Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

Missouri’s first and largest contemporary art museum, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art includes over 1500 works of art in its permanent collection and myriad changing exhibits across three locations in Kansas City’s downtown art district. This free museum with free parking nearby has been open to the public since 1994. The museum's building includes a main gallery and three smaller galleries along with an enclosed courtyard and a restaurant. The museum offers an average of eight to ten exhibitions each year, along with special programs and workshops for the public. The museum hopes to introduce diverse audiences to the value and historical significance of the modern art movement and welcomes over 100,000 visitors each year. Highlights of the museum include the outdoor sculpture and iconic works from artists like Georgia O’Keefe, Robert Motherwell, Nancy Graves, Frank Stella, and many others. Architectural enthusiasts can also enjoy the building design by Gunner Birkerts, the architect who created the Kemper Museum’s 23,200-square-foot building.

History

Gunnar Birkerts began designing the museum’s signature building in the early 1990s. The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art opened in 1994, thanks to funding from founders R. Crosby Kemper and his wife Bebe Kemper, who also donated the core of their permanent collection. R. Crosby Kemper was then the Chairman and CEO of the UMB Financial Corporation. Since its opening, Kemper’s permanent collection has more than tripled, and it offers an active calendar of events and special exhibitions that reflect the range and complexity of the modern and contemporary art scenes. 

In the museum’s first years, it established a variety of educational programming as well as its Sebastian Cafe. Every year, the Kemper Museum hosts around 10 to 12 special exhibitions in its galleries. The museum’s second building, Kemper East, opened in 2004 and features administrative offices as well as present exhibitions drawn from the vast museum collection. The third building, known as Kemper at the Crossroads, features a variety of special exhibitions alongside education programs for kids and adults.

Collections and Exhibits

The permanent collection at the museum features a diverse range of artists from around the world, with a focus on works created after the 1913 Armory Show. Although the museum selects between 20 and 30 works to debut every month, the entire collection features works by notable artists such as Polly Apfelbaum, Arthur Dove, Louise Bourgeois, Dale Chihuly, Damien Hirst, Andrew Wyeth, Fairfield Porter, Georgia O'Keeffe, Frank Stella, and several others. 

The media of displayed work also range from film and video to photographs, sculptures, and works on paper. Rotating exhibits featured in any of the three museum buildings seek to provide a deeper nuance and interpretation of contemporary art, and some past exhibits have included “Xaviera Simmons's Number 16,” “Summoning Ghosts: The Art of Hung Liu,” and “The Center is a Moving Target.”

Architecture

In addition to the museum’s vibrant and multifaceted collection and exhibits, the Kemper’s signature building endures as an essential work of architectural art. This building, which features concrete, steel, and glass materials, was designed by Gunnar Birkerts and Associates, widely recognized as one of the foremost modern architects in America. 

The center of the building features a spacious atrium with a 22-foot-high articulated skylight. Other features include the Main Gallery’s 5,697-square-foot gallery space, the central atrium, and two attached side wings. The cost of construction hovered around $6.6 million, and its modern design displays a dynamic form, rejecting traditional architectural styles. Despite its distinct personality, the building enables a free-flowing interior that allows flexible transitions from one space to the next.

1.) "History and Architecture." Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. Accessed June 28, 2015. https://www.kemperart.org/history-architecture

2.) "Past Exhibitions 2014." Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. Accessed June 28, 2015. https://www.kemperart.org/past-exhibitions/year/2014.

3.) "My Favorite Building: Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art." Kansas City Business Journal. Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. Accessed June 28, 2015. http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2014/12/04/kemper-museum-of-contemporary-art.html