BY the time I made it to Kansas City’s Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, I felt like I already knew it. A friend of mine had been one of the architects working on the addition that would transform the 75-year-old institution into the talk of the town.
For two years, every month or so, we’d get together in Brooklyn for dinner. I’d hear about the project’s latest triumphs or setbacks, how the KC community was supporting — or condemning — it, even the minutia, like the hurricane-force wind tests that were conducted on the glass façade. Because there are so many hurricanes in Missouri.
As the completion date drew closer, my friend was jetting off nearly every weekend to Kansas City for cocktail parties and galas being tossed in anticipation of the opening.
When that finally happened, in June 2007, the project was an undeniable triumph. Named the Bloch Building (after native son Henry Bloch, of H&R Block fame) and designed by Stephen Holl Architects, it started racking up accolades almost immediately. Time magazine ranked it No. 1 on its “10 Best (New and Upcoming) Architectural Marvels” list and The New Yorker hailed it as “one of the best museums of the last generation.”
But what did the average person in Kansas City think? In a town better known for barbecue and jazz, did anyone still care — more than two years later — about this modern architectural masterpiece?
In fact, they do care. Very much. On a recent visit to KC, I found that not only do locals rave about the building — “Have you seen it at night? You must see it at night,” was a common refrain — they actually visit it.
During the day, a steady stream of people make their way through the underground galleries of the new wing, admiring the Rothkos, Warhols and Pollocks. Some camp out with a picnic among the outdoor sculptures; kids especially love the huge shuttlecocks by Claes Oldenburg. Others find the 22 acres of terraced grounds an excellent place to walk their dogs.
Come evening, people flock to the soft grass lawns between the glowing glass structures (there are five of them, jutting up from the earth like huge, translucent boulders). One group throws a Frisbee, another has set up a makeshift croquet court. Couples holding hands wander along the illuminated paths.
In fact, this heartland metropolis of 2 million has a surprising wealth of contemporary art — along with some rather progressive architecture to showcase it. A short walk from the Nelson-Atkins is the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, a stainless-steel-clad, wing-like structure with a sky-lit roof, under which is an impressive collection of modern to present-day works. (Like the Bloch building, the Kemper was also funded by a wealthy local businessman, Crosby “Mr. Kansas City” Kemper.)
Several of sculptor Louise Bourgeois’ spindly bronze spiders flank the entrance. Inside, the 8,000-square-foot exhibition space displays works by the likes of Josef Albers, Jim Hodges, Francis Bacon and the ubiquitous Dale Chihuly. But it’s the restaurant, Café Sebastienne, that generates the most buzz. At lunch, a well-dressed crowd occupied every table, dining on contemporary American cuisine and surrounded by contemporary art. It stays this way through dinner, offered on Friday and Saturday nights, until the museum closes at 9:30 p.m. And Sunday brunch? Good luck.
Since we had no reservation — an absolute must here — we headed to the gallery district for “First Friday in the Crossroads.” The Crossroads Arts District is usually a bustling area anyway, but on the first Friday of every month, galleries and shops stay open until 9 p.m., and what seems like the whole town turns out to take advantage.
The Crossroads was once a neglected commercial sector bordered on three sides by highways and on the fourth, by railroad tracks; in the last 10 years it’s developed into a hotbed of artsiness. About 40 galleries — including an outpost of the Kemper — have been carved out of old warehouses, mostly around 19th Street and Baltimore and along 18th Street from McGee to Holmes streets. Sleek restaurants, nightclubs, boutiques and residential lofts have also sprung up in the rapidly gentrifying area. (In a true nod to hipsterdom, there’s even a Vespa dealership.)
Trying to navigate the 20 or so blocks that comprise the Crossroads was a challenge, given the hundreds who clogged the streets on this warm summer First Friday. Crowds filtered in and out of the galleries and stores; street performers — buskers, jugglers, mimes and those motionless people painted to look like statues — were on every corner; throngs queued up at the food and beer carts; restaurant and bar patrons overflowed onto the sidewalks.
But were people actually buying art? Who knows, but it was definitely a party.
That was why, when we stuck up a conversation with a local ceramics artist and his girlfriend at a nearby bar, The Cashew, he was having a cocktail instead of manning his gallery. “I’m not convinced there’s a lot of buying going on right now,” he said.
And like many disgruntled pioneers, he seemed a bit out of sorts with the district’s transformation.
“I was here at the beginning, when this place was all artists and all about art.” Still, he acknowledged a city program that allowed tax abatements for art-related businesses so they could afford to stay in the neighborhood. “At least it hasn’t become SoHo,” he quipped.
The next day, we opted for a less frenetic contemporary art experience, venturing to the suburb of Overland Park — 20 minutes away, and actually in Kansas — to check out the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. After many wrong turns, we finally arrived at the minimalist building, constructed of Kansas limestone and glass that, somewhat oddly, sits on the campus of the Johnson County Community College.
How, we wondered, does a place like Kansas City support not one, but two, museums devoted solely to contemporary art?
“We’ve had a very dedicated group of collectors for many years who were interested in contemporary art,” notes the Nerman Museum’s executive director, Bruce Hartman.
“The former director at the Nelson-Atkins, Ted Coe, was very active in promoting contemporary art in this city. People got excited and as a result, they developed a great interest in pop art and going forward to emerging artists.”
The Nerman was nearly empty that July 4 morning (it normally attracts around 100,000 visitors annually). And so we had the 41,000 square feet of galleries mostly to ourselves to admire works by Do Ho Suh (whose sculpture has exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum) and Kehinde Wiley (a Brooklynite who paints iconic portraits of young, black men).
Like the new wing at the Nelson-Atkins, the Kyu Sung Woo-designed building threatens to eclipse its own collection by virtue of its cutting-edge architecture, especially the cantilevered entrance, graced with an LED installation by artist Leo Villareal.
A final architectural stop — or rather, pilgrimage — was in order: the Community Christian Church, one of Kansas City’s three Frank Lloyd Wright buildings. You could be forgiven for overlooking this rather bland, white concrete structure, whose design was supposedly based on a parallelogram shape (it looked to me like an ’80s bank drive-thru).
However, as we settled at an outdoor steak joint across the street from the church, and evening fell, the building took on a whole new aura. Shafts of light shot up from its dome high into the night sky. Called the Spire of Light, the beams converge into a single illuminated column that can apparently be seen for miles around.
Maybe in Kansas City, heaven is just a little bit closer.
For more information, check out visitkc.com
8 MORE STOPS IN KANSAS CITY
1) Country Club Plaza What you wish every mall in America would be, this 15-block outdoor shopping and dining district, built in 1923 in the Spanish style, is punctuated with fountains big and small, charming courtyards, murals, tiled mosaics and statues. Once you’ve tired of the upscale stores, stroll along neighboring Brush Creek, then cross the Sister City Bridge to admire the surrounding historic apartment buildings and the baroque Giralda Tower, inspired by the original at the Cathedral of Seville. The Plaza is open year-round, and thousands make the annual winter pilgrimage to see the holiday lights (a tradition since 1925). The lighting ceremony is held on Thanksgiving night.
2) Hilton President Kansas City Even if you don’t wind up staying at this historic, fully renovated hotel, at least pop into the lobby and see what they’ve done with the place. The 1940s-style décor has been maintained throughout, with gilded columns, high, ornate plaster ceilings, chandeliers and plush seating. It’s also home to the colorful Drum Room, which opened in 1941 and hosted legends like Frank Sinatra, Patsy Cline and Tommy Dorsey. The hotel’s rooms offer great views of the surrounding Power & Light District, an eight-block zone of shopping, dining and nightlife that somehow feels like you’ve seen it all before, mostly because you have (rates from $160; hilton.com).
3) The River Market Yes, there’s an open-air market here (operating since the mid-1800s), but this enclave on the Missouri River is also part of the city’s push to repurpose historic areas. In this case (unlike the Power & Light District), the neighborhood feels like it’s evolved organically, with red-brick buildings and warehouses morphing into restaurants, antique stores, offices and residential lofts. At the foot of Main Street, head out along the Town of Kansas Pedestrian Bridge for spectacular views overlooking the river. Stop by on weekends for the excellent farmers market.
4) Liberty Memorial and National WWI Museum History buffs will appreciate the recently expanded museum, which houses around 55,000 artifacts from the era, including uniforms, cannons, guns, medals and thousands of photos as well as interactive displays. You can buy a separate ticket to take the elevator to the top of the 217-foot-high monument for 360-degree, open-air views of the entire city (at night, a flame burns atop it). Two huge sphinx sculptures sit at the base of the memorial, shrouding their faces with their wings. The impressive, austere complex sits on a high bluff overlooking the city (www.theworldwar.org).
5) Union Station This 850,000-square-foot train station was one of the most majestic in the country when it opened in 1914, with a 95-foot ceiling in the Grand Hall, three enormous chandeliers and a clock face measuring six feet across. Fast-forward to the 1980s, and it sat empty and abandoned, with demolition its likely fate. In 1996, Missouri and Kansas raised funds to restore the station, and it opened in 1999 with a new purpose: as a tourist destination. Today it houses a museum, planetarium, science center, playhouse, movie theater and the KC Rail Experience as well as restaurants and shops (www.unionstation.org).
6) Freight House This 1887 former railroad building on West 22nd Street, located near the Crossroads Arts District and connected to Union Station by a pedestrian bridge, was also once destined for the wrecking ball. In the mid-1990s, it was rescued and in 1998, Lidia Bastianich’s first US restaurant outside of New York City opened here, designed by David Rockwell. Two more restaurants followed — City Tavern and Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue. On any given day, all three places are packed, but if you can score an outdoor table at Jack Stack’s on a nice evening, there’s no better place to enjoy burnt ends and a beer.
7) Kauffman Stadium Home to the Kansas City Royals, arguably one of the worst teams in baseball, the outdoor stadium, known as “The K,” has been around since 1973. A renovation in 2009 made it much more family friendly; they also added more concessions — get a “concrete” at local favorite Sheridan’s Frozen Custard — and flat-screen TVs all around the grounds so you won’t miss a single error. The new “Outfield Experience” offer kiddies the chance to practice hitting, pitching and base running. There’s also mini-golf, a carousel and live bands. When the Royals score or make a particularly good play, a 322-foot-wide “water spectacular” in right field erupts (in honor of KC’s moniker, “City of Fountains”).
8) Thomas Hart Benton House and Studio Tucked away among the tree-lined streets and gracious old mansions in the Roanoke neighborhood is the Victorian home where the Missouri-born painter lived most of his life after leaving New York City. Benton is most famous for his representational murals — several once decorated the New School — and he also taught (Jackson Pollock was a student). He turned the carriage house behind his home into a studio; it’s preserved just as it was when he died (in 1975, fittingly, while painting a mural). Inside the home, you can see many original Benton paintings, lithographs and sculpture, along with everyday furniture and his virtually untouched 1950s-style kitchen (mostateparks.com/benton.htm).