The next time you are waiting for the KC Streetcar, take a look at the video screens on the kiosks located at each stop. You will see rotating ads for restaurants, cultural arts and events nearby— then unexpectedly, the screen looks back at you.

The video of human eyes amid geometric designs is the work of local artist Barry Anderson. Titled Totemic Persona, the short, hyperkinetic videos digitally blends photos in rhythmic patterns. The artwork is part of Art in the Loop’s summer art series, which injects art and performances along the KC Streetcar route, City Market Park and inside the KC Public Library.

Barry Anderson photographed over a hundred Kansas City volunteers of different age, race and ethnicity, and digitally collaged their eyes into an ever-changing, pulsating design. The result is beautiful and mesmerizing.

The work is intended to serve as an emblem of our City’s cultural identity in harmony. In his artist statement, Anderson outlines his goal of creating his four videos that “show a unified, multi-ethnic and multigenerational portrait of our community.”

“The idea was to be both confronted and embraced by the eyes… I wanted to have viewers face a portrait that was about “us” rather than “them,” Anderson shared in an interview. In today’s intense political/social climate, the subtle message of celebrating diversity through shared humanity is welcomed.

At the Metro Center Northbound Streetcar stop (12th and Main), the back wall of the shelter is covered with a still-image from Anderson’s video. Two eyes suspended in a geometric design gaze out to the City, watching thoughtfully.

One may be reminded of the billboard in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, where an optometry ad depicting disembodied eyes peers down on characters who have abandoned their values. The eyes in the novel serve as a symbol for the corrosion of the American dream.

But Anderson’s eyes do not look down from above with moral authority. They look at Streetcar riders eye to eye. Whether you feel uncomfortable by the stare or comforted by the familiar gaze, the work is successful because it immediately engages the viewer’s conscience and sparks an inner dialog. Once again, Barry Anderson’s installation secures his status as one of Kansas City’s most innovative artists.

Anderson earned a MFA at Indiana University in 2002 and works as a professor of studio art at UMKC. His work has been in numerous national and international exhibitions including recent solo shows in Oklahoma, Los Angeles, St. Louis and Seoul, Korea. His work is in the public collections of the Everson Museum of Art, NY, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, MO, and the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in KS. The artist is represented by the Walter Maciel Gallery in Los Angeles. Totemic Persona was adapted from a public art project on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, a commission for West Hollywood’s Art on the Outside program.

Robin Trafton

Robin Trafton works as the fine art curator of Commerce Bank and director of The Box Gallery, a community exhibition space at 1000 Walnut. Previously she was director of Art in the Loop Foundation and a freelance critic for the Kansas City Star.

About the 2017 Art in the Loop Project

The 2017 Art in the Loop Project:  Cue! 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, Henderson Engineers, JE Dunn Construction, McCownGordon Construction, Port KC and UMB Financial Corporation. We appreciate in-kind support and guidance provided by the Downtown Council, the Downtown and River Market Community Improvement Districts, KCMO-Public Works Department, KC Streetcar, the City Market, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City Art Institute, Folk Alliance International and The Bridge 90.9.

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

 

Artist Shelby Burchett will engage us in an interactive experience on Friday, June 2nd  to accompany her summer-long installation “Don’t Wait, Get Lost”.  Appearing as her alter-ego goo-witch (don’t worry, she’s not scary), she will invite the public to seek new, tactile-oriented experiences while waiting for the streetcar.  Join us for the gooey, squishy fun!

The performance will take place intermittently from 12:00 – 7:00 at the Union Station Streetcar Stop.

 

 

This performance is free and open to the public, and is part of the 2017 Art in the Loop Project:  Cue! The project 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, Henderson Engineers, JE Dunn Construction, McCownGordon Construction, Port KC and UMB Financial Corporation. We appreciate in-kind support and guidance provided by the Downtown Council, the Downtown and River Market Community Improvement Districts, KCMO-Public Works Department, KC Streetcar, the City Market, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City Art Institute, Folk Alliance International and The Bridge 90.9.

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

 

Cloud Canopy, Monica Dixon’s Art in the Loop installation, is making City Market Park (3rd & Main) more colorful through September. Her vibrant fabric sculpture aims to restore a sense of vitality to its audience and its environment, bringing presence and awareness to shared physical space.

As part of the installation, Monica invites you to join her guided meditation sessions* in City Market Park from 12:15-12:45 pm on the following dates:
June 1, 8, 22, 29
July 6, 13, 20, 27
August 3, 10
*Please bring a cushion, yoga mat or blanket to sit on grass.

Each meditation session is free and open to the public, and is part of the 2017 Art in the Loop Project:  Cue! The project 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, Henderson Engineers, JE Dunn Construction, McCownGordon Construction, Port KC and UMB Financial Corporation. We appreciate in-kind support and guidance provided by the Downtown Council, the Downtown and River Market Community Improvement Districts, KCMO-Public Works Department, KC Streetcar, the City Market, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City Art Institute, Folk Alliance International and The Bridge 90.9.

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

Two of the artists included in the 2017 Art in the Loop Cue! project will be conducting group activities this week as part of their summer-long art installations- we invite you to join in the fun!

On Thursday, May 25th from 10:00-11:00 a.m., join artist Beth Byrd-Lonski as Clarity Brown, a fun-loving clown who loves to lead people of all ages in silly walking!  Silly Walkways is directly inspired by The Monty Python Flying Circus skit: The Ministry of Silly Walks. This is a chance for everyone to have a light moment in the middle of the street (while staying safe, of course). Clarity Brown is the clown who will encourage you to get down and get back up again as you get from point A to point B. Clarity will begin the silly walk adventure at Crossroads Academy, 1015 Central St and end at the Kansas City Public Library Central Library.

 

 

 

 

Next, get on your running (or walking) shoes!  Artist Sarah Star has organized a group run, co-sponsored by Run816, set to begin at 6:30 a.m. on Friday, May 26th.  Experience Run the Town:  A Civic Trail with your fellow Kansas Citians, starting from the trailhead at The River Market West KC Streetcar stop, on Delaware between 3rd and 5th streets.  You will be guided by turn-by-turn signs along the route featuring colorful illustrations that playfully blend the rich history of our city with its exciting present. You will be cued to explore the public art and architecture in the area as well.

 

 

These performances are free and open to the public, and are part of the 2017 Art in the Loop Project:  Cue! The projects are 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, Henderson Engineers, JE Dunn Construction, McCownGordon Construction, Port KC and UMB Financial Corporation. We appreciate in-kind support and guidance provided by the Downtown Council, the Downtown and River Market Community Improvement Districts, KCMO-Public Works Department, KC Streetcar, the City Market, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City Art Institute, Folk Alliance International and The Bridge 90.9.

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

Join us at lunchtime on Wednesday, May 17th for an exciting performance by The Center State.

The performance will take place from 11:30 – 1:30 at  City Market Park, 3rd & Main St.

Part acoustic pop music, part troubadour with a silky lament, and part organic Americana, The Center State perform a confident mix of folk music that is agony filled in places and catchy in others, sometimes within the span of a single song. The trio and sometimes quintet of musicians are as eccentric as the music they play. The quirky Davidson couple plays upright bass and violin, and shares vocals with the songwriter of the group, Jeremy Sharp.

The Center State first full-length album, Close Enough To Miss – self recorded in St. Joseph Missouri with final mix engineer James Felver- is out now on iTunes, Spotify, and most other digital platforms.

This performance is free and open to the public, and is part of the 2017 Art in the Loop Project:  Cue! The project 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, Henderson Engineers, JE Dunn Construction, McCownGordon Construction, Port KC and UMB Financial Corporation. We appreciate in-kind support and guidance provided by the Downtown Council, the Downtown and River Market Community Improvement Districts, KCMO-Public Works Department, KC Streetcar, the City Market, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City Art Institute, Folk Alliance International and The Bridge 90.9.

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

The rooftops of Downtown Kansas City will come alive on Thursday evening May 4, at 7:00 pm, when composer and musician Daniel Morel presents Kansas City Calling

The performance will take place at Prairie Logic, the public art installation and performance venue on the Green Roof above Cosentino’s Parking Garage, 1261 Main St, on the 6th floor.

Kansas City Calling is an evening-length musical happening that evokes both the bustling past and thriving current day of our Midwestern metropolis. The program features the music of Daniel Morel and draws on original and borrowed music to represent the city’s history. Musicians wander the rooftop park of Prairie Logic with ambient hums, antiphonal calls, and spoken texts to build a soundscape wafting over the skyline.

Daniel Morel is a Kansas City-based composer whose works are permeated with the Western sensibilities of his Colorado upbringing, drawing on influences ranging from prairie thunderstorms to classic American poetry.  Performance details and further information are available at www.danmorel.com.

This performance, co-presented by Art/Sounds is free and open to the public and is part of the 2017 Art in the Loop Project:  Cue! The project 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, Henderson Engineers, JE Dunn Construction, McCownGordon Construction, Port KC and UMB Financial Corporation. We appreciate in-kind support and guidance provided by the Downtown Council, the Downtown and River Market Community Improvement Districts, KCMO-Public Works Department, KC Streetcar, the City Market, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City Art Institute, Folk Alliance International and The Bridge 90.9.
For more information about the project, the artists and performance schedule visit www.artintheloop.com, www.facebook.com/artintheloop, or twitter.com/ArtintheLoop.