public art

The wildly popular, sprawling public art installation plans its next display for April 2026, spanning the city's World Cup run. As many as 150 “Heartists” will be selected to turn blank canvas sculptures into expressions of Kansas City’s cultural identity and community pride.

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.

Phil "Sike Style" Shafer is known for his vibrant depictions of life in Kansas City. The artist was selected to create a mural for the newly completed Buck O'Neil Bridge downtown.

A new art project commemorating the Conley sisters will be unveiled in Kansas City, Kansas, this summer. The exhibit will help tell how the siblings and Wyandot Nation activists banded together to protect a burial ground in the early 1900s.

The Swedish painter shaped how the rest of the world viewed the hills and streams of Kansas, and the mountains of Colorado. The largest collection of his paintings, prints, and drawings is in the small central Kansas town where he immigrated, lived and worked.

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art recently selected six finalists to design new expansion plans, down from 180 submissions from around the world. Nelson President and CEO Julian Zugazagoitia and Board Chair Evelyn Belger discuss what they hope to see in a makeover of the Kansas City institution.

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.

Kansas City arts advocates are concerned by President Donald Trump's executive order that bans federally funding programs and initiatives supporting diversity, equity and inclusion. Missouri's governor issued his own order restricting state programs as well — but the terms are not well defined.

No lejos de los icónicos gallitos de bádminton (Shuttlecocks) del museo, la nueva y enorme escultura de nieve puede verse en el césped al sur del Museo de Arte Nelson-Atkins. Es la última “colaboración congelada” de exalumnos del Instituto de Arte de Kansas City.

We wanted to round up joyful moments to share some of that warmth, and remind us all about the good in the world. Kansas City got to experience history-making victories, touching and delightful works of art, and moments where the community all came together.

The limited edition Jazz Bird ornaments are a miniature version of the dozen floating sculptures, made entirely from alto saxophones, featured in the Kansas City Airport. Sculptor Willie Cole says creating these minis took almost as long as the original.

The statue, designed by a Native artist, is meant to each people about the painful history of ethnic cleansing and foster understanding healing for the small town of Steelville, Missouri.