list.

I remember my first reaction when I saw it was, "wow! that would look great in my living room!" I love the vibrant colors and crisp, clarity of the image. I also love the context of the image. The letters that form the word "art" appear on a neon marquee. Cottingham has cropped the image so the word almost fills the entire frame. As someone who works in an art museum, I think it would be great to have this lovely picture hanging above my mantel to remind me every day of the beauty of art.

I wasn’t quite sure what to make of Siah Armajani’s artwork at first. His work is featured in Dialogue with Democracy currently being exhibited in the Bloch Building project space. Although very interesting, I was not sure I was getting it. I was mostly thinking, “That green wood stain is really cool; I wonder if I could find that at a hardware store…” But then, I began to read, contemplate and understand the artworks.

The first piece that made me really begin to understand a bit of Armajani’s ideology is Chair for Sacco and Vanzetti Reading Room. The work is neat by itself, but there is a picture on the wall of the chair in the reading room actually being used – that’s when it clicked. I think it’s really interesting when artists want their art to be utilitarian and of the everyday. Armajani seems to make art at a level that all people can understand – because they can use it, touch it and interact with it.

I was also intrigued by the simplicity of the forms he uses. The wall text says his aesthetic is that of a “one-room school house and the small-town church.” And those curators sure know what they are talking about, because that is exactly what it looks like. His work is truly American, and he strives to bring about social interaction in his work.

Elements #16 is comprised of a recurring aspect of his work, the bridge. Not only has he actually created city bridges, but he encourages the viewer to really think about what the term “bridge” means. He uses functional items such as a bridge and a table for people to begin thinking about his art in terms of meeting places and human interactions in the everyday.

If you’re ever in doubt of a certain artist or wonder if you don’t quite understand the meaning of the work, make sure you read. Those scrupulously designed texts on the wall and labels really do serve their purpose. I ended up leaving the exhibit thinking about art in a new way.

P.S. If you are an admirer of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, you definitely need to check Dialogue with Democracy out.

This past Saturday, photographer Bill Snead visited the Museum for a free lecture. Bill's photo of the Beatles is featured in the exhibition In the Public Eye: Photography and Fame. Bill spoke about his 50-plus-year career and told some wonderful stories. One constant theme was about how he felt that luck had so much to do with his career as a photographer.

The first image he showed was of the great actor Alec Guiness (he will always be Obi Wan Kenobi to me but I hear he had a very distinguished career outside the Star Wars trilogy). Bill was working for the Washington Post and happened to be the one who answered the phone when "Katharine" called down. That would be Katharine Graham, the Post's publisher during the 1960s and 70s.

Another great story was that as a young photographer in D.C., Snead was roommates with another newspaper photographer. One night, Bill came home to find a party in full swing. Among the guests was Ansel Adams. Bill asked him if he could get him anything to drink. Adams told him he wanted vodka with a splash of water. Bill provided the vodka and asked him if he would like to dance. When Ansel asked him why, Bill told him he had met many people who had told him about meeting Adams but none of them could say they had ever danced with the famous photographer. Adams agreed and the two danced. As Bill told the story, he added that no on there had the sense to take a photo.

After the lecture, Snead was gracious enough to sign copies of his book Bill Snead Photographs The First 50 Years.

If you pick up the latest copy of Vanity Fair magazine, you will see a dazzling spread by the Gap advertising their artist edition t-shirts. The Gap is a sponsor of the 2008 Whitney Biennial and they have teamed up with previous Biennial artists to created a limited edition collection. The artists include many who have ties to the Nelson-Atkins.

On the back cover of the magazine is Chuck Close wearing a t-shirt with an image of his print of Philip Glass. Phil is featured in the Museum's current exhibition Print Lovers at 30: Celebrating Three Decades of Giving.

Inside the front cover is Kiki Smith whose work Constellation was installed in the Museum's contemporary project space last year and who is currently featured in the exhibition Sparks! The William T. Kemper Collecting Initiative.

Finally, there is a montage of artists that includes Kerry James Marshall whose work Memento #5 is included in the Sparks! exhibition as well. Marshall will visit the Nelson-Atkins on May 29 for a free lecture. I hope I have my t-shirt by then!

Yesterday, I had a chance to visit one of the Museum's new exhibitions, Sparks! The William T. Kemper Collecting Initiative. On my way to the galleries, I picked up and audio guided tour.

I only got through the first part of the exhibition but I really enjoyed the audio tour entries about Marcel Duchamp's Box in a Valise and Man Ray's Object Indestructable.

Both works of art are related to the Dada movement which was an informal movement began in Switzerland during World War I. The movement included artists, poets, musicians and others who were disillusioned with the atrocities of war and the inhumanity of mankind's acts against one another. Many of Dada's followers believed that the world had lost all its reason which they reflected in their art including poems made of nonesensical words and music that had no harmony.

Box in a Valise is simply ingenuis. Duchamp worked for five years on the material for what he called his "portable museum." It combines 68 photographs, miniature replicas and color reproductions of his life's work. It contains versions of Nude Descending a Staircase and his masterpiece, The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (The Large Glass). My favorite part is the "readymades" which includes a tiny urinal like the one he purchased from a plumbing store and presented as a work of art called Fountain and signed it "R. Mutt."

I was not as familiar with the piece by Man Ray. Object Indestructable is a common ordinary metronome with the photograph of an eye attached to the pendulum. The pendulum doesn't move but if you look from side to side, the eye winks open and closed. I enjoyed listening to the "tick, tick, tick" on the aduio guide as the narrator described how the work challenges traditional expectations about time and art.

I was interested to learn that the first version of this work was made in 1923 and called Object to Be Destroyed. That one actually was destroyed in 1957. The Museum's is the last version and was made in 1975. As far as I know, we have no plans to destroy it.

A new exhibition opens in the contemporary project space tomorrow. It features Siah Armajani, an Iranian-born artist whose uses simple sculptural forms to convey complex ideas.

The space will hold 12 works including a sketch of the Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge in Minneapolis, a pedestrian bridge that spans 16 lanes of traffic to link the Walker Art Museum and the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Bridges are Armajani’s most enduring subject.

Other works in the exhibition, including Table by Window, come from Armajani's Dictionary of Building project in which he defined the primary units of buildings (doors, windows, stairs and closets) and their functions.

The exhibition is free.

I know that baseball season has been in swing for about a month now but at the Museum, we are getting ready for summer exhibition season. Tomorrow is opening day for our two featured exhibitions for late spring/early summer this year: Sparks! The William T. Kemper Collecting Initiative and Print Lovers at 30: Celebrating Three Decades of Giving.

We had a preview of both exhibitions yesterday. It was my first chance to see Print Lovers at 30 and I am eager to spend more time there. Hugh Merrill, printmaker and professor at the Kansas City Art Institute, is the guest curator. He gave an excellent overview of the different aspects of the exhibit and paid tribute to George McKenna, who was the Museum's curator of the print collection for almost 40 years until he passed away in 2007.

Next, we were treated to a tour of Sparks! led by Robert Storr who is the Dean of the Art School at Yale Univeristy and a former curator for the Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition is comprised of 36 works of art that have been acquired over the past 9 years through a generous contribution from the William T. Kemper Foundation.

Even though I am familiar with a good portion of the works, it was wonderful to get a new perspective as Storr explained the reasons behind what works of art were chosen. For instance, Marcel Duchamp's Box in a Valise and Man Ray's Object Indestructable are seminal pieces that help form a solid foundation for the contemporary collection. He also mentioned that during the collecting process, many artists were chosen because they have been overlooked and perhaps underappreciated. There are also several local artists including Stanley Whitney who help connect the Nelson-Atkins to our community.

My favorite parts of the tour were when Storr spoke about the artists themselves. He referred several times to the "elders of the tribe" including Louise Bourgeois and Dorothea Tanning, both of whom are in their nineties and still producing art. He also explained the connections between some of the artists and how they influenced each other either through personal or professional relationships.

I'm ready for the season to start. Play ball!

As promised, I have installation images for the Museum's new acquisition Dusasa I by El Anastui which will be featured in the exhibition Sparks! The William T. Kemper Collecting Initiative opening on Saturday. The work is simply stunning. Measuring more than 24 x 30 feet, it completely overtook the space where it was being installed.

The installation took more than a day to complete. In fact, I think the curators are still determining its final incarnation. The piece is able to hang on the wall or lay flat. As with the previous piece, Hovor, which we had on view as part of the Tapping Currents exhibition, the curators have chosen to install Dusasa I on the wall. However, it doesn't lay flat. Parts of it are scrunched up to allow it to billow in some parts and create a sculptural quality in other areas.

The work is created of recycled aluminum liquor bottle tops that have been flattened and stitched together. At first, they seem to be organized completely at random. But once you see the piece in its entirety, it is amazing to see how the shapes and colors create beautiful patterns.

I had the chance to watch the preparators put together one of my favorite paintings from our contemporary collection today. Art Part by Elizabeth Murray consists of 22 separate canvases that form the image of a hand holding a paint brush (ok, I might have thought it was a rocket the first time I saw the painting, that is why I mention it).

The process was pretty cool. They begin with a life-size image of the painting as it was previously installed. They pin a template over the mock up and mark the places where they will hang the brackets. Then they begin to install the canvases one by one making sure they all fit together.

Take a look:

Tomorrow, I'll show you a little bit of the installation of a gorgeous new piece by El Anastui.

The Museum's hard-working prep team is installing the paintings and sculptures for Sparks! The William T. Kemper Collecting Initiative which will open May 3. The exhibition will feature the 36 (and counting) pieces of art that have been acquired since 1999 when the William T. Kemper Foundation pledged $1 million a year for 10 years for the purchase of contemporary art.

Robert Storr, Dean of the Yale School of Art and former Senior Curator at New York’s Museum of Modern Art has been the Museum's advisor in the project since 2003. He joined the prep team this week to work on installing the exhibition.

Everything looks fresh and new and much larger when it is not hanging up on the wall. The Kerry James Marshall is in a perfect spot. The light from the windows above makes the glitter sparkle and glisten. And there is ample room for people to stand back and take in the whole painting.

I'm glad to see that one of my favorites is back! Six Secret Places by Anish Kapoor is waiting to be installed in a new spot.

Monday will be a big day. They will install El Anastui's Dusasa I in a very special location. The piece is made of recycled liquor bottle wrappers that have been flattened and hand stitched together. It measures 24 x 30 feet and may be installed on the floor or hanging on the wall. The curators will make the final decisions on how it will be displayed. I will definitely be there to give you a sneak peek.

Today, The Kansas City Star featured an article on 20th-century Hollywood film star Hedy Lamarr. It seems Lamarr is the Star of the Month on Turner Classics Movie channel.

This image of Lamarr by Clarence Bull is featured in the exhibition In the Public Eye: Photography and Fame.

Lamarr had quite an interesting life. After escaping from Germany in the 1930s, she struggled to be taken seriously and spent most of her career being mismanaged by movie studios and directors. One tidbit I never knew was that she was responsible for publicizing the technology that is used in cell phones.

You can see her films on Thursday nights on TCM in the month of April. Be sure to come see her glorious image and others through June 15.