museums/galleries

After Duncan Jenkins saw "Star Wars" for the first time, he embarked on a lifelong obsession. The Kansas City man has now amassed nearly 200,000 pieces of memorabilia — the second most complete collection in the world — stored in a museum next to his house.

Nelson-Atkins officials announced this week that the New York City firm Weiss/Manfredi will be the lead architect for the museum's upcoming expansion project, which is expected to be the largest investment in Kansas City arts in years.

After a global competition, and a monthslong selection process, museum officials announced the New York City firm Weiss/Manfredi will design their ambitious new expansion project. It's estimated to be the largest investment in Kansas City arts in recent years.

An executive order from President Trump has stopped mid-Missouri libraries from receiving reimbursements for federally funded grants. Libraries across the state are being instructed to limit their spending.

Gospel Music Hall of Fame leaders hope to expand the museum from one building to a plaza, according to the first draft of a proposed master plan. Last year, former Missouri Gov. Mike Parson approved $2 million to go toward developing the museum.

President Trump's cuts to the Institute of Museum and Library Services will impact hundreds of millions of dollars in grant-funded projects around the country. Crosby Kemper, a former director of the Kansas City Public Library who served as IMLS director for four years, worries the agency will be eliminated entirely.

A new study out this week from the museum think tank Remuseum suggests free admission attracts more visitors without increasing costs. One success story was the Wichita Art Museum.

The six architecture firms competing to reimagine Kansas City’s premier museum had three months to dream up plans that will remake its Midtown campus. A new exhibit unveils the designs and will give the public a chance to share their thoughts.

Mark Adams is the new director of the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum. After major renovations to the museum in recent years, his primary goal now is to get more visitors to experience their exhibits.

The exhibit includes 135 handmade antique dolls — some that were made by enslaved people — and about 60 period photographs showing dolls, children and adults posing for the camera. But not everyone involved in the Kansas City showing is completely comfortable with it.

Kansas City's crown-jewel museum launched in October a global competition to find an architectural firm for a $160 million expansion that would transform its Midtown campus. This week, museum visitors had a chance to hear from the finalists.

From saintly relics to haunted dolls, Kansas City's long history makes for a vast offering of haunted or just downright sinister sites.