Our Town: Artists' Views of Kansas City

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Our Town: Artists’ Views of Kansas City

Artists have long found inspiration here in this place many of us call our town, Kansas City. Chartered in 1850, it was first named the Town of Kansas after the Kaáⁿze (Kaw) Nation, one of several Native American tribes on whose ancestral lands it was founded.

Chronicling some of Kansas City’s iconic views and neighborhoods, the artists included in this exhibition imbued their work with history, a distinctive sense of place, and a personal point of view. Their photographs, paintings, prints, and drawings not only reflect what caught their artistic eye, but also the ways our town has changed. While some of the art in this exhibition provides evidence of a Kansas City that is no longer, there are also glimpses of a Kansas City that never came to be.

Journey through time, place, and artistic imagination as you experience Our Town: Artists’ Views of Kansas City.

Organized by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

Image Captions:

Header Image & Top Image: Wilbur Niewald, American (1925–2022). Kansas City, View from Penn Valley Park, 1989. Oil on canvas. 29 x 36 x 1 ¼ inches (73.7 x 91.4 x 3.2 cm). The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Purchase: Nelson Gallery Foundation, F90-14/2.

Bottom Image: Douglas L. Osa, American (b. 1952). Eighth Street, January, 1992. Etching aquatint, drypoint, and engraving on German Etching paper. 11 7/8 x 17 13/16 inches (30.1 x 45.3 cm). The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Gift of the Print Society, F92-22.

Image Captions:

Header Image & Top Image: Wilbur Niewald, American (1925–2022). Kansas City, View from Penn Valley Park, 1989. Oil on canvas. 29 x 36 x 1 ¼ inches (73.7 x 91.4 x 3.2 cm). The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Purchase: Nelson Gallery Foundation, F90-14/2.

Bottom Image: Douglas L. Osa, American (b. 1952). Eighth Street, January, 1992. Etching aquatint, drypoint, and engraving on German Etching paper. 11 7/8 x 17 13/16 inches (30.1 x 45.3 cm). The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Gift of the Print Society, F92-22.

Header Image & Top Image: Wilbur Niewald, American (1925–2022). Kansas City, View from Penn Valley Park, 1989. Oil on canvas. 29 x 36 x 1 ¼ inches (73.7 x 91.4 x 3.2 cm). The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Purchase: Nelson Gallery Foundation, F90-14/2.

Bottom Image: Douglas L. Osa, American (b. 1952). Eighth Street, January, 1992. Etching aquatint, drypoint, and engraving on German Etching paper. 11 7/8 x 17 13/16 inches (30.1 x 45.3 cm). The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Gift of the Print Society, F92-22.