Arts & Culture

A popular Kansas City harpist and vocalist is now also running his own performance venue, Greenwood Social Hall in Kansas City's Westside neighborhood, which he took over this month.

Popular Kansas City harpist and vocalist Calvin Arsenia is now also running his own performance venue — Greenwood Social Hall in Kansas City's Westside neighborhood — which he took over at the beginning of the month.

When hip-hop hit Kansas City streets, the effect was immediate. The new sound took over record stores, local high schools and underground dance parties. As the country celebrates 50 years of the art form, Kansas City honors its own contributions to the culture.

The inaugural market had more than 10 Indigenous vendors as well as dancing exhibitions and a vaccine station. Organizers said it brought people of many different tribes together and taught the public about Native American culture.

Artist Fernando Achucarro paints late into the night in his home studio on Independence Avenue. The dark and moody images he conjures often rely on the glow of streetlights, candles and dimly-lit lamps. Many were inspired by the loss and trauma of life.

How Charlie Parker's plastic saxophone ended up as the centerpiece of Kansas City's American Jazz Museum — and how it's being revived for a new album. Plus: Midwest climatologists and meteorologists face stress, burnout and even death threats when they talk about climate change.

Some of the very first homes in Kansas were built by members of the Wichita Tribe with cut bundles of native bluestem grass. A new generation of students at Haskell Indian Nations University are learning the skill, and reconnecting with a Great Plains tradition.

Cinematographer Sir Roger Deakins, who has won two Academy Awards for his work on "1917" and "Blade Runner 2049," is coming to Kansas City with his wife and collaborator James Ellis Deakins for events at the Country Club Plaza and National World War I Museum and Memorial.

Unsubstantiated voter fraud claims and harassment are making it harder to be an election official in Kansas. Plus: A Louisburg, Kansas, fabricator is known for his world-class sculpture restorations.

An artist and fabricator in Louisburg, Kansas, spent a decade working in the studio of a famous New Orleans artist. Now he’s the go-to person when her work is damaged.

Production of utility-scale solar power in Kansas is expected to increase 34 times over in the next four years. But many rural Kansas communities are skeptical of out-of-state developers. Plus: A writer and photographer return to Independence, Missouri, 40 years after documenting daily life in the city.

"A Seat at the Table," presented by the Kansas City Underground Film Festival, will feature the works of 12 local women and queer filmmakers.