Now/Here is a group exhibition featuring Kansas City-based artists who explore narratives of experience, memory, place, history, and race. Organized by Silvia Beatriz Abisaab (’16 Photography), Now/Here features a selection of works that include installation, painting, photography, prints, and sculpture, and a range of visual languages and approaches to materiality that consider questions of representation and identity.

Featured artists: Patricia Bordallo Dibildox (’15 Photography), Ruben Castillo (’12 Printmaking), Jorge García Almodóvar, Rashawn Griffin, Kwanza Humphrey, Kathy Liao, Whitney Manney (’12 Fiber), Desiree Morales (’15 Photography), Andrew Ordonez (’13 Painting), Carlos Ortiz-Gallo (’16 Printmaking), Rebeka Pech Moguel (’16 Photography), Anthony Marcos Rea, William Plummer (’18 Fiber & Art History), Angelica Sandoval (’01 Design), Kiki Serna (’16 Sculpture), Hyeyoung Shin, Chico Sierra, Heinrich Toh, William Toney.

Guest Curator:
Silvia Beatriz Abisaab (’16 Photography) is an artist, organizer, and active member of the Kansas City art community. Her work has been exhibited in numerous venues in Kansas City, and she has held positions and worked collaboratively with organizations that include the Kansas City Art Institute, Charlotte Street Foundation, Front/Space, and 50/50. She is a founding member of the Artists of Color Alliance (AOCA), established in Kansas City in 2016 as a collective of self-identifying creatives of color active in the Midwest region, as a discussion forum to explore issues of diversity, inclusion, and equity in the cultural community and to work towards building greater access, awareness, and resources through partnering on public programs and community engagement.

Community advisers for Now/Here include José Faus, artist, writer, teacher, and founding member of the Latino Writers Collective; Stephanie Fox Knappe, Samuel Sosland Curator, American Art, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; Kreshaun McKinney, manager of audience engagement, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; Jade Powers, assistant curator, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art; and Raechell Smith, director, H&R Block Artspace at KCAI.

See the full checklist here.

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

Opening Reception
Friday, June 7, 6 – 8 p.m.
Sponsored by Crane Brewing Company

TNT (the noon thing): Identity and Representation (Memory, Place, Experience)
Friday, June 21, 12 p.m.
Join us for this public engagement series and hear from three exhibiting artists, Chico Sierra, William Toney, and Kiki Serna, in a themed discussion moderated by guest curator Silvia Beatriz Abisaab.

TNT (the noon thing): Color
Friday, July 12, 12 p.m.
Join us for this public engagement series and hear from three exhibiting artists, Desiree Morales, Whitney Manney, and Heinrich Toh, in a themed discussion moderated by H&R Block Fellow Isabel Vargas.

TNT (the noon thing): Materials and Process
Friday, July 19, 12 p.m.
Join us for this public engagement series and hear from exhibiting artists Ruben Castillo, Jorge García Almodóvar, Kathy Liao, and Andrew Ordonez in a thematic discussion moderated by guest curator Silvia Beatriz Abisaab.

Now/Here: Building Bridges
Friday, August 23, 12 – 1:30 p.m.
Join us for a special panel discussion co-organized by the H&R Block Artspace and the Kansas City Art Institute’s new Diversity Working Group.  For this panel presentation, KCAI Assistant Professor Eleanor Lim-Midyett will moderate a conversation between KCAI students and Now/Here exhibiting artists Kathy Liao, Kiki Serna, William Plummer, and William Toney. Their conversations will explore timely and topical issues including cultural representation, the importance of role models and mentorship in the artist’s life, and engaging with communities and networks in Kansas City and beyond. This marks and exciting beginning for the Diversity Working Group’s first year of activity and shapes a promising partnership with the Artspace and its public programs.

Closing Reception
Friday, August 30, 6 – 8  p.m.