Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art Goes Virtual
Museum doors might be closed for now: but that doesn’t mean you can’t still experience great art online.
All photos courtesy of Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art has been a Kansas City mainstay in the arts community for 26 years: and it’s safe to say that this year dealt them a whole new set of challenges. Director of Marketing and Communications Breeze Richardson walks us through how the museum rose to the moment to provide art, entertainment and education through new virtual programs at a time when art lovers needed the inspiration most.
Spoiler alert: there’s a big new exhibition, and you won’t want to miss it. In fact, it’s online– and available to tour through an exciting partnership with Google Arts & Culture. Read on to learn more!
First of all, hats off to the museum for continuing to provide engaging, educational content to Kansas Citians, even while keeping your doors closed to support Kansas City’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19. This was a massive pivot for the entire world– how did the museum team manage, particularly in early days?
Honestly, those early days feel like a lifetime ago! When we first closed our doors back in March, we had no idea how long the temporary closure would last. The exhibition, “Summer Wheat: Blood, Sweat, and Tears” had just opened with a lot of acclaim and we had a whole set of programs taking place in conjunction with it scheduled through May. We knew as a Museum team, we just had to keep doing what we do everyday: work to enrich lives through the experience of contemporary art. So we reimagined everything we could as a virtual experience, building new content for our app, rescheduling public events as virtual ones, making videos to inspire art-making at home, utilizing our partnership with Google Arts & Culture to create an online experience for “Blood, Sweat, and Tears” (and more recently for “Elias Sime: Tightrope”), and creating new social media content to celebrate the art and artists of our time ––striving to reflect the vitality, complexity, and unfolding patterns within modern and contemporary art.
What online offerings seem to have resonated most with fans of Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art?
Almost immediately after closing, our amazing Creative Engagement Manager, Jessica Thompson-Lee, responded to a request that had been made of us to consider how we might contribute to a “Virtual Playdate” video series. She decided to focus on simple ways to create art with items found around your home, and produced a series of step-by-step tutorials ––publishing a new installment each week–– with art projects inspired by works of art from Kemper Museum's Permanent Collection. They have been such a huge hit! Viewed over 43,000 times to-date, you can explore the entire series on our website.
As it became clear that we would not be able to open our doors anytime soon, we began thinking about how our reoccurring monthly programs for youth & families could be expanded online, and Mystery Art Challenge was launched. It’s been wildly popular, with people of all ages participating. We’ve heard stories of grandparents located elsewhere in the country participating with their KC family, people feeling really isolated at home alone being inspired by the challenge in meaningful ways, and can’t believe how quickly the RSVPs come in once we post a new event! We have events scheduled now for August, September, and October whereby people can register to receive a FREE package by mail filled with unknown art materials on a given theme, with the challenge to use only the materials provided to create an original piece of art. Then everyone can “tune-in” to our Instagram Live at 1:00 p.m. on the last Friday of each month to see what’s been created. We’ve had a lot of fun hosting special guests and event participants. Social media has been a really awesome tool with an amazing array of nation-wide efforts by Museums to foster understanding and appreciation of art by presenting significant works of art as educational resources through the #MuseumFromHome initiative.
One of our biggest additions to social media has been the Eye Opener series created by our phenomenal Museum docents. These remarkable volunteers understood pretty quickly that without the ability to tour the museum, they would need to come up with other ways to carry out their efforts to inspire visitors and stimulate dialogue. They have now posted over thirty “Eye Openers,” which we have published weekly to Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Sharing personal reflections, funny visitor remarks, and insights they’ve learned about the artworks as docents, there have been more comments left on these posts than we have ever received, and a true sense of community has emerged on each platform. It’s really special.
Heading into the Fall we have a few surprises in the works, including a dynamic roster of offerings for teachers and parent-educators, new virtual programs planned in conjunction with “Elias Sime: Tightrope,” and a new video series you won’t want to miss!
The Google Arts & Culture partnership is the latest manifestation of your online offerings. Can you tell us about how it came to fruition, and what the process was like putting together an online version of the exhibition?
Nearly a year before its April 2019 launch, we were contacted by staff at Google Arts & Culture about their interest in featuring Kansas City in the first online exhibition exploring the culture of a single American city. While a number of European cities had been profiled, there had yet to be an American city selected for the honor. In total, the project brought together collections, stories, and 360-degree tours from fifteen renowned Kansas City institutions, including Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, highlighting "the history, people, and culture that makes Kansas City the Heart of America.”
After that initial launch, we set out to add more content, which has included expanding the number of our Permanent Collection works featured on the platform, adding 360-degree “streetview” tours of the Museum, and adding online experiences ––just as if you were walking through the galleries–– for exhibitions including “Summer Wheat: Blood, Sweat and Tears” and “Elias Sime: Tightrope,” and we are now using this tool to offer free virtual tours for anyone who would like to enjoy the informal conversation provided by a docent-led experience with family, colleagues, or friends online.
The work of Elias Sime is so remarkable, for so many reasons. Can you tell us a bit about the exhibition "Tightrope," and why it was chosen?
The exhibition was organized by the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinton, New York. It marks the first major museum show to focus on the work of contemporary Ethiopian artist Elias Sime, whose brightly-colored tableaux and sculptural assemblages feature found objects including thread, buttons, bottle caps, electrical wires, and computer detritus, and highlights the artist’s work from the last decade, alongside a selection of early works critical to the artist’s development.
A post consumerist critique, the artist’s work is a commentary on the fact that countries in Africa are often the repositories of e-waste imported from elsewhere in the world. The work also incorporates redundant technologies from the former Soviet Union and the the West, highlighting Ethiopia’s complex political past. The resulting abstractions reference landscape and the figure, and often employ patterning drawn from traditional Ethiopian textiles. The title “Tightrope” refers to the precarious balance between the progress technology has made possible and its detrimental impact on the environment.
Kemper Museum’s Executive Director, Sean O’Harrow, reflected on the exhibition saying, "This is such an exciting and engaging show because Sime's monumental masterpieces address issues that people in Kansas City are interested in and are relevant to people's lives around the world.” Sharing this exhibition, at this time, provides our community with an opportunity to have some profound discussions about things like the interconnectedness of our global economy, the role of technology, and the importance of recycling.
It's also been amazing to witness the museum's dedication to local artists during this time. Most recently, you collaborated with local videographer Sheppa to spread the word about the Elias Sime exhibition. What was the production process like?
We were honored to work with Sheppa to create a fun, engaging, unique glimpse into the exhibition while we await the Museum’s reopening. There were special accommodations which had to be made, of course, to ensure the filming was as safe as possible for everyone involved– but we’re so grateful to amazing Kansas City creatives Travis Young and Cassie Taylor, among others, for coming over to help make it happen.
Do you envision any other local artist collaborations in the future?
One of the most ongoing ways we make space for Kansas City’s creative culture is through Kemper Museum’s Shop. Since the pandemic began, we’ve offered free shipping on every order, and sent out countless puzzles, games, stay-in projects, inspiring art books, children’s activities, and beautiful cards (with complimentary letter-writing available so you can have your message sent directly to the one you love!). Our most recent t-shirt design was created by the remarkable Jenna Herring, and every purchase made supports Kemper Museum’s exhibitions, educational programming, and activities. With over fifty local artists in inventory, it’s an amazing way to support the Museum while supporting area artists.
We know it's a tough question to answer right now: but what's next for the museum? Should we pencil anything into our calendars, virtual or otherwise?
We are gearing up for a whole slate of new virtual, free, public programs in September and October!
One really special thing for Museum members will be a virtual experience in place of our annual Collectors Forum series, three twenty-first century salons which create a private behind-the-scenes experience with some of Kansas City’s most prominent contemporary art collectors, for members at the Connosisseur level and above.
We are also working on a brand-new monthly series for makers of all ages which will debut in September, called Virtual Art Lab, and have just announced a special Instagram Live tour of “Elias Sime: Tightrope” with Kemper Museum curator, Erin Dziedzic, on August 27– check out our Events Calendar for all the details!
How can Kansas Citians continue to support the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art right now?
1. Come virtually visit! “Elias Sime: Tightrope” will remain on view through January 31, 2020, so exploring it online is just a placeholder until you can come see it in person. But go over to Google Arts & Culture and be inspired!
2. Become a member! Kemper Museum Members help keep the Museum free for all visitors. At Kemper Museum there is no charge for admission, parking, special exhibitions, or programs. Your membership underwrites these expenses and inspires many thousands of people with contemporary art each year ––and helps make all our virtual offerings possible! For a limited time, the Museum is offering a special incentive for members: a free gift membership for someone who is a HERO in your life. If you are already a member, contact us to send this gift membership today!
3. Tell the teachers in your life all about us! We are finalizing a whole slate of K-12 offerings to support all the teachers and parent-educators in our community as we gear up for Fall. Tour content can be tailored to your needs, exploring focused inquiries, thematic content, interdisciplinary curriculum connections, vocabulary words, and more. We know there are community-oriented teachers committed to making learning in our city all that it can be, despite the challenges ahead, and we are here to support innovative teaching which is looking to Kansas City’s cultural institutions for inspiration. To learn more contact us at tours@kemperart.org or 816-457-6137.
How has the pandemic impacted both your and the museum's belief in the meaning and power of art?
Kemper Museum co-founder Bebe (Kemper) Hunt was quoted as saying, "The world's upheavals are a great challenge to our universal sense of harmony, and it seems that the gift of art, whether it be painting, sculpture, film, music, or some other form, is one of the things that, if we let it, can restore the sense of peace in one's soul.” That seems a pretty good start.
