A R T S & C U LT U R E
This region’s commitment to arts and culture can be seen at every level. The “Sky Stations” sculpture atop Bartle Hall in downtown Kansas City may be the most prominent of the many public artworks on display around the metro. Just blocks away, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts blooms from the hillside. Lovely to both the eyes and ears, it’s an ideal performing home for the Kansas City Symphony, the Kansas City Ballet and Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Those long-running operations share the Crossroads Arts District with an eclectic array of small galleries, studios, shops and performance spaces. To the south, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art (complete with a giant bronze spider) adjoins the campus of the Kansas City Art Institute. The venerable Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is also a neighbor. The Nelson holds more than 35,000 masterworks from around the globe, including an unforgettable outdoor sculpture park. Other area museums offer plenty to explore as well. The National WWI Museum and Memorial honors the Great War’s participants and puts the conflict in context. The Strawberry Hill Museum in Kansas City, Kansas, celebrates the Croatian community that flourished there in the early 20th Century. The International Jazz Museum at 18th & Vine vividly explains the art form’s origins and evolution, while the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum next door makes a great case that baseball can bring us together. And though it hasn’t opened yet, The Rabbit hOle, the World’s First Explor-A-Storium, promises a unique, immersive trip into the joys of children’s literature. n
KC OPTIONS 2020 | 2021
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