All our projects are like fabulous expeditions. The story of each project is unique. Our projects have no precedent. — Christo (1935–2020)
For two weeks in October of 1978, the Bulgarian-born artist Christo and his partner, Jeanne-Claude, vividly transformed Kansas City’s Jacob L. Loose Memorial Park. Renowned for international projects that alter the way people perceive their environment, the duo covered 2.7 miles of paths with shimmering, saffron-colored nylon fabric and changed the way visitors experienced the park.
Although Christo and Jeanne-Claude conceived Wrapped Walk Ways as a temporary installation, its legacy continues both in this exhibition and in the memories of those who encountered it. In 2024, The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation gave the museum a trove of preparatory works, architectural plans, documents, and photographs related to Wrapped Walk Ways. Drawn from that generous gift, this exhibition tells the story of this “fabulous expedition” and anticipates the 50th anniversary of the project that helped put Kansas City on the contemporary art world map.
Organized by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Christo and Jeanne-Claude were born on the same day: June 13, 1935; he in Gabrovo, Bulgaria, and she in Casablanca, Morocco. Jeanne-Claude passed away in 2009, and Christo died in 2020, both in New York City, where they had moved in 1964. Christo and Jeanne-Claude realized monumental projects around the world, including Wrapped Coast, One Million Square Feet, Little Bay, Sydney, 1968–69; Running Fence, Sonoma and Marin Counties, California, 1972–76; Surrounded Islands, Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami, Florida, 1980–83; The Pont Neuf Wrapped, Paris, 1975–85; The Umbrellas, Japan– USA, 1984–91; Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin, 1971–95; The Gates, Central Park, New York City, 1979–2005; The Floating Piers, Lake Iseo, Italy, 2014–16; The London Mastaba, Serpentine Lake, Hyde Park, 2016–18; and L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped, Paris, 1961–2021.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude worked together since their first outdoor temporary work of art: Stacked Oil Barrels and Dockside Packages, Cologne Harbor, Germany, 1961. Before he escaped to the West, Christo studied painting, sculpture, architecture, and decorative arts at the National Academy of Art in Sofia for four years. All early works, such as Wrapped Cans, Wrapped Oil Barrels, Packages, Wrapped Objects, and Store Fronts, as well as all preparatory drawings, collages, and scale models are works by Christo only. All public projects and indoor installations, both realized and unrealized, are collaborative works by Christo and Jeanne-Claude.
Header Image: Christo in his studio with preparatory works for Wrapped Walk Ways, New York City, August 1978. Photo: Jonathan Fineberg. © 1978 The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation.