StoryCorps to Record at Nelson-Atkins During Month of August
Airstream Trailer Installed Outside Bloch Building; Appointments Taken July 19
Kansas City, MO. July 17, 2018– StoryCorps, a renowned nonprofit organization celebrating the stories of everyday Americans, will record interviews in Kansas City from August 2 to September 2 outside The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art as part of its cross-country MobileBooth tour. Having collected more than 70,000 interviews from Americans in all 50 states, StoryCorps has gathered one of the largest single collections of human voices ever recorded.“StoryCorps is committed to capturing and amplifying the least heard voices, and there is no more fitting location for these voices to be recorded than the Nelson-Atkins,” said Julián Zugazagoitia, Menefee D. and Mary Louise Blackwell CEO & Director of the Nelson-Atkins. “This is the ideal place to celebrate the dignity and power that can be found in the stories that have the ability to touch all of our lives.”
StoryCorps’ MobileBooth, an Airstream trailer outfitted with a recording studio, will be parked next to the Bloch Building. Reservations will be available at 10 a.m. on July 19 by visiting storycorps.org or calling StoryCorps’ 24-hour toll-free reservation line at 1-800-850-4406. Additional appointments will be available on August 3.
In StoryCorps’ MobileBooth, two people record a meaningful conversation with one another about who they are, what they’ve learned in life, and how they want to be remembered. A trained StoryCorps facilitator guides them through the interview process. Participants receive a downloadable link to their interview four to six weeks later, and with participant permission, a second copy is archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress for future generations to hear.
Founded in 2003 by award-winning documentary producer and MacArthur Fellow Dave Isay, StoryCorps has traveled to every corner of the country to record interviews in an effort to create a world in which we listen closely to each other and recognize the beauty, grace and poetry in the lives and stories we find all around us. “StoryCorps tells the true American story—that we are a people defined by small acts of courage, kindness and heroism. Each interview reminds people that their lives matter and will not be forgotten,” said Isay. “By strengthening connections between people and building an archive that reflects the rich diversity of American voices, we hope to build StoryCorps into an enduring institution that will touch the lives of every American family.”
StoryCorps is partnering with KCUR, which will air a selection of the local interviews recorded in the StoryCorps MobileBooth at a listening event on Aug. 21 at the Nelson-Atkins. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.nelson-atkins.org. StoryCorps may also share excerpts of these stories with the world through the project’s popular weekly NPR broadcasts, animated shorts, digital platforms, and best-selling books.
Photo credit: Beth Byers
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The Nelson-Atkins in Kansas City is recognized nationally and internationally as one of America’s finest art museums. The museum, which strives to be the place where the power of art engages the spirit of community, opens its doors free of charge to people of all backgrounds. The museum is an institution that both challenges and comforts, that both inspires and soothes, and it is a destination for inspiration, reflection and connecting with others.
The Nelson-Atkins serves the community by providing access to its renowned collection of more than 41,000 art objects and is best known for its Asian art, European and American paintings, photography, modern sculpture, and new American Indian and Egyptian galleries. Housing a major art research library and the Ford Learning Center, the Museum is a key educational resource for the region. In 2017, the Nelson-Atkins celebrates the 10-year anniversary of the Bloch Building, a critically acclaimed addition to the original 1933 Nelson-Atkins Building.
The Nelson-Atkins is located at 45th and Oak Streets, Kansas City, MO. Hours are Wednesday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Thursday/Friday, 10 a.m.–9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Admission to the museum is free to everyone. For museum information, phone 816.751.1ART (1278) or visit nelson-atkins.org.
For media interested in receiving further information, please contact:
Kathleen Leighton, Manager, Media Relations and Video Production
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
816.751.1321
kleighton@nelson-atkins.org