Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Creating and Collecting: Kansas City and Contemporary Decorative Arts

August 25 to December 5
Bloch Building, Gallery L7
Admission is Free

Robyn Nichols, American (b. 1955). Nymphaea (Water lilies) Rattle,
ca. 2008. Silver with steel shot, 5 x 6 x 5 inches (12.7 x 15.2 x 12.7 cm).
Purchase: acquired through the generosity of Sandy and Randy Rolf
in honor of Robyn Nichols and the 75th anniversary of
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2009.60

For more than four decades Kansas City has been a center for important developments in contemporary decorative arts or craft, especially in ceramics, as the setting for schools, artists, studios, galleries and collectors.

At the core of this creative energy are The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the Kansas City Art Institute. The school has played a significant role in undergraduate art education for 125 years. Students are taught the fundamentals of art-making by established artists in a variety of media. Some students have settled in Kansas City, while others retain connections through local galleries.

The proximity of the school to the Museum and access to its important collections have strengthened the scholastic programs and inspired generations of students. Local galleries and collectors are the second major factor in Kansas City’s role as a center for contemporary decorative arts, creating a vibrant arts community that continues to grow and change.

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Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Romancing the West: Alfred Jacob Miller
in the Bank of America Collection

September 25, 2010
to
January 9, 2011

Bloch Building, Gallery L13
Tickets now available.
Admission is free from 5–9 p.m. Thursdays.

Alfred Jacob Miller, American (1810-1874), Indian Village.
Watercolor, gouache, pencil, and glazes on beige, wove paper. 8 5/16 x 11 3/4 in.
Bank of America Collection. Photo by John Lamberton.
Courtesy The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

Romancing the West: Alfred Jacob Miller in the Bank of America Collection presents thirty engaging works on paper not seen in public since 1964 that depict legendary mountain men, American Indian life, and scenic landscapes executed in varied techniques that the artist developed over more than thirty years.

Mainly studio works in various stages of completion and in a sometimes unorthodox fusion of media, the art in this exhibition provides a window onto how Miller worked and how he envisioned the West. Miller’s West was based on his experience, but it also blended fiction with fact. The West he saw combined with an intricate web of perceptions and attitudes of his generation.

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