Kc Art Pie

Informações:

Synopsis

KC Art Pie is an arts podcast covering the Creative Crossroads of America.The breadth of the Kansas City art scene is practically culinary. It is a rich stew, with both satisfyingly palatable and surprising bursts of contrasting flavor. For the art aficionado, it is delicious. Whatever flavor you prefer, Kansas City has a rich arts scene, and like a great meal, it deserves to be shared.With this in mind, KC Art Pie will launch in March of 2017 as an artist-run podcast featuring the artist of our local creative culture. Season one of the podcast will focus on a specific multimedia project, Femin Is, allowing KC Art Pie to develop with a clear focus and then branch out to other projects and topics in the future. So, we will start with a recipe, but eventually, we will be mixing up all sorts of creations with the ingredients on hand

Episodes

  • No. 10 FEMIN IS Philomene Bennett

    25/10/2017 Duration: 19min

    In episode No. 10 of the Femin • Is series, I sat down with painter Philomene Bennett to hear about her fifty plus year career as an artist. Having read Bennett described as the "grand dame" of art in Kansas City, I was eager to learn more. Now in her eighties, Bennett's lasting influence on individual artists through her long-running studio ateliers and the very fabric of the Kansas City arts scene through the co-founding of The Kansas City Artists Coalition is simply undeniable. In our conversation, we touched on everything from how her identity as an artist started in childhood, her first big break in Kansas City, a fateful night that started an arts organization now 40 years strong, and, of course, her own work as a painter, including a few works close to her heart. Below are images of the work we discussed, as well as some extra treats. Enjoy!   My Very Own Fishpond, oil on canvas, 8 x 5' Philomene Bennett working in her studio in the River Quay (River Market) in the 1970s Bennett (seen left) at an o

  • No. 9 FEMIN IS Women in Glasses

    21/09/2017 Duration: 27min

    In episode No. 9 of the Femin • Is series, I sat down with Cyncha Jeansonne who created the controversial 1976 exhibition Women in Glasses at the Douglas Drake Gallery. We talked about the rebellion required to be an artist and how this two-day installation of 15 nude women came to be. Featured Image is a detail from photographer Donald White's series of photographs of the exhibition. **CAUTION** Images below include nudity. Discretion is advised.   The debate on what qualifies as objectification of women's bodies versus body positivity and agency certainly isn't new even if some of the buzzwords are.  While the conversation on the censure of women's bodies continue today, the 1970s era of radical feminism certainly sparked some debates. Louisiana native and artist Cyncha Jeansonne played a part here in Kansas City with her two-day environmental installation at the Douglas Drake Gallery in 1976. While she tamps down on the idea of a feminist influence at the time, she asserts that the work was an act of rebe

  • No. 8 FEMIN IS Arzie Umali

    08/08/2017 Duration: 31min

    In episode No. 8 of the Femin • Is series, I sat down with painter and Assistant Director of UMKC's Womens Center, Arzie Umali. We talked about her research into representation of women artists in KC institutions, her work at The Women's Center, and her work as a painter. Featured image is of Arzie Umali's portrait for the Femin • Is project, consisting of text from Linda Nochlin's 1971 essay Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? From her days as a graduate student to now, Arzie Umali has kept feminism and the art closely entwined. With a precedent set by the famed Guerrila Girls making tallies of the number of women artists who have received exhibitions in New York museums, Umali looked at institutions closer to home to look at representation of women artists. I wanted to look at this history and talk about how the research was done, as well as put out a call that this work needs to be done again. Additionally, we talked about Her Art Project, a program initiative Umali started at The Women's Center a

  • No. 7 FEMIN IS The Wild Women of Kansas City

    19/07/2017 Duration: 40min

    In episode No. 7 of the Femin • Is series, I sat down with three powerhouse jazz vocalists and wild women to talk about jazz, feminism, race and history. This is a rich slice of pie.    I couldn't put it any better, so I'll let the Wild Women speak for themselves. The Wild Women of Kansas City, organized in 1999, show the importance of respect for diversity and the need to embrace diversity. Four different women with four different gifts, different styles, one common heritage yet four different cultural experiences become one spirit, one voice, one heart. Together, the current roster of vocalists, Geneva Price, Millie Edwards Nottingham and Lori Tucker, use their many gifts to share their passion for jazz, but of course, no conversation of the Wild Women is complete without mentioning one of the founding members, Myra Taylor, who passed in 2011. To here more from Myra herself, and more music clips from the Wild Women, here's a great KCUR interview from 2007. In this episode, another of the original members

  • No. 6 FEMIN IS Linda Lighton

    26/05/2017 Duration: 29min

    In episode No. 6 of the Femin • Is series, I sat down with local ceramicist and bona fide flowerchild Linda Lighton. Sex, drugs, rock n' roll and ceramics, baby. This is how it's done. Featured photo by Tom Styrkowicz To be the renowned artist that Linda Lighton is today, she had to rebel, and then rebel some more. So for this interview, we took a deep dive into the early years and some early work. We also took a look back at the history of the art scene in Kansas City. Enjoy. The First Lady   Daddy's Hungry   Diva Laura clay, glaze, China paint, lustres 22" x 9" x 11" Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Collection 2002  

  • No. 5 FEMIN IS Jennifer Lapka Pfeifer

    26/04/2017 Duration: 25min

    In episode No. 5 of the Femin • Is series, I sat down with founder and president of Rightfully Sewn, Jennifer Lapka Pfeifer, to talk about fashion, feminism, and creative entrepreneurship. Featured photo by Samantha Levi Photography We talked about the organization Lapka Pfeifer started that blends non profit social work, job-creating entrepreneurship, local history and fashion design. Yes, Rightfully Sewn really does all that. We talked through the puzzle pieces and with such an interesting and intersecting mix, I also wanted to dive into the inspiration and process behind starting such an endeavor. The two biggest parts of Rightfully Sewn is a seamtress training program for at-risk women and and supported residencies for local fashion designers. While the training program is being initiated this summer, the residency program is thoroughly underway and since this a project celebrating creative women, it seems fitting to share more about these designers here in the show notes:   Ami Beck, Dolyn Bagswww.dolynb

  • No. 4 FEMIN IS Elisabeth Kirsch

    17/04/2017 Duration: 23min

    In episode No. 4 of the Femin Is series, I sat down with writer and curator Elisabeth Kirsch to talk about feminism and the Kansas City art scene of the 1970s. We talked about the challenges and limitations placed on women artists and how her early encounters with the feminist art movement influenced her career. I also wanted to hear about the Women Artists ‘77 exhibit, one of, if not the first, all-women regional shows at a time when women artists struggled to be included in galleries and museums. Kirsch was the gallery assistant for the exhibition and had a behind-the-scenes perspective on the process with juror and feminist art movement icon Miriam Schapiro. We also talked about a few of the artists she’s reviewed over the years and she revealed what may be one of my favorite bucket list items: to be a Guerrilla Girl for a day. Kirsch's Review of Linda Lighton:  Dangerous Beauty, Review magazine, August 2006 She also discussed an artist who showed at the Douglas Drake Gallery. You can see a wide range of

  • No. 3: FEMIN IS - Gloria Vando Hickok

    31/03/2017 Duration: 28min

    Episode No. 3 of the KC Art Pie podcast features poet Gloria Vando Hickok, who founded Helicon Nine, co-founded The Writers Place, and generally, is a very busy woman. Photo by Anika Paris We spoke over the phone about Helicon Nine: The Journal of Women’s Arts & Letters which she founded in 1977 in Kansas City, Missouri, to provide a quality literary publication by and about women. The magazine provided a forum for women in the arts at a time when women were being excluded from major anthologies, history books, museums, and academic curricula. It published the work of well over 500 artist. In 1992 Helicon Nine, changed its name to Midwest Center for the Literary Arts, Inc., in order to expand its mission to include the publication of fine books of literature through Helicon Nine Editions and the founding of The Writers Place, a regional literary community center, library, and gallery offering public and educational programs for all ages. As a poet, Gloria has edited and published numerous anthologies of

  • No. 2: FEMIN IS - Janet Kuemmerlein

    17/03/2017 Duration: 22min

    Episode No. 2 of the KC Art Pie podcast features visual artist Janet Kuemmerlein discussing her textile murals, the women of jazz, and how naiveté is not always a bad thing. For this episode, I sat down with Janet Kuemmerlein in her large home studio to talk about her work and career which has spanned over 50 years. We talked about the bravery or naivete it takes to be an artist and the early days of her career in the 60s. While her textile practice is often a solitary affair, she has also painted portraits of other artists, most significantly a number of Kansas City women jazz vocalists, and she shares her experience of working with and learning from women coming from a different artistic medium. Kuemmerlein is a pioneer in the contemporary fiber art movement. She was born in Detroit, Michigan. Janet studied painting at the College of Creative Studies in Detroit, and sculpture and metalsmithing at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Her work has been placed in institutions such the Smiths

  • No 1: FEMIN IS - Paula Rose

    07/03/2017 Duration: 20min

    Episode No. 1 of the KC Art Pie Podcast features art historian and educator Paula Rose, discussing representation and the upcoming Wikipedia Edit-a-thon. We're kicking off the KC Art Pie podcast and Women's History Month talking about how an annual upcoming event fuses small acts of activism, feminism and artist representation on Wikipedia, all as a social activity. We'll speak with Paula Rose, an art historian and educator, who is partnering for this year's Wikipedia Edit-a-thon with Her Art Project of the UMKC Womens Center. Begun by Art + Feminism, in previous years, the focus has been to increase the number of women editors on Wikipedia as well as increase the number of women artists represented on Wikipedia and quality of already available content. This year, the event has expanded to include not just the arts, but all STEAM subjects (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics. Is there an artist you feel does not have their due on Wikipedia? What about local artists? Here's your chance to l

  • KC Art Pie - Janet Kuemmerlein Preview Clip

    02/03/2017 Duration: 02min

    To give you a taste of the pie, below is a clip from my conversation with textile artist and painter Janet Kuemmerlein. Her career in Kansas City spans decades with monumental fiber installations both in Kansas City and around the world. Her success is a testament to will, perseverance, and an unshakeable confidence that being an artist is serious business.