Night/Shift
Night/Shift
Register in advance or on site when you arrive
Thursday, Feb. 13
5-9pm
Free
Signs from the stars have shaped who we are — guiding our spiritual beliefs, navigating us around the world, inspiring us toward a better one. Science and technology have brought us closer than ever before, but they also obscure our view and distance us. Night/Shift: Star-Crossed launches you on a cosmic quest of love and luck, fate and faith, Black history and futures, and dramatic shifts in scale: from the miniature to the milky way.
Create a constellation of experiences among featured artists and explore stellar new exhibitions. Will the starry-eyed portraits in John Smart: Virtuoso in Miniature ground you in what makes us human? Or will it all leave you Mapping the Heavens for answers?
About Night/Shift
Night/Shift shakes up the museum every few months with a free and free-form evening of creative encounters. Featuring live art, live acts, and fresh ways to explore the galleries, each Night/Shift spotlights Kansas City’s creative community and connects ideas across 5,000 years of artistic expression.
Featured Lineup
All experiences 5–9 pm unless stated otherwise.
Live Acts
DJ Casio McCombs | 5-6 pm | Kirkwood Hall
Warm up the night with happy hour vibes
Pareidolia | Calvin Arsenia & Evan Tedlock | 6:30-7 pm & 7:30-8 pm | Kirkwood Hall
A tapestry of harp, voice, and generative animation conspire against gravity, casting us into an ever-expanding universe of sight, sound, senses, and genres.
Cosmic Chromatica | Camry Ivory & Owen Scott | 7-7:30 pm & 8-8:30 pm | Atkins Auditorium
Audiovisual art merges with electronic music and spoken word, forming an improvisational multi-sensory experience that explores the complexities of the cosmos through an Afrofuturists lens.
Live Art
Demos, pop-up installations, interactive art-making
Quirks | Wolfe Brack | Pop-up Installation | Pop up 5-9 pm | Artist Demo 7-8 pm
From the sub-atomic quarks that make up all matter, grow our individual quirks of personality. Get to know the artist’s tiny portraits and you just might recognize yourself in their quirks. Post your own personal quirk or a quirk you love, have to laugh at, or even loathe in others.
Kayf haal-ik? How is Your Heart | Aimee Hagedorn | Pop-up 5-9 pm | Artist Demo 7-8 pm
Stitch together a heart, add to someone else’s design, or leave one behind at this community collection.
Studio Sprints | 5-8 pm | Classrooms 4 & 6
Heart to HeART: Craft a valentine for your favorite work of art.
Stars & Steel: Metal Embossing with Angela Rangel
Flash Nail Art | Color You Bad
Get your tiniest canvases painted by Hilary Carter and Courtney Pippin.
Mixing Labs
Meet up with friends, make new connections, and discover your personal art match
VERSE | Where to Find Us | 5-6 pm & 6-7 pm | Lens 2
Queer community leaders lead a series of flash presentations and conversations on the intersections of love, identity, and the Black Queer lives that have shifted the cultural landscape.
Poetic Constellations | Sapphic Socials | Kirkwood Hall
Draw inspiration from visionary poets Sappho, Emily Dickenson, and Nikki Giovanni to write your own lines and mix and match to create new combinations. Need a prompt? Consult the Transient Tarot.
Meet your Art Match | Friends of Art Council | Kirkwood Hall
Try out our fortune teller to find your art match and enter a raffle for a free museum membership or tickets to ShuttleCork After Dark featuring wine, dancing, and late-night bites.
Gallery Side Quests
Encounter new dimensions of art that criss-cross the night’s themes and eight different galleries. Collect stars from museum guides, staff, and community experts.
- Eternal Love & Loss
- Small, Smart, & Handsome
- Power Couples
- Mapping the Heavens
- Holding Up the Sky
- The Body is the Cosmos – the Cosmos is the Body
- Afterglows
- Beaded Bliss
Food and drinks available for purchase
Night/Shift is made possible with support from the Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation.
Night/Shift know-how
Who can attend?
Night/Shift is designed for guests who are 18 and older, however, the museum is open to the public during Night/Shift and all ages are welcome.
What should I wear?
- Dress up with cosmic flair or come as you are. Need inspo? Check out our Mood Board.
- Get ready while listening to the Night/Shift: Star-Crossed Playlist.
- Appreciate – don’t appropriate – other cultures.
- Glitter is prohibited in the museum.
- Large bags and some accessories may not be permitted in the galleries. Free coat check is available near the Museum Store.
What does it cost?
- General admission is free! That includes access to all experiences.
- Registration is required. Register online in advance or when you arrive.
- Become a member during Night/Shift to receive free daily admission to special exhibitions and free garage parking — that night and year-round.
- Art and specialty merch will be available for purchase. Support the featured local artists and small businesses and swing by the Museum Store for other goodies.
Will there be food and drinks?
- Yes! Food and drinks will be available for purchase. A valid ID is required to purchase alcoholic beverages.
- Outside food and drink are prohibited.
How do I get there?
- The museum’s parking garage is located at 45th and Oak Streets. Garage parking is $14 per vehicle or free for members.
- Rideshare areas are located in the circle drive on the museum’s North Plaza.
- There are four entrance options: via the parking garage, at street level on 45th Street (one through the Nelson-Atkins Building, one through the Bloch Building), and via the Nelson-Atkins Building from the Sculpture Park.
- See the museum map for wayfinding information.
Can I request an accommodation?
Yes! If you require an accommodation or have accessibility concerns, contact our helpdesk at 1Art@nelson-atkins.org. You may also explore the museum’s accessibility resources.