© 2024 Kansas City Public Radio
NPR in Kansas City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Controversial Nude Statue, Paul Anthony Smith, Chiefs Bar In Philly

courtesy of E.G. Schempf

Controversial Statue In OP Raises Questions About Nudity In Art

This morning, a Kansas group is launching a petition drive to remove a statue from the Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Gardens.  The sculpture depicts mostly nude, headless woman taking a photograph of herself. This is a second go-around for the petition against the sculpture.  Last year, a grand jury dismissed the case after a one-day hearing.  We hear from a spokesman from the American Family Association of Kansas and Missouri about the petition, and then hold a discussion about nudity in art, and what's appropriate around children, with curator Robert Cohon and educator Adam Johnson of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and artist and curator Karen Matheis.

Artist Paul Anthony Smith Mines History Of His Native Jamaica

Just a few years after graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute, Paul Anthony Smith was invited to do a one–person show at the ZieherSmith Gallery in New York.  Recently, the Huffington Post listed Smith as one of America’s top 30 black artists under 40. His paintings take a fresh look at the lives of everyday people in his home country of Jamaica. 

A KC Chiefs' Haven Deep In South Philly

The Chiefs are gearing up to play the Philadelphia Eagles tonight. It’s an awkward homecoming for their former coach Andy Reid, who was with the Eagles for 14 years and then fired last December. But there’s one spot, in the heart of South Philly, where Reid definitely won’t get booed. Big Charlie’s Saloon is the home for Chiefs fans in Philadelphia. And most of them are not Kansas Citians.

Sylvia Maria Gross is storytelling editor at KCUR 89.3. Reach her on Twitter @pubradiosly.
Matthew Long-Middleton has been a talk-show producer, community producer, Media Training Manager and now the Community Engagement Manager at KCUR. You can reach him at Matthew@kcur.org, or on Twitter @MLMIndustries.
As a health care reporter, I aim to empower my audience to take steps to improve health care and make informed decisions as consumers and voters. I tell human stories augmented with research and data to explain how our health care system works and sometimes fails us. Email me at alexs@kcur.org.
Every part of the present has been shaped by actions that took place in the past, but too often that context is left out. As a podcast producer for KCUR Studios and host of the podcast A People’s History of Kansas City, I aim to provide context, clarity, empathy and deeper, nuanced perspectives on how the events and people in the past have shaped our community today.

In that role, and as an occasional announcer and reporter, I want to entertain, inform, make you think, expose something new and cultivate a deeper shared human connection about how the passage of time affects us all. Reach me at hogansm@kcur.org.
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Susan admits that her “first love” was radio, being an avid listener since childhood. However, she spent much of her career in mental health, healthcare administration, and sports psychology (Susan holds a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Bloch School of Business at UMKC.) In the meantime, Wilson satisfied her journalistic cravings by doing public speaking, providing “expert” interviews for local television, and being a guest commentator/contributor to KPRS’s morning drive time show and the teen talk show “Generation Rap.”
KCUR serves the Kansas City region with breaking news and award-winning podcasts.
Your donation helps keep nonprofit journalism free and available for everyone.