Art in the Loop 2025: A Season of Wonder

As our 2025 season comes to a close, we pause to reflect on what Wonder truly meant for Kansas City this year.

Wonder was more than a theme — it was a feeling that moved through every performance, installation, and shared moment downtown. It reminded us that art has the power to surprise us, to slow us down, and to bring people together in ways both quiet and bold.

Throughout the summer, the parks, streets, and public spaces of downtown Kansas City transformed into portals of imagination — places where sound, movement, and color invited us to rediscover awe in the everyday.

 Visual Artists & Installations

Our visual artists turned KC Streetcar shelters, walls, and city corners into gateways of creativity:

• Adrianne Clayton — Reflection (Library Southbound shelter, 9th & Main) invited us to look both inward and outward, discovering meaning in the act of seeing.
• David Morris — Music Is Community (16th & Main, Kauffman Center shelter) celebrated rhythm as a universal language of connection.
• Edwing Mendez — Woven for the Cosmos (ARTwall at 13th & Grand) stretched the imagination between the earthly and the infinite.
• MacKenzie Fulmer — Newcomer (Metro Center, 12th & Main) captured the beauty of arrival, belonging, and transformation.
• Max Dlabick — Interplanetary Joyride (KC Streetcar vehicle wrap) took us on a joyful ride through color, motion, and discovery.
• Miranda Clark — Jewel (19th & Main, Crossroads shelter) illuminated the city with a celebration of beauty and resilience.
• Miranda Pietzsch — Under Our Feet (Palace Building near Oppenstein Park, 12th & Walnut) reminded us to look down as much as up — to find wonder in what grounds us.
• Taylor Fourt — Kansas City Grows Up (River Market West, 4th & Delaware) merged public art and urban agriculture in a mural rooted in community and growth.

Each of these artists brought imagination to public space, transforming transit stops and city corners into experiences of reflection, curiosity, and joy.

 Performing Artists

Our performers filled the city with rhythm, voice, and movement — embodying Wonder through sound, story, and presence:

• Kathak Aura / Garima Yadav opened the season with the elegance of classical Indian dance, bridging tradition and modern expression.
• Monarch Duo brought sonic texture and emotion to our kickoff, their music creating dialogue between genres and people alike.
• Olivia Michka captured the moment live on canvas, painting to the energy of performance and community.
• Tres Collective and Danielle Ate the Sandwich transformed the KC Streetcar into a moving stage, turning a daily commute into a journey through sound and story.
• Myself Embodied, True Lions, and Jass filled City Market on 816 Day with rhythm, voice, and celebration — a perfect reflection of Kansas City’s creative pulse.
• The Swallowtails, Unique Sixteen, and EleveN2wenty2 brought dance and movement to Oppenstein Park, blurring the line between audience and performance.
• David Luther and Firetale Theatre closed the season with theatrical wonder — stories that carried us into imagination and reflection.

Each performance was a reminder that art is alive in every sound, step, and shared glance.

With Deep Gratitude

A heartfelt thank-you to those whose vision and dedication made this season possible:

• Ann Holliday, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at the Downtown Council and Executive Director of Art in the Loop, whose leadership and vision continue to guide and nurture this program.
• James Carter, Video Artist and storyteller, who captured the season through powerful imagery and film.
• Jade Osborne (Performing Arts Director) and Khyneesha Edwards (Visual Arts Director), whose curatorial guidance shaped the creative pulse of this year’s program.
• Donna Mandelbaum and the KC Streetcar Authority for their ongoing partnership and belief in bringing art into motion.
• Our incredible interns, volunteers, sponsors, and community partners — including the Downtown Council, Kansas City Streetcar Authority, City Market, Kansas City Public Library, and Kansas City Art Institute — whose collaboration made every event and installation possible.

 In Closing

This year, Wonder became more than an idea — it became a collective experience.
It was felt in the music that filled the air, the brushstrokes that brightened commutes, and the laughter and curiosity shared by families, friends, and strangers alike.

We are endlessly grateful to the artists who shared their gifts and to the Kansas City community who showed up — again and again — to celebrate the beauty of art in public space.

As the season ends, one truth remains:
Wonder isn’t something we wait for — it’s something we create, together, every time art meets community.

Thank you, Kansas City. See you next season.