Aloha KC! Get ready to bring your tiki torches and your cowboy boots y’all because Art in the Loop is bringing you a real tropical hootenanny this Wednesday, June 27 in West Terrace Park.

Here at Art in the Loop we try to keep things interesting, and we decided it would be super fun to bring two musical groups who couldn’t be more different together for your listening pleasure. First up, the Candice Hill Trio; Candice is a local KC musician by way of St. Louis, who holds her master’s degree in Music Performance on Steel Pan from Northern Illinois University. She plays the steel pan, or drum, and creates a musical environment evocative of beaches, hula skirts, and delicious beverages with little umbrellas. Her music is sure to pair well with Kona Ice, who will be on hand to provide delicious, refreshing sno-cones to partly fulfill your dreams of a tropical vacation right here in KC.

Next up is Cowtown Country Club, a quartet of classically-trained local musicians, who play upbeat, dance-able Americana with just enough western swing that you can tap your foot to. Their music will bring you back to the midwest after your trip to the tropics.

The whole swinging party takes place on Wednesday, June 27th from 5:30 pm-8:00 pm in West Terrace Park, at 8th & Pennsylvania.

Candice Hill Trio performs from 5:30 pm-6:45 pm.

Cowtown Country Club performs from 7:00 pm-8:00 pm.

This is a family-friendly event is free and open to the public.

Stay up-to-date on all the exciting musical performances, visual art, and workshops Art in the Loop has scheduled this summer by clicking here.

Simon Fink is a pretty cool guy.

His musical career began when a violin abandoned on a bus found its way into Simon’s life at the age of 3. In middle school, he learned to play bass guitar in order to participate in a friend’s band, then followed that with learning the guitar, mandolin, and banjo.

Fast forward a few years, Simon now holds his Ph.D. in Musical Composition from the University of Chicago, and in addition to the various accolades and awards he has received, he has had his compositions featured in museums, institutions, and festivals across the US. Simon has also had the opportunity to collaborate with Grammy-award winning artists Tunisia88 and the Pacifica Quartet, among others. He currently performs with local folk/bluegrass quartet Under The Big Oak Tree.

Come hear this multi-talented artist play his eclectic, intriguing, and refreshing music in a serene and picturesque environment during your lunch break or bring the kiddos with a picnic.

Simon Fink, Wednesday, June 20th from 12:00 pm- 1:00 pm in West Terrace Park, 8th & Pennsylvania

Click these links for more information about Art in the Loop‘s ongoing summer program of visual and performance art all around Downtown KC, and about musician Simon Fink.

Air Play by Stacey Sharpe, 8th & Pennsylvania

Visual artist Stacey Sharpe had so much fun creating her large-scale kite installation for Art in the Loop this summer, she wanted to share the love and invite you to make your own through multiple workshops and art classes throughout the summer. Stacey is teaming up with art educators, local businesses, and Art in the Loop to provide opportunities for Kansas Citians to make and fly their very own kite!

There are multiple classes and workshops taking place, one is sure to fit your schedule:

  • Friday, June 22 at Aquarium Project Space, 1717 Wyandotte, KCMO, with Scrambled Apples.
    • Join Air Play artist Stacey Sharpe and local art educator Virginia Zetmeir in their art class where teachers and students design, build, paint, and fly their own unique kite. Parents are encouraged to drop their children off for this educator-led class for children ages 5-12. Space is limited, please enroll by clicking here.
    • First session 9:00am-11:00am
    • Second session 12:00pm-2:00pm
  • Saturday, June 23rd at Spokes Cafe & Cyclery, 1200 Washington, KCMO.
    • Sponsored by Spokes Cafe & Cyclery and Friends of West Terrace Park, the kite workshop begins at Spokes with kite decorating and flying/safety tips. After that participants are free to have lunch and head to West Terrace Park to fly kites!
    • Event takes place from 10:30am-1:00pm. This is a family event, open to the public, and admission is free.
  • Friday, August 3rd, at Kansas City Public Library-Central Branch, 14 W. 10th St., KCMO.
    • This kite workshop pairs artist Stacey Sharpe with the library’s free event, Art Starts at the Library.
    • Event takes place from 5:30pm-7:30pm, with kite flying on the library rooftop, and in nearby West Terrace Park.
    • This is a family event,  open to the public, and admission is free.
  • Saturday, September 1st at Spokes Cafe & Cyclery, 1200 Washington, KCMO.
    • Sponsored by Spokes Cafe & Cyclery and Friends of West Terrace Park, the kite workshop begins at Spokes with kite decorating and flying/safety tips.  After that participants are free to have lunch and head to West Terrace Park to fly kites!
    • Event takes place from 10:30am-1:00pm. This is a family event, open to the public, and admission is free.

The John Gilmore Trio pulls its influences from across the jazz and fusion spectrums to create a unique lyrical and textural experience. Comprised of drums, bass, and saxophone, the open sound leaves plenty of room for experimentation, while providing an enjoyable ambiance for the listener.

Bring your co-worker friends to the park during a lunch break to enjoy the sounds of the John Gilmore Trio this Wednesday, from noon-1p at West Terrace Park (8th & Pennsylvania). Soak up some sun, listen to some tunes, enjoy local art, it’s a great way to spend your break!

Click here for our full calendar of events and performances. Performances are free and open to the public and take place each Wednesday throughout the summer.

Join local artist Emily Evans Sloan, on June 9th from 2:00pm-4:00pm at the KC Streetcar stop at 4th & Delaware for Worldwide Knit-in-Public Day. She will be working on pieces for her large-scale knitting installation, Streetcar Shelter Sweater, at the streetcar stop, and will be hosting a knit-in for other yarn and craft enthusiasts.

Knitters are encouraged to bring their own folding chairs and knitting supplies. Don’t know how to knit? Don’t let that stop you from participating, knitters are notoriously eager to share their craft with others.

Worldwide Knit-in-Public Day:

KC Streetcar stop at 4th & Delaware, Saturday, June 9th from 2:00-4:00 pm

For more information visit: Streetcar Shelter Sweater, KCStreetcar, Worldwide Knit-in-Public Day

 

Whats more fun than finding totally rad art all around Downtown KC this summer? Taking selfies with it! and then getting prizes!

Art in the Loop has put together a super fun game mash-up of Scavenger Hunt and BINGO involving the public art in our program this summer.  The Box Gallery, located at 1000 Walnut, is a great place to start! Pick up a BINGO card and get some helpful hints to start your hunt around the city, or, print out a board here. For a schedule of performances and more information about permanent installations, visit artintheloop.com

Here’s how to play:

Once you have your BINGO card, choose a piece of art to find. Once you’ve found it, snap a selfie with the art and post it to either Instagram or Facebook using @artintheloop and #KCArtHunt. Once you have BINGO (five destinations across the board), post a picture of your completed game with #KCArtHunt. Those who submit completed BINGO boards will be entered into drawings for crazy cool prizes throughout the summer!

Still not sure how it works? Watch this video our very professional, intelligent, and hilarious interns made by clicking here.

The fine print: Only one BINGO submission will be accepted from each social media account. All submissions will be entered into a drawing, which will be chosen by an Art in the Loop employee. Winners will be notified through their social media account.

Stay up to date with the on-going events, follow the Stranger on their adventures around town, and participate with your local arts community at Artintheloop.com.

Join us June 6th for the second installment of Art in the Loop’s Summer Music Series with musician Roger Pitts, as he provides a lunchtime concert in West Terrace Park.

Roger is a graduate of the UMKC Conservatory of Music, holding his master’s degree in guitar studies and music composition. He has studied jazz piano and arranging, and likes to experiment with music. He’ll be performing mostly original music and improvising new stuff along the way.  You’ll hear elements of rock, blues, jazz, funk, and even some of those classical influences as well. Catch his funky, experimental guitar looping extravaganza in West Terrace Park from noon-1p on Wednesday, June 6th.

For more information, calendars of upcoming events, and on-going art installations click here or check out Roger Pitt’s website.

 

Amado Espinoza will perform at the Library on June 1.

The Kansas City Public Library and Art in the Loop team up this summer to bring family-friendly events and performances to the Central Library with the Art Starts collaboration.

Begin your First Friday’s at the Kansas City Public Library Central Library (14 W. 10th St.) with an array of diverse events, activities, and musical performances, appropriate for all age groups:

Friday, June 1, 2018 | 5:30-7:30 p.m. 

  • In Passing Notes, artist David Alpert leads an exercise in writing notes to place in Library books.
  • Multi-instrumentalist Amado Espinoza provides live music, accompanied by his brother Pedro Calderon on flute, guitar, and vocals.
  • Get up close and personal with the various instruments of the  Kansas City Symphony with their event, Instrument Petting Zoo, located on the fifth floor.
  • Indisposable:  Kansas City Cultures debuts in Kirk Hall, featuring the photographs of Kansas City immigrants who were handed disposable cameras and asked to document their lives or simply photograph whatever they found interesting.  Local artist Ryan Wilk’s multisensory Here Where You Wish and the drawings of Lawrence-based artist Michael Krueger in There From Here, Selected Drawings 2008-2018, are also featured in the library’s formal galleries.

Art in the Loop, currently in its fifth season, is designed to bring innovative and engaging temporary art and performances to downtown Kansas City, Missouri.

For more information please check out Art in the Loop and the KC Library websites.

I don’t know about you, but it about kills me being stuck inside at work on a beautiful summer day. Art in the Loop is here for you, fellow warm-weather enthusiasts. Not only have we put together some stellar art installations around Downtown KC and along the KC Streetcar route for you to feast your eyes upon, but have enlisted some talented local musicians to play music during lunchtime! From contemporary jazz to funky looping compositions, we have something everyone can enjoy.

Take your lunch break, or pack a picnic and bring the kids, on Wednesdays from noon-1 p.m. (unless otherwise noted) at West Terrace Park. For those of you unable to escape work, you’re in luck, we have an evening concert planned as well.

-May 30, The Sextet, contemporary jazz ensemble, noon-1 p.m. at 10th & Jefferson
-June 6, Roger Pitts, funky vibe with a rock attitude, noon-1 p.m. at 10th & Jefferson
-June 13, John Gilmore Trio, percussionists, noon-1 p.m. at 8th & Pennsylvania
-June 20, Simon Fink, acoustic Americana, noon-1 p.m. at 8th & Pennsylvania
-June 27, Candice Hill Trio, steel drum, 5:30-7 p.m., and Cowtown Country Club, upbeat country, 7-8:30 p.m. at 8th & Pennsylvania

For more information please visit Art in the Loop.

Cowtown Country Club

 

June 1 – August 3, 2018
Opening Reception:
Friday, June 1 | 11:30 am – 1:00 pm
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Art in the Loop and the Box Gallery invite you to explore temporary, public art this summer! Join in the fun at the opening reception Friday, June 1st, from 11:30 am-1:00 pm, held in the Commerce Bank Building at 1000 Walnut St.  Daniel Yung, a local musician who experiments with cello-looping, will be providing the soundtrack for the lunchtime reception.

The Box Gallery exhibit is a companion show to KC Plays, Art in the Loop’s summer program of temporary artwork, events, and performances. The exhibit is intended to provide insight into the development and creative process of the many local artists who are participating in this year’s public events and to encourage viewers to explore downtown and experience the art for themselves.

Visit the gallery for a peek at the diverse and unexpected artworks, interactive activities, and performances that are taking place throughout the summer in Downtown and along the KC Streetcar. The exhibit contains a map to all of the installations, interesting facts about the participating local artists, as well as samples of past works. Check out Denise DiPiazzo‘s sketchbook, full of inspiration that led to SlinkyBall, or Stephen Proski‘s original drawing for Night People. Get up close and personal with one of StoneLion Puppet‘s creations, or the face of Megan Karson‘s Stranger on a Train. Before you go, be sure to leave a note for one of the artists in David Alpert‘s Passing Notes, where he riffs on his original idea of leaving messages hidden in books for others to discover. The exhibit runs through the summer and is free and family-friendly.

This exhibition could not have been created without the curatorial talents of art directors Jahaira Aguilar and Andrew Lattner.

Click here for more information.

Art in the Loop is pleased to present our 2018 Summer music series! A wide array of diverse, local musicians will play their eclectic sounds around Downtown Kansas City, Missouri throughout the summer.

West Terrace Park:

Spend your lunch-break enjoying some music in a relaxing outdoor setting. The following musicians will play in the park, located at 8th and Pennsylvania on Wednesdays, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m, unless otherwise noted.

KC Streetcar:

What’s better than riding the streetcar? How about listening to local musicians play some sweet jams on the way to your destination? Local musicians will play interesting and diverse music on the streetcar and at various stops along the way. Find the music on Wednesdays, from 11:30 am to 1:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Specific locations will be announced.

Kansas City Public Library Central Library:

The library is not generally where you find noise, but Kansas City’s Downtown library, located at 14 W. 10th St., is so cool they are encouraging live music to be performed in their stacks. During Art Starts at the Library on First Friday’s (5:30 to 7:30) you can listen to interesting and worldly music while simultaneously discovering a new book!

For more information about the project, the artists and performance schedule visit www.artintheloop.com, www.facebook.com/artintheloop, or twitter.com/ArtintheLoop.

The 2018 Art in the Loop Project: KC Plays!, a curated outdoor exhibition staged in partnership with the City of Kansas City, Missouri, and KC Streetcar, features 15 temporary artworks and performances along the city’s streetcar route, in West Terrace/Case Park, and at the Kansas City Public Library.

Join us Tuesday, May 1, 6:30 to 8:30 for the kick-off presentation and reception at the Kansas City Public Library Central Library, 14 West 10th Street.  Click here to RSVP.

As the series prepares to open, a number of the participating artists take turns discussing their works. They are introduced by art-directors Jahaira Aguilar and Andrew Lattner, local artists and co-founders of the collaborative group NDo. Both artists are current Artists-in-Residence at the Charlotte Street Foundation. Art in the Loop, running from May 1 to September 30, is designed to make cultural experiences available to downtown residents, visitors, and workers.

The 2018 Art in the Loop Project: KC Plays infuses the center of Downtown Kansas City with innovative and engaging temporary art that will refresh, intrigue and surprise Downtown employees, residents, and visitors. The project also creates opportunities for local emerging and established artists to extend their practice into the Downtown environment with curatorial, professional and logistical support. The 2018 locations for the series includes:

  1. Art in the Park – West Terrace & Case Park, 10th & Jefferson;
  2. Art on the Line – KC Streetcar, stops located along Main Street from the City Market to Union Station;
  3. Art at the Library – Kansas City Public Library Central Library,14 W. 10th St.
  4. Art in the Loop Studio Residency –  Location TBD
  5. Art in the Loop Exhibition at The Box Gallery – Commerce Bank Building, 1000 Walnut Street

2018 ART IN THE LOOP ARTISTS

SlinkyBall concept by Denise DiPiazzo

Art in the Park (West Terrace/Case Park):

  • Denise DiPiazzo, SlinkyBall
  • Stacey Sharpe, Air Play
  • Annelise Kinney, Michael Elwood & Daniel Rawlings, Busy Bead Maze

Celestial Heap concept image by Monica Dixon

Art on the Line (KC Streetcar):

  • Alter Art Space, Alter: Pop-Up pARTy (August 24, 6:00 p.m., Union Station Stop)
  • Daniel Chase, Running Idle, (Video animation on KCity Post Kiosks)
  • Monica Dixon, Celestial Heap, (Vinyl artwork onboard KC Streetcar vehicle)
  • Emily Sloan, Streetcar Shelter Sweater, (Fabric artwork, River Market West Stop)
  • Megan Karson, Stranger on a Train, (Soft sculpture onboard KC Streetcar vehicle)
  • Amy Kligman, Party Car, (Vinyl  artwork on KC Streetcar vehicle exterior)
  • Kriss Miller & Alicen Lundberg, KC Word Plays! (Interactive sculpture, Library Southbound Stop)
  • Stephen Proski, Night People (Vinyl artwork, Crossroads Southbound Stop)
  • Stone Lion Puppets, KC Puppets at Play!,(July 11 and August 8, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., Union Station and City Market Stops proposed locations.)

Wearable Play concept image by Sunyoung Cheong

Art Starts at the Library (Kansas City Public Library Central Library, 14 W 10th St.):

  • David Alpert, Passing Notes, (June 1, August 3 and other dates TBD)
  • Sunyoung Cheong, Wearable Play, (August 3)

Art in the Loop Studio Residency: Soft Lab

Selected artists Olivia Clanton and Natalie Spicker will create experimental artwork as well as invite the public to interact with them during weaving and quilting workshops. This residency is the first of its kind for Art in the Loop and will provide opportunities for artists to interact with the public and collaborate in a new way. The studio location will be finalized soon. Schedules for workshops will be posted at www.artintheloop.com

The Box Gallery
New this year, The Box Gallery will host an Art in the Loop Exhibition from June through July, with an opening reception on Friday, June 1, 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The exhibition will include images and ephemera for this year’s Art in the Loop Project: KC Plays, as well as, maps, brochures and videos. It will also be the site of music performances, receptions and other events. The Box Gallery is located on the first floor of the Commerce Bank Building, 1000 Walnut Street, Kansas City, MO 64106.

The 2018 Art in the Loop Project: KC Plays is made possible through the generous support of KC Streetcar; the City of Kansas City, Missouri; the Missouri Arts Council; Arts KC and our corporate sponsors including Stinson Leonard Street, Copaken Brooks, Lofts@Delaware Landing, 3D Development, Burns & McDonnell, JE Dunn Construction, McCownGordon Construction and PortKC. We appreciate support and guidance provided by our partners: Downtown Council, Downtown Community Improvement Districts, KCMO-Public Works Department, KC Streetcar, the KC Parks, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City Art Institute, The Box Gallery, Union Station and The Bridge 90.9.

Art in the Loop will also bring a diverse array of musicians to Downtown Kansas City through a lunchtime concert series on Wednesdays, from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., from May 30 through September 5, at the same locations where artwork is installed.  Musicians will be announced later this month.

For more information about the project, the artists and performance schedule visit www.artintheloop.com, www.facebook.com/artintheloop, or twitter.com/ArtintheLoop.